Is There a Genuine “Anti-Imperialist People’s Movement” in West Africa?
Introduction
According to reports, “An Anti-imperialist People’s Movement” has unfolded spontaneously across francophone West Africa in support of Niger’s Conseil National pour la sauvegarde de la Patrie (CNSP) (National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland) which came to power on July 26, 2023 in a military Coup d’Etat against the elected government of President Mohamed Bazoum who is supported by France’s President Emmanuel Macron. Bazoum was among the founders in 1990 of the “Parti Nigerien pour la Democratie et le Socialisme”.
Demonstrations in Niger by supporters of the CNSP government have largely targeted France calling for the withdrawal of French troops:
“Protesters attempted to storm the French embassy to express their outrage at the decades of colonial and neo-colonial domination their country has suffered.” (Liberation News)
Pressured by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (led by the president of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu) as well as by the African Union and the UN, Niger’s military junta has “refused to reinstall the ousted president” (August 8, 2023).
“Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, … who is now the chair of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), had threatened just days after the ascendancy to power of the CNSP to lead a military intervention to reimpose Bazoum. (Black Agenda Report, emphasis added)
In recent developments, thousands of young people have gathered in Niamey’s stadium, to sign up as volunteers in defense of their country.
ECOWAS threats have contributed to “building greater animosity against France and the U.S.”
Is This “Anti-Imperialist Movement” a Reality? Or is it Fake?
Whereas ECOWAS is portrayed as an organization which (unofficially) serves the neocolonial interests of both France and the U.S., people across West Africa are unaware of the role of Niger’s Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie (CNSP).
The so-called “Anti-imperialism People’s Movement” (integrated by anti-war progressives, trade unions, etc) has been deliberately misled. Niger’s CNSP military junta is not committed to combating US sponsored neocolonialism in sub-Saharan Africa. Quite the opposite: The CNSP military leadership is (indirectly) controlled by the Pentagon.
At least five senior members of the Niger military Junta received their training in the U.S.
General Abdourahamane Tiani who led the coup d’Etat and who is currently head of the CNSP military Junta received his military training at the National Defense University’s (NDU) College of International Security Affairs (CISA). CISA is the U.S. Department of Defense’s “flagship for education and building of partner capacity in combating terrorism, irregular warfare, and integrated deterrence at the strategic level” (emphasis added)
Brig. General Barmou who currently represents the military junta undertook his military training in the U.S. at Fort Moore, Columbus, Georgia and at the National Defense University (ND)
Brig. General Barmou and his team are categorized by The Wall Street Journal as “the good guys”:
“At Center of Niger’s Coup Is One of America’s Favorite Generals…[General Barmou]”. In the words of Victoria Nuland (August 7, 2023):
“... General Barmou, former Colonel Barmou, is somebody who has worked very closely with U.S. Special Forces over many, many years.”
Tacitly acknowledged by US Deputy Secretary of State Nuland, both General A. Tiani and Brig. General Barmou in terms of their military profile and background are “friends of America”.
Would these “good guys” –who have the “NeoCon blessing” of Victoria Nuland— lead a genuine grassroots movement against U.S. imperialism? The answer is obvious!
What should be understood, is that Paris exerts its neo-colonial influence within ECOWAS, whereas Washington controls both sides. i.e. ECOWAS as well as Niger’s CNSP Military Junta. It also controls numerous African governments throughout the continent.
Visibly there is a clash between the U.S. and France, barely acknowledged by media reports. What is unfolding is the creation of political divisions within West Africa, which could potentially lead to Armed Conflict.
Most analysts have failed to acknowledge that the CNSP military Junta has a close relationship with the Pentagon. The Biden administration has casually refused to describe the ouster of President M. Barmou as a “coup d’Etat” or a “regime change”.
Remember The 2013 Protest Movement in Egypt which was also characterized by a mass protest movement (which was the object of manipulation):
“The media has portrayed the Egyptian armed forces as broadly “supportive” of the protest movement, without addressing the close relationship between the leaders behind the military coup and their US counterparts.
Let us be under no illusions. While there are important divisions within the military, Egypt’s top brass ultimately take their orders from the Pentagon.
Defense Minister General Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi, who instigated the Coup d’Etat directed against President Morsi is a graduate of the US War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
General Al Sisi was in permanent liaison by telephone with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel from the very outset of the protest movement. (Michel Chossudovsky, July 4, 2013)
Washington’s Unspoken Objective is to “Remove France from Africa”
The deposed president Mohamed Bazoum has the support of France’s President Emmanuel Macron. Bazoum has been removed by a military Junta which is directly supported by the Pentagon.
The unspoken objective of Victoria Nuland’s mission [August 7, 2023] was to ultimately “negotiate”, of course unofficially Niamey’s “alignment” with Washington against Paris”. This objective has in substance been achieved.
Moreover “USAFRICOM has a military base in Niger. The US military has been routinely collaborating with their Nigerien counterparts who are now operating under the auspices of the CNSP Military Junta.
In 2022, Mali and Burkina Faso Had Already “Set the Stage”. Cut Ties with France
Chronology of Military Coups
Mali: May 24, 2021, Colonel Assimi Goita
Burkina Faso: September 30, 2022. Captain Ibrahim Traoré
Niger: July 26, 2023, General Abdourahamane Tiani
Mali
Despite his anti-colonial rhetoric largely directed against France, Mali’s (Interim) Head of State Colonel Assimi Goita is also a faithful instrument of the Pentagon. He received his military training in the US, while also actively collaborating with the U.S. Army Special Forces (“Green Berets”). Confirmed by the WP, Colonel Assimi Goita participated in a USAFRICOM training program known as Flintstock. He has also studied at the Joint Special Operations University at the MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.
It is worth noting that in late January 2022, The Republic of Mali led by Colonel Assimi Goita –who is a “friend of America” as well as an instrument of the Pentagon– had already in set the stage for “Removing France from Africa”.
Colonel Assimi Goita (image above: second from Left) issued a directive to “end diplomatic, military and economic ties with France”. He also confirmed an end of Mali’s ECOWAS membership.
Concurrently, he announced that French was to be abolished as Mali’s official language.
That reminds me of Rwanda under Paul Kagame which –starting in the late 1990s– became an English speaking “US Protectorate” in Central Africa. (See Annex entitled a Brief History of US-France Relations)
Burkina Faso
In Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré (left) came to power in a military coup (September 30, 2022). Upon his confirmation as Head of the Military Junta on October 5, 2022, he ordered the withdrawal of French forces.
A similar pattern seems to be unfolding in Niger?
In recent developments, the CNSP military Junta requested the French Ambassador Sylvain Itte to leave Niger within 48 hours.
In turn, both Mali and Burkina Faso have confirmed their commitment to sending troops to Niger if required. They have fully endorsed Niger’s CNSP Military Junta.
The Role of Victoria Nuland
Victoria Nuland acting on behalf of the Biden Administration has played a key role. She was in Niamey on August 7-8, 2023 for meetings with the Military Junta (see above) as well as on an earlier “interagency delegation” last year to Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. (October 16-23, 2022).
Ironically, the Burkina Faso military coup led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré occurred less than 3 weeks prior to Victoria Nuland’s mission to The Sahel:
“We went to the region in force. We were looking, in particular, at how the U.S. strategy towards the Sahel is working. This is a strategy that we put in place about a year ago to try to bring more coherence to our efforts to support increased security, …
In Burkina, in Niger, and in Mauritania, we are working very closely with those militaries, with their gendarmerie, with their counterterrorist forces to support them in their effort to push back and protect their populations from this poison in Mali.” (Victoria Nuland, quoted in Rollingstone, February 2023)
To the People of Africa. In Solidarity
In a bitter irony, the process of “French Decolonization” (i.e “Paris out of Africa”) does not ensure the instatement of democratic forms of government. Quite the opposite, it tends to favor the hegemonic development of U.S. neocolonialism and the militarization of the African continent, which must be forcefully opposed.
A pattern of US militarization (coupled with the imposition of neoliberal “shock treatment” macro-economic policies), has unfolded in several francophone countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
[First published on August 24, 2023, revised and updated on August 28, 2023]
By , August 20, 2023
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