Niger

lizzyjane · 10-08-2023 07:27PM #1

Surprised to see no thread on the goings on the past few weeks in Niger.

Although hardly surprising as the highlighting of western nations wrongdoings against third world countries does seem to be frowned upon in here.

I see Victoria Nuland has recently visited the country to try and tell the Junta in Niger that the U.S doesn't like Coups, perhaps she should have told the truth and said she doesn't like coups that is against her countries interests.

I think its about time African nations are left alone to sort out there own affairs without France, the U.S or Britain sticking their noses in.

mikewest · 10-08-2023 07:36PM

But Russia scumbag mercenaries good. Feck off with this bull, it's their ECOWAS neighbours who are shouting loudest, and seem ready to do something about it, cause they can see where the real problem is.

lizzyjane · 10-08-2023 08:00PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120962449#Comment_120962449

What are you bringing Russia into it for? This is about a country in western Africa who is been plundered by mainly France who are still acting like colonisers, they dont give a **** about the population of Niger all they want is to rape the country for its resources.

Funny how Niger is the 7th largest supplier of Uranium on the planet but also ranks as one of the poorest nations in the world with nearly half the population live in extreme poverty.

Big Ears · 10-08-2023 08:16PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120962563#Comment_120962563

So you're in favour of the Junta seizing power by force and against the democratically elected government ?

lizzyjane · 10-08-2023 08:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120962635#Comment_120962635

Well that is for the citizens of Niger to decide. Not for me or you or any western nation who have a lot at stake financially in the country to decide.

silliussoddius · 10-08-2023 08:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120962709#Comment_120962709

So it will be up to the good blokes if it goes t!ts up and relief is needed or people are trying to escape?

Big Ears · 10-08-2023 08:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120962709#Comment_120962709

Well they did decide, in 2021 when they elected the government.

They'd have gotten to decide again in 2 1/2 years when the next elections were due had the coup not happened.

Are you generally against democracy and elections ?

HalloweenJack · 10-08-2023 09:01PM

They had a rally the other day in the national stadium and there were plenty of Russian flags on display.

There's no defence for the West's continued exploitation of Africa but you'd be mad to think that Russia are doing it for any altruistic reasons. It also comes as a handy.moment for them to take thr focus off Ukraine.

StrawbsM · 10-08-2023 09:04PM

https://twitter.com/war_mapper/status/1689736800514748416?s=46&t=IY-y8V-cxTAz1djkZYvB6A

ECOWAS Countries

lizzyjane · 10-08-2023 09:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120962826#Comment_120962826

Most of those countries in the CFA franc zone. I wonder what France has to lose with this Coup, they still colonise these countries but cleverly do it now by proxy with there puppet governments in power.

Time for the people of Africa to be left alone and there own citizens to be put first ahead of the interests of their former colonisers.

lizzyjane · 10-08-2023 09:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120962747#Comment_120962747

Half of their budget already comes from Foreign Aid, which some of from the U.S is now been paused because of the Coup.

Hard to understand U.S foreign policy, as they support some coups but oppose others.

https://theintercept.com/2023/08/09/imran-khan-pakistan-cypher-ukraine-russia/

10-08-2023 09:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058308839/niger

No, it's not that simple.

What's happening in the African continent is the modern day equivalent of the scramble for Africa in the past, where major powers attempt to sway their influence. We simply cannot allow Wagner or Russia to hold sway over countries in Africa whenever they so choose. Like a tumour, it will grow and become more of a threat over time. I notice the list of countries you cited doesn't include Russia, and that is telling.

So whilst active interventionism is never an optimum solution, the West should -- insofar as reasonably possible -- ensure that Niger remains under Western influence rather than the necrotic influence that characterises anything associated with Russia.

Gatling · 10-08-2023 09:40PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120962894#Comment_120962894

So what Russia doing there

buried · 10-08-2023 09:43PM

China are all over the Sahel region. Far more than Russia. All this craic in the Sahel is Chinese backed.

10-08-2023 09:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120962945#Comment_120962945

Perhaps had France afforded these countries economic independence instead of keeping them under their economic thumb we could have had a healthy, mutually beneficial, relationship.

Not a single country that uses it wants the African franc.

France keeping the colonial boot on their neck has allowed Russia access to fester.

Gatling · 10-08-2023 09:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120962998#Comment_120962998

China has been making inroads all over Africa over the last decade, and it's safe to say that there interests aren't humanitarian

10-08-2023 09:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963009#Comment_120963009

Which is the point.

Do we really want the African continent to become a stinking cesspit of corrupt autocratic dictators, opposed to the West?

Those arguing that, "African countries should choose their own future", simply do not understand that this is not realpolitik. There is an already active influence of China and Russia in African affairs; the tentacles of which root deep. There is no situation in which foreign influence does not exist. It's a geopolitical axiom that cannot be ignored.

Arguing that the West should "stay away" means that this toxic influence will only spread to more African countries over time, which will have a detrimental effect on the West, as well as for ordinary Africans. The latter will be the primary victims of this autocratic worldview. We should oppose it as much as we possibly can.

buried · 10-08-2023 09:53PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963009#Comment_120963009

Exactly. And they are heavily involved in the Sahel region, that part of the African continent has a plenty of raw materials and minerals, but the major resource the Sahel has is a huge natural ground water aquifer. Aquifers that are non existent underneath China's own land territory.

silliussoddius · 10-08-2023 09:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963009#Comment_120963009

If their interests in China aren't humanitarian then obviously they don't give a sh!t about Africans, but they have also been stung badly with infrastructure investments.

lizzyjane · 10-08-2023 10:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963009#Comment_120963009

And Frances are?

Just take a look at the countries in the Central bank of West Africa and compare them to ECOWAS that have given the green light to launch some sort of military intervention over the Coup in Niger. I wonder what % of these countries foreign assets have to be maintained in the French treasury.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-the-france-backed-african-cfa-franc-works-as-an-enabler-and-barrier-to-development/

Gatling · 10-08-2023 11:03PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963186#Comment_120963186

The French have historical links to Africa where Russian links tend to involve flooding countries which AK-47s , RPGs and tanks, which has led to countless internal conflicts and civil wars under the guise of ending colonialism to aid the spread of communism, or as Putin likes to say special military operations to protect their interests in mines and minerals

lizzyjane · 10-08-2023 11:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963232#Comment_120963232

Groundhog Day. Yawn!

Big Ears · 10-08-2023 11:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963273#Comment_120963273

Well if you're board of talking about Russia's meddling in Africa perhaps you could answer my question from before.

Are you generally against democracy and elections ?;or is there any particular reason you're in favour of a Junta overruling an electorate in their democratically elected government ?

Yurt2 · 10-08-2023 11:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963292#Comment_120963292

Vatnik Putin apologist reduced to eeking out minor psychological wins in a country he hadn't heard of last week, cheerleading a junta that's highly likely getting kerbstomped by other African nations very soon.

Even the bete noir of Kremlinites everywhere, Victoria Nuland, is in on the act. Is there anything she can't do? Weave your State Department black magic Vicci. For it was her voodoo that turned brother against brother in Ukraine, and nothing to do with the fact that 21st century Russia is an irredentist and fascistic toilet (that strangely has a dearth of indoor plumbing).

11-08-2023 12:14AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120962563#Comment_120962563

And Russia are in Niger to look after the interests of the Nigerien people.

İt's not that funny; Uranium sells at circa 60 dollars/lb, this double the price in 2019. With the world consuming about 150,000 kilos a year, it's not a huge market, and being the 7th largest supplier doesn't indicate any real wealth.

lizzyjane · 11-08-2023 07:38AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963292#Comment_120963292

What have the puppet government in Niger done for its population? Why was the coup in Honduras, Ukraine and Pakistan supported by the West in most recent times and this one is frowned upon?

Double standards.

Yurt2 · 11-08-2023 07:53AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963683#Comment_120963683

There was no coup in Ukraine. Putin flunkie President abandoned his constitutional position by fleeing to Rostov, and the parliament legally removed him, in complete congruence with the Ukrainian constitution. He only changed his mind that he wanted to be President again when the order came in from Moscow that he was to return to Kyiv. You may guzzle dummy Kremlinite propaganda uncritically without checking to see if the croutons in your Vatnik soup aren't pellets of sh*te, but that's not everbody.

Run Forest Run · 11-08-2023 08:21AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963009#Comment_120963009

They're underwriting major infrastructure projects across the continent.

Something the western powers had very little interest in doing, until they realised China were gaining a major strategic foothold in the region which could undermine their geopolitical status as top dogs. Of course China have financial motives, but at least they're giving some respect to a region of the world that has been both deliberately neglected and deliberately plundered by the west.

Keeping Africa poor and dependent on western aid, while pretending you gave a sh!t about development, was a stupid move. It was all based on the assumption that these nations had no other options.

Run Forest Run · 11-08-2023 08:41AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963739#Comment_120963739

There are a huge amount of people in the world who would disagree with you on that.

In fact, much of the global south (since we're on a thread about an African nation) has been heavily critical of the west/nato for it's interference in Ukraine and contributing to the escalation of this conflict. But the west doesn't really care what anyone else thinks.

StrawbsM · 11-08-2023 08:43AM

I’m struggling to find support online for ECOWAS from the Nigerien (I think that’s correct) people. Lot of hate for the French.

If a majority of citizens are in favour of this coup, who are we to tell them they’re wrong?

crusd · 11-08-2023 08:50AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963932#Comment_120963932

Not to derail a thread, but who actually escalated the conflict? Enabling a country to prevent itself being destroyed is not "Escalating a conflict".

Just like who escalated the Niger Coup? the democratically elected government supported by countries actually in the region or the Wagner supported Junta?

All this talk "but but but the west did nothing to stop a coup in country x" is just to deflect form the fact that in the region the democratically elected government are recognised as the rightful government of Niger. Its only Wagner backed brutal Mali regime support Niger. "But but but the west..."

Niger

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