Military intervention in Niger unlikely, says Ghana’s top Army officer

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Brig. Gen. Huber’s title. She is the assistant adjutant general for the North Dakota National Guard.

WASHINGTON ― A West African union is considering diplomatic options in response to the July coup in Niger that ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, the head of Ghana’s Army Staff told Defense News on Monday.

But Maj. Gen. Thomas Oppong-Peprah also noted a “military assessment” is underway to examine a possible armed intervention in Niger, a prospect the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, first floated in August after the bloc’s defense chiefs met in Ghana.

“What the regional body is doing is to explore diplomatic avenues to solve the problem,” Oppong-Peprah said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. “Concurrently, the military is also doing some military assessment. And I believe that the regional body will succeed in the diplomatic effort so we don’t go to war.”

ECOWAS expelled Niger from the bloc shortly after Bazoum’s ouster and threatened military intervention unless the military junta released the deposed president. The ECOWAS threats failed to sway the junta in Niger, which instead said it would prosecute Bazoum on charges of “high treason.”

Niger is the latest country in West Africa to succumb to a spate of military coups in recent years, a trend that has posed questions about the future of U.S. military cooperation and counterterrorism objectives in the area.

The problem poses a particular challenge for U.S. counterterrorism operations in Niger.

U.S. Africa Command in September repositioned assets and personnel away from the capital Niamey to Agadez, which is roughly 570 miles away.

“We’ve been activated twice this year already as a joint task force,” Maj. Gen. Todd Wasmund, the commander of U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa said at the AUSA conference. “The first time was in April in response to the instability in Sudan, and we are currently activated as a joint task force in response to the coup that occurred in Niger.”

Wasmund told Defense News the joint task force was created to protect U.S. citizens and interests in Niger following Bazoum’s ouster, noting that “we worked with the junta in order to facilitate conditions that lead to stability.”

“And we hope that it leads to us being able to continue or to resume our activities together in order to achieve stability, security and our shared interests,” he said.

Wasmund said U.S. security cooperation “will always be reevaluated when we have an extra-constitutional change of government” but added the Army “remains committed to conducting counterterrorism activities because it’s in the interest of the United States.”

In the meantime, the Army continues collaborating with its democratic African partners as well. Brig. Gen. Jackie Huber, the assistant adjutant general for the North Dakota National Guard, noted that the state has had a military partnership exchange program with Ghana for nearly 20 years.

For instance, the North Dakota National Guard simulated an earthquake response with Ghanian forces last year, and it helps develop Ghana’s noncommissioned officer corps.

“Presently we are engaged in six peacekeeping operations,” Oppong-Peprah said. “So the help that we get from North Dakota is really immense and beneficial to us.”

Bryant Harris is the Congress reporter for Defense News. He has covered U.S. foreign policy, national security, international affairs and politics in Washington since 2014. He has also written for Foreign Policy, Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English and IPS News.

更正：此前版本误报了胡贝尔准将的头衔。她是北达科他州国民警卫队的助理副官长。

华盛顿——加纳陆军参谋长周一告诉《防务新闻》，西非联盟正在考虑采取外交手段，以应对7月份尼日尔发生的政变，该政变推翻了民选总统穆罕默德·巴祖姆。

但托马斯·奥蓬-佩普拉少将也指出，目前正在进行一项“军事评估”，以研究对尼日尔进行武装干预的可能性。西非国家经济共同体（西非经共体）在8​​月份该集团国防部长于加纳举行会议后，首次提出了这一前景。

奥蓬-佩普拉在美国陆军协会年会上表示：“区域机构正在探索通过外交途径解决问题。与此同时，军方也在进行一些军事评估。我相信区域机构的外交努力会取得成功，从而避免战争。”

巴祖姆被罢黜后不久，西非国家经济共同体（西非经共体）便将尼日尔逐出该组织，并威胁称，除非尼日尔军政府释放这位被罢黜的总统，否则将进行军事干预。然而，西非经共体的威胁并未动摇尼日尔军政府的决心，军政府反而表示将以“叛国罪”起诉巴祖姆。

尼日尔是近年来西非地区最新一个遭受一系列军事政变的国家，这一趋势引发了人们对美国在该地区军事合作和反恐目标未来的质疑。

这个问题对美国在尼日尔的反恐行动构成了特殊的挑战。

美国非洲司令部于 9 月将资产和人员从首都尼亚美重新部署到约 570 英里外的阿加德兹。

“今年我们已经两次被启动联合特遣部队，”美国陆军南欧特遣部队非洲司令托德·瓦斯蒙德少将在美军美国协会会议上表示。“第一次是在4月份，为了应对苏丹的动荡局势；目前我们再次启动联合特遣部队，是为了应对尼日尔发生的政变。”

瓦斯蒙德告诉《防务新闻》，在巴祖姆被推翻后，成立了联合特遣部队，以保护美国公民和在尼日尔的利益。他指出，“我们与军政府合作，以创造有利于稳定的条件。”

“我们希望这能让我们继续或恢复共同活动，以实现稳定、安全和我们的共同利益，”他说。

瓦斯蒙德表示，美国的安全合作“总会在发生宪法之外的政府更迭时重新评估”，但他补充说，陆军“仍然致力于开展反恐活动，因为这符合美国的利益”。

与此同时，陆军也继续与其非洲民主伙伴开展合作。北达科他州国民警卫队助理副官长杰基·胡贝尔准将指出，该州与加纳的军事伙伴关系交流项目已开展近20年。

例如，去年北达科他州国民警卫队与加纳军队进行了地震应急演练，这有助于加纳士官队伍的发展。

奥蓬-佩普拉说：“目前我们正在参与六项维和行动。因此，我们从北达科他州获得的帮助对我们来说是巨大的，也是非常有益的。”

布莱恩特·哈里斯是《防务新闻》的国会记者。自2014年以来，他一直在华盛顿报道美国外交政策、国家安全、国际事务和政治。他还曾为《外交政策》、《Al-Monitor》、《半岛电视台英语频道》和IPS新闻撰稿。