So why are we in Niger? It has nothing to do with “teaching respect for human rights”

by Scott Creighton

As has been the case in every fascist state of the past, we are told that we can’t question the glorious generals. They are beyond reproach. What they say is sacrosanct. What they do, beyond reproach. This is AFTER “shock and awe” killed a million Iraqis based on lies. This is AFTER Gitmo. This is AFTER Falluja.

“If you want to go after Gen. Kelly, that’s up to you. But, I think that that – if you want to get into a debate with a four-star Marine general, I think that that’s something highly inappropriate.”

The question put before our glorious heroLEADER Kelly had to do with some banal debate between he and some clown of a congress-critter and whether or not she was self-promoting a couple years ago over the funding or the naming of a new FBI center in Florida. It was, by definition, a nothing burger no matter how you looked at it and yet, THAT was the most important question that occupied the ENTIRE complicit media all day yesterday.

But there was  a better question asked, one that didn’t get much coverage ((notice, the cowering reporter had to qualify his question by first uttering the standard, fawning praise):

“Q Well, thank you, General Kelly. First of all, we have a great deal of respect — Semper Fi — for everything that you’ve ever done. But if we could take this a bit further. Why were they in Niger?”

And here was the answer our glorious general gave (notice, the GodKINGgeneral didn’t feel the need to thank the reporter for “everything he’s ever done”):

“So why were they there? They’re there working with partners, local — all across Africa — in this case, Niger — working with partners, teaching them how to be better soldiers; teaching them how to respect human rights; teaching them how to fight ISIS so that we don’t have to send our soldiers and Marines there in their thousands. That’s what they were doing there.” Glorious Kelly the Untouchable

So we are teaching them how to fight “ISIS™”? Does that mean we are teaching them how to let them leave Manbij in hundreds of Toyota/Helix trucks or how to book em some chartered buses so they can leave Raqqa?

Oh wait… we are teaching them how to respect human rights. Ah, got it.

NIGER 2016 (State Department) HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT

The most serious human rights problems included attacks by armed groups that resulted in death, disappearances, and abuse ; harsh and life -threatening prison and detention center conditions ; and trafficking in persons, including forced labor and caste -based slavery . Other human rights problems included : security force killings of civilians and abuse of detainees; arbitrary arrest and detention ; prolonged pretrial detention; executive interference in the judiciary; forcible dispersal of demonstrators ; and restrictions on freedoms of press and assembly. The government restricted opposition political parties . Corruption was pervasive, and discrimination and violence against women and children were problems , including female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and child prostitution . Societal discrimination against persons with disabilities and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI ) community was a problem. Forced labor, child labor, and discrimination in employment on the basis of sex and disability continued. The government took some steps to prosecute officials who committed abuses, but impunity was a problem

Lets see what kind of government our troops are there to help protect:

• government backed death squads
• disappearing opposition leaders
• torture
• human trafficking
• slavery
• arbitrary arrests
• judicial system is a joke
• cracking down on protests/demonstrations
• no freedom of press
• massive corruption
• violence against women
• violence against children
• poor treatment of gays
• child labor

Gee, that doesn’t seem good especially when you consider that report concerned Niger in 2016 and ObamaGod sent troops into that country starting in 2013. Guess we are teaching em much about that whole “human rights” thing, now are we?

I wonder why it is we support a country like that?

Might it have something to do with this?

President Issoufou Presents Niger Renaissance Programme At Economy Series In New York

… Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou and his delegation met with 120 global investors and financiers in New York, as the country embarks on an accelerated programme of reforms to restore economic growth in that country.

The Niger Renaissance Programme aims to attract foreign direct investment by encouraging privatisation and driving economic diversification, while pursuing and implementing the global Sustainable Development Goals. The government had an ambitious $15bn growth and investment plan over the next three years.

Speaking at the Niger Economy Series on the eve of the US-Africa Business Forum in New York, President Issoufou shared his expectations from the round of meetings at the UN General Assembly. He said that as the world anticipated massive global political changes with the appointment of a new UN Secretary General, the election of a new US President and other major changes in the global order.

“My administration has worked hard to ensure that Niger is open for business” he said. “We are investing across a number of sectors and looking for strategic long-term partners. The country is northern Nigeria’s most important trading partner and we offer a haven of stability in the region.”

In extractives, Niger’s oil refinery is already supplying the region with uranium, petroleum and other derivatives.

The current president of Niger won his last “election” with 93% of the votes. But don’t worry, the African Union said it was “mostly’ on the level.

And he certainly has his mind right. He went to the masters of the universe (120 global investors and financiers) and promised them he would privatize everything and ensure his country remained “a haven of stability in the region” which is what they always want to hear.

And then there’s this, the Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline:

Yep. Another damn pipeline. Who would have thunk it.

The pipeline has been a dream for a long time but it kicked off in earnest in Feb. of 2009 right after a black politician came to power in the US. Reason being? No one would dare suggest ObamaGod was invading and colonizing African nations on behalf of Big Business… because… he’s an African-American. Black cover?

$12bn Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline on track – NNPC Mar. 24, 2017

The proposed gas pipeline, to be built through a partnership between the NNPC and Algeria’s Sonatrach, would stretch 1,037 kilometres from Nigeria to the Niger border, 841 kilometres from Niger to Algeria, 2,303 kilometres across Algeria and 220 kilometres from Algeria to Spain and would have an estimated annual capacity of 30 billion cubic litres of natural gas. It is expected to be operational from 2020. The Federal Government had committed $400m for the commencement of the project, while an additional $450m was raised through Euro-bonds in 2014. The feed of a 48 inches pipeline from Calabar to Kano has been completed. Baru said that the project was still on course and that the NNPC would ensure collaboration towards the success of the project.

In 2013 President Obama committed 100 troops to the nation in order to ensure it was going to remain a haven of stability in the region.

When he took office, President TrumpCHANGE upped that number to about 700. Now we have a thousand and if Sen. Lindsey Graham gets his way, they’ll be a lot more in the coming days.

“Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Friday that U.S. global counter-terrorism operations are set to expand and become more aggressive following a meeting with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis about troop deaths in Niger…

“The war is headed to Africa. It’s beginning to morph. As we suppress the enemy in the Mideast, they are going to move. They are not going to quit,” he said. Washington Examiner

Yeah, they are going to move. They are going to move in chartered buses we give em.

We were thwarted in Syria and the Glorious Kurds have been denied their prize in Iraq. The Greater Kurdistan project seems to be on the back-burner, at least until the next 9/11 turns Iran in the Taliban.

So, like all good corporations do when the market dries up in one area… we are moving our Global War OF Terror to another area of the world where right-thinking Americans don’t really give a shit about the collateral damage done to civilians… Africa.

And as Graham promises, the glorious generals will be calling the shots:

“Graham also said “the rules of engagement are going to change,” and explained that the US approach to counterterrorism operations will be more aggressive, moving to what he called “status-based targeting.”

So if the glorious generals decide someone is getting in the way in Niger or Chad or some other little hell-hole of a nation with a lot of resources American Big Business wants, then they can just drone the shit out of em… for stability and such.

That statement alone will garner Graham a couple hundred million in campaign donation slush funds.

You know what’s funny?

Over in Niger if you dare question the generals, you get either disappeared and sold off into slavery… or you get droned by a CIA flunky sitting in an air-conditioned trailer in Chad. Because, you know, in a country looking to be a shining beacon of STABILITY in the region, it’s “highly inappropriate’ to question the glorious generals.

Funny. I know I’ve heard that somewhere else.

Uh oh. What’s that sound I hear in the sky?