French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday, during an interview with France’s TF1 and France 2 television stations, that it would end its military cooperation with Niger and pull its 1,500 troops out of the African country by the end of the year.
“It will be organized over time, in the weeks to come — but it is the end of this cooperation because we are not here to participate in political life, to be hostages in some way to the putschists,” he said of the decision to leave.
The announcement came months after Niger’s presidential guard detained ousted president Mohamed Bazoum and presidential guard commander Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani proclaimed himself leader of a new military junta.
Macron said he still regards Bazoum, currently being held prisoner by coup leader, as the country’s legitimate leader and had informed him of France’s decision to leave the country.
We will see more of this in coming months and in the year(s) ahead. The US, with more than 800 military bases around the globe, must be similarly forced to leave other nations that it has colonized.
Empires are a contradiction in nature. Old crumbling castles and fortresses from empires in the distant past are testimonies to this truth.
We all have a role to play to bring these changes into fruition.
Let's bring our war money home and take care of our people and our own lands. Let's clean up the environment and provide health care, public transportation, healthy food, good quality education for the future generations and jobs that people for once can be proud of.
Now we must follow the good examples set by the people of Niger and other struggling African nations that are evicting their colonial masters.
Finally, we must decolonize our own minds.
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