African Stream journalist Inemesit Richardson called for Africans everywhere to defend Niger following then-US congress member Matt Gaetz calling in May for Washington to invade Niger over the African state’s decision to boot US troops.
Gaetz has since been nominated for attorney general by US President-elect Donald Trump. The attorney general heads the US Department of Justice and is the US government’s chief law enforcement officer.
During an August episode of ‘This Week in Africa,’ African Stream’s livestream collaboration with @authentic_african, Richardson warned that while nothing came out of Gaetz’s threats, US regime-change tactics may not be off the table for the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) confederation, made up of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. In recent years, these three countries waged successful coups d’état against Western-aligned leaders and all three have expelled French troops.
Trump’s nomination of warmongers like Gaetz should give us a reason to be more vigilant.
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