“@JameelJaffer: Where we used to send the Peace Corps, now we send Predators. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/world/africa/in-niger-us-troops-set-up-drone-base.html?hp&_r=0 …”
The New York Times 
9:16 p.m. - Feb 22, 2013 · Details
New Drone Base in Niger Builds U.S. Presence in Africa
By ERIC SCHMITT and SCOTT SAYARE
Published: February 22, 2013 79 Comments
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WASHINGTON — Opening a new front in the drone wars against Al Qaeda and its affiliates, President Obama announced on Friday that about 100 American troops had been sent to Niger in West Africa to help set up a new base from which unarmed Predator aircraft would conduct surveillance in the region.
Joel Saget/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
A Malian soldier discovered the body of an Islamist in Gao on Friday, where fighting has flared in recent days.
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The new drone base, located for now in the capital, Niamey, is an indication of the priority Africa has become in American antiterrorism efforts. The United States military has a limited presence in Africa, with only one permanent base, in Djibouti, more than 3,000 miles fromMali, where insurgents had taken over half the country until repelled by a French-led force.
In a letter to Congress, Mr. Obama said about 40 United States military service members arrived in Niger on Wednesday, bringing the total number of those deployed in the country to about 100 people. A military official said the troops were largely Air Force logistics specialists, intelligence analysts and security officers.
Mr. Obama said the troops, who are armed for self-protection, would support the French-led operation that last month drove the Qaeda and affiliated fighters out of a desert refuge the size of Texas in neighboring Mali.
Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, signed a status-of-forces agreement last month with the United States that has cleared the way for greater American military involvement in the country and has provided legal protection to American troops there.
