Yaoundé, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Why are African countries demanding the withdrawal of Western troops?
Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Ze
The US Department of Defense recently announced that it will withdraw most of its troops from Chad and Niger. The transitional governments of the two African countries have previously demanded the withdrawal of US troops. At the end of last year, France withdrew its last garrisons from Niger.
Over the past decade, the United States and France have stationed troops in Africa's Sahel region under the guise of "counterterrorism," but the threat of terrorism has intensified. More and more African people have seen clearly that the West has used the stationing of troops as a means to interfere in the internal affairs of African countries, seize resources, and seek personal interests. Analysts have pointed out that the demand for the withdrawal of US and French troops is precisely the result of the resistance of Western "neo-colonialism" to the African people.
This is the Pentagon, where the U.S. Department of Defense is located, photographed on August 26, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia, U.S. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie
Western garrisons were expelled
The United States has about 100 troops in Chad stationed at an air base near the capital, N'Djamena. According to reports, the chief of staff of the Chadian Air Force sent a letter to the Chadian transitional government in early April saying that the United States had failed to provide agreement documents to prove the "reasonableness" of its military presence in Chad, and therefore the United States should be asked to stop the station. The New York Times, citing anonymous US officials, reported that the evacuation of 75 US Air Force special forces personnel stationed in Chad will begin soon.
The U.S. military presence in Niger began in 2013, with more than 1,000 troops deployed at two military bases in the country. The transitional government of Niger announced in March this year that it would terminate the military cooperation agreement with the United States because it was "imposed" by the United States. The two sides have recently begun discussions on the withdrawal of troops.
The U.S. military presence in both countries is nominally to train troops to combat local extremist groups. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a recent interview with the media that if the two countries finally decide not to allow the United States to station troops, the United States will have to look for an alternative to "carrying out anti-terrorist missions" in the Sahel region.
France is also being called for by African countries to withdraw its troops. In 2014, France launched the "Crescent Dune" counterterrorism military operation in the Sahel region, sending thousands of troops to Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have military coups in 2020, 2022, and 2023, respectively, and the transitional governments of the three countries have demanded that France withdraw its troops. From 2022 to the end of December last year, France has completely withdrawn its troops from these three countries.
"The more anti-rebel, the more chaotic" is dissatisfied
The United States and France have stationed troops in African countries in the name of "anti-terrorism", but this has led to more wars and conflicts in the region, and their interference in internal affairs has aroused strong dissatisfaction among the people of relevant countries. On April 13, thousands of people in Niger demonstrated in Niamey, the capital, demanding an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. On the 21st, protests broke out in Agadez, a city in central Niger, where the US Air Force base is located, and thousands of people took to the streets to demand that the United States withdraw its troops.
This is a photo taken on July 28, 2023, on the streets of Niamey, the capital of Niger. Xinhua News Agency
Michael Ndimanjo, a Cameroonian political expert, said that the United States and France have stationed troops in Niger, Chad and other countries under the banner of "anti-terrorism", but they have "fueled wars and conflicts." "Terrorists continue to carry out attacks against civilians in areas where US and French troops are stationed. What is the purpose of the existence of these garrisons?
He Wenping, a researcher at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that the United States and France have been "fighting terrorism" in the Sahel region for 10 years, and the result is that "the more they oppose it, the more chaotic it becomes, and the more they oppose it, the poorer they become." They have not carried out equal and effective cooperation with the countries concerned in the security and economic fields, and they have frequently interfered in the internal and foreign affairs of the countries where they are stationed, which has led to a high level of anti-military sentiment among the people in these countries.
Nigerien columnist Abdoulaye Sissoko noted: "The goal of the United States is not to help fight armed groups, but to maintain control over this area." "Nigerien public opinion believes that one of the real purposes of the US and French troops stationed in Africa is to try to control Niger's rich uranium mines and the oil and mineral resources of some African countries.
Africa's awakening is the general trend
The vast majority of African countries were once colonies of the West, and have been enslaved and plundered by the West in the past, and are still subject to the West in economic and other fields. For many African countries, the West has been trying to control this resource-rich continent, and Western aid has not only failed to bring stability and development to Africa, but its various unreasonable additional conditions have instead become a shackle to Africa. This is increasingly unacceptable to African countries and peoples.
The demand for the withdrawal of US and French troops reflects the awakening of African countries to resist Western "neo-colonialism", pursue independence and seek genuine mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation.
This is the scene of the AU summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 17. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yahui
Haji Githayer, director of the Sahel Center for Strategic Studies, a Malian think tank, pointed out that the United States, France and other Western countries have not cooperated with African countries in terms of regional security and economic development, which has deepened the widespread perception that the presence of Western countries in Africa is "a continuation of the old colonial model of putting colonial interests first and African interests second."
Emmanuel Jensau Wubo, dean of the School of Social and Management Sciences at the University of Bueaa in Cameroon, said that the demand for the withdrawal of US troops is a clear indication that the African people oppose Western interference in their internal affairs. The "neo-colonialism" pursued by the West seeks to continue to treat the African people as "second-class citizens", and the African people have had enough.
James Arley Abangma, a professor of political science at the University of Buea in Cameroon, said that Africa is fed up with the plundering of Western countries, and that the development of Africa does not need the military of the United States or Europe, but needs win-win cooperation. Nigerian activist Nemo Bassi said Africa is waking up and that countries that have colonized Africa and thought they could continue to oppress the continent should re-examine their policies.
Source: Xinhuanet