The HuffPo attack on Rachel Maddow's story on Chad & Niger ignored one important factor

[highplainsdem]

I'm posting this as a separate thread, but I decided to do some research after seeing the HuffPo article earlier, then this DU thread this evening:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029734624


Rachel's story focused on whether the Trump travel ban including Chad, which led Chad to withdraw some troops from Niger -- troops that are widely considered to be among the best in fighting terrorists -- could have been a factor in the ambush of the Americans force early this month.

The criticism of her story has been based on the fact that apparently most of the Chadian troops that were withdrawn frosm Niger were in the Diffa region, across the country from the ambush site, which was near the border of Mali.

But Rachel's critics seem to be ignoring the role of Chad in the multinational G5 Sahel force which was launched this past summer and was supposed to be fully operational by this autumn:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-sahel/french-and-west-african-presidents-launch-sahel-force-idUSKBN19N0CS

With its military headquarters in the northern Mali town of Sevare, the G5 Sahel force will focus on border zones - one along the frontier between Niger and Mali, another between Mali and Mauritania, and a third straddling the borders between Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.

Emphasis added, since that's the region of the ambush.

Because of the importance of Chad's troops to this force, the president of Mali has asked the US to remove Chad from the travel ban:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-chad/mali-president-wants-u-s-to-reverse-chad-travel-ban-idUSKCN1C301L

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, head of a group of five countries in Africa’s Sahel region, has asked the United States to remove a travel ban on Chadian nationals, saying that a failure to do so could affect Chad’s security commitments.

Security analysts expressed surprise when Chad, a key U.S. security partner since the Cold War, was named last week alongside North Korea and Venezuela as part of an eight-country the travel ban.

Chad’s army acts as a bulwark against local and regional armed movements and played a critical role in pushing back troops from jihadist group Boko Haram when they made a bid to expand beyond northeastern Nigeria in 2015. Its troops continue to hold front-line positions in unstable north Mali where jihadists ousted government authorities five years ago.

As recently as February, Chad, also a key French ally, hosted a U.S. military training exercise for special forces as part of a broader strategy to empower regional troops such as the G5 Sahel security bloc consisting of Chad, Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso.

“The president of the G5 thinks this decision could affect the commitment of Chad, which has until now shown itself to be a key partner in the fight against terrorism in the G5 Sahel and beyond,” said Keita in a statement sent to journalists late on Wednesday.

So Chad's reaction to the travel ban did NOT affect only eastern Niger, near Chad. It also affected the Niger/Mali border.

I don't remember if Rachel mentioned the G5 Sahel. To be honest, I caught only part of that segment of her show, but was very impressed by what I heard.

And then I was surprised and saddened to see her criticized.

I'm not positive that Chad's involvement in the G5 Sahel, and the fact that the alliance would be greatly weakened if Chad doesn't participate, factored into the terrorists near the Mali/Niger border becoming more active.

But it seems likely that it would have.

[Not Ruth]

1. G5 Sahel has not even had their first operation yet, interesting concept though

Until now the G5 force has only received a quarter of its estimated 423 million euro budget, according to a report by the U.N. Secretary General, who said financing the operation would “remain a significant challenge” for several years.

“It will start its first operations soon. It needs support. The U.N. wants to give support. I hope everyone can become convinced that a robust U.N. assistance is necessary,” Parly said.

French defense officials say they expect the first G5 patrols to begin this month and hope that will provide momentum ahead of a donor conference in December.



https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-usa-africa/u-s-must-step-up-support-for-operation-against-west-africa-militants-france-idUSKBN1CP2F0

[angstlessk]

2. Wonder what this means? Did this cause a delay in the deployment of those troops?

France and West African countries are pushing for the creation of a regional force known as the G5 Sahel.

Washington provides bilateral assistance, intelligence and training for regional security operations. But it is cool towards the African force and has pushed back against U.N. support for it.

President Donald Trump’s administration has also come under intense scrutiny over its existing operations in West Africa after an ambush in Niger in early October saw four U.S. soldiers killed by jihadists, in what experts say appears to have been an intelligence failure.

[highplainsdem]

3. From what I've read, I'd have to say yes, the Trump admin undercut this force.

Possibly because its success would have been due to those African countries and France, and I can't see Trump, with his obvious rivalry with Macron, wanting to see Macron get credit for any very successful coalition fighting terrorism.

The terrorists in the Sahel aren't cut off from international news. They knew the Trump admin was making it harder to get the G5 Sahel force deployed. They knew the travel ban had alienated Chad to the point it was withdrawing its own troops.

Which would make that region more vulnerable to the terrorists' attacks, now and in the future.

[Not Ruth]

4. Possibly,but collaboration with other countries is not for everyone,the best thing to do is dont go

“Just how was it left to Nigerian troops, French helicopters and some contract aircraft to find and fetch the bodies of our heroic service members killed in Niger?”

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029737966