Ubiquitous
2024-04-27 02:05:17 UTC
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PermalinkChad over the next week in what is a second blow for U.S. foreign
policy in Africa over the last week.
The New York Times reported that the U.S. is removing 75 Army Special
Forces personnel from Chads capital NDjamena due to a letter the U.S.
received from Chads government that it saw as threatening to end an
important security agreement with Washington.
The U.S. forces being withdrawn work at a base where they train with
local forces and advise them on operations.
U.S. officials were reportedly blindsided and puzzled by the letter
due to a number of factors, including the fact that it was not sent
through official diplomatic channels.
The move comes after news broke last week that Biden was going to start
withdrawing U.S. soldiers from Niger, which is on Chads western
border.
The dwindling of Americas presence in the region upends U.S.
counterterrorism efforts and security policy in the politically
unstable Sahel region of Africa, which stretches across the central
part of the continent and includes Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau,
Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Central
African Republic, Sudan, and Eritrea.
The region is one of the most dangerous in the world and is a hotbed
for multiple major Islamic terrorist groups, including ISIS, Al-Qaeda,
Boko Haram, and more.
The report said that although the U.S. is withdrawing, France still has
troops in the country and has a much larger military footprint there
than the U.S. does.
The Times noted that the withdrawal of U.S. forces in both countries
comes as Niger, as well as Mali and Burkina Faso, [are] turning away
from years of cooperation with the United States and forming
partnerships with Russia or at least exploring closer security ties
with Moscow.
The report noted that Russia often uses coercive tactics to destabilize
governments in the region.
The U.S. warned Chads president last year that Russian mercenaries
were plotting to kill him and three senior aides and that Moscow was
backing Chadian rebels massing in the Central African Republic, to the
south, the report said. At the same time, the Kremlin was courting
sympathizers within Chads ruling elite, including cabinet ministers
and a half brother of the president.
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Let's go Brandon!