(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Last year, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Niger a “model democracy.”
Months later, a coup took place. And now, the Pentagon is in the process of withdrawing U.S. troops from Niger after the African country’s new government ordered them to leave.
Apparently, the stunning change in U.S.-Niger relations was sparked by an insulting threat from Molly Phee, the State Department’s top official for African affairs.
Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine revealed this fact in an interview with the Washington Post, which was published Tuesday.
According to Zeine, Phee threatened him from doing business with Russia and Iran.
“When she finished, I said, ‘Madame, I am going to summarize in two points what you have said,’” Zeine told the Post. “First, you have come here to threaten us in our country. That is unacceptable. And you have come here to tell us with whom we can have relationships, which is also unacceptable. And you have done it all with a condescending tone and a lack of respect.”
Zeine also expressed displeasure at the U.S. suspending its security support and counterterrorism activities when his new government took power last year.
“The Americans stayed on our soil, doing nothing while the terrorists killed people and burned towns,” Zeine said. “It is not a sign of friendship to come on our soil but let the terrorists attack us. We have seen what the United States will do to defend its allies, because we have seen Ukraine and Israel.”
In response to Zeine’s comments, an unnamed U.S. official reportedly disagreed with Zeine’s characterizations of his conversation with Phee.
“[Niger’s new government] was presented with a choice, not an ultimatum, about whether they wished to continue their partnership with us, respectful of our democratic values and national security interests,” the official told the Post.
“In the coming months, we will work with the CNSP to draw down U.S. forces in an orderly fashion and ultimately reposition them elsewhere, consistent with U.S. security interests,” added the official.
The Pentagon’s impending withdrawal from Niger stems from the country’s government declaring in March that the U.S. military presence there is “illegal.” In a letter published last month by the Post, an Army whistleblower accused Biden of endangering the troops’ lives by leaving them there against the wishes of the country’s new government.
The withdrawal means U.S. will presumably have to close its six-year-old, $110 million U.S. air base that was used for drone warfare.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
