U.S. Congressmen Matt Gaetz (FL-01) and Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) Wednesday sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, expressing concerns over the provision of inaccurate information to Congress regarding the withdrawal of over 1,000 U.S. troops from Niger earlier this year.
According to the lawmakers, on March 21, 2024, Dr. Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary for Defense for International Security Affairs, testified inaccurately during a House Committee on Armed Services (HASC) hearing, stating that Niger “has not asked or demanded” that the U.S. military leave the country.
However, a subsequent response from the Department of State (DoS) on July 9, 2024, to an April inquiry by Rep. Gaetz, contradicted this statement.
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The DoS confirmed receiving “a diplomatic note” from the government of Niger on March 19, 2024, terminating the agreement that allowed U.S. military presence and revoking access to facilities, effectively requesting the U.S. to withdraw.
The discrepancy between Dr. Wallander’s testimony and the diplomatic communication received by the DoS has prompted Congressmen Gaetz and Panetta to seek clarification and accountability from both the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of State (DoS) to ensure accurate information is conveyed to Congress in the future.
In April of this year, Gaetz claimed victory after the Pentagon declared that it was pulling nearly 1,100 troops out of Niger.
Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican, spotlighted how those troops were increasingly abandoned by the Biden administration — even as Niger’s regime was becoming more anti-American.
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“Today, the Biden Administration has announced they will be pulling 1,100 troops out of Niger following my report earlier this week. For too long, the Biden administration has allowed our troops in Niger to languish while it has tried to cover up reality and avoid embarrassment. This is yet another extraordinary Biden foreign policy failure,” Gaetz wrote in April on X.
“I fear the administration will handle this withdrawal similarly to the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Gaetz continued.
“The safety and security of all service members must be our top priority in this time of transition. I look forward to the administration’s thorough brief on the basis for this decision and their plan for the path forward, our troops deserve as much.”
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Niger’s ruling military cadre announced in March that it had revoked a deal with the U.S. to allow military and civilian Defense Department personnel to deploy in the nation. The agreement has existed since at least 2012.
The U.S. built a $100 million airbase in central Niger to conduct drone strikes against militants associated with the Islamic State and al-Qaida terrorist groups.
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