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The Uranium Coup by Michael Carmichael PDF Print E-mail
graysonFebruary 21, 2010

In yet another odd coincidence, Alan Grayson led a Congressional delegation that just happened to be in Niger at the time of the recent military coup last Thursday that deposed the legitimate elected government of the Uranium-rich nation. 


The official story is that the members of Congress were focused on science, technology and humanitarian relief - at the very same time that the military coup was unfolding on the streets of the capital, Niamey. 

This intriguing "coincidence" raises the question:  Was this Congressional presence during a military coup another instance of a massive intelligence failure or something entirely different?

Niger is a landlocked African country with a population of 15 million mostly Islamic citizens.  Niger has a relatively small military that consumes a mere 1.6% of its annual budget. 

When the Grayson delegation reached Niamey, the military staged a coup d'etat to displace the elected government of President Tandja Mamadou who had raised some concerns by moves to introduce reforms and revise the constitution as well as to extend his term in office.

mapNiger is rich in Uranium holding at least 6% of global reserves - a figure that is twice as large as US Uranium deposits.  The radioactive mineral constitutes 72% of national exports.  In recent years, foreign corporations have invested billions into the Uranium-driven economy of Niger.

The military coup was allegedly led by a relatively low-level Platoon Commander Salou Djibo who held an official briefing during which he maintained silence about any future return to Niger's constitutional democracy.

Djibo is the now the leader of a 'Supreme Council' of army officials that currently constitutes the military junta governing the Uranium-rich nation.

Following Djibo's coup, the UN promptly condemned the military takeover, and the African Union immediately expelled Niger.  France, Niger's former colonial overlord, condemned the coup, but the official American reaction struck a distinctly different chord when US State Department Spokesman, P. J. Crowley, briefed reporters that President Tandja may have triggered the coup himself by, "trying to extend his mandate."

The simultaneous presence of a US Congressional delegation in a uranium-rich Muslim nation at the time of a right-wing military coup is bound to arouse international scrutiny -- especially when official spokesmen in Washington are the sole sources to rationalize -- if not defend -- the military action against the elected government of Niger.

Grayson is a member of the Science and Technology Committee that has jurisdiction over non-defense (ie. non-military) federal scientific research and development including NASA, FEMA and the Department of Energy.  Grayson is a progressive on domestic issues, but he performs disappointingly on foreign policy where Max Blumenthal has pointed out that he follows the AIPAC line on Israel and the Middle East - because he supported Israel's Operation Cast Lead and a pro-Israel position vis a vis Iran, an Islamic nation currently developing nuclear energy.

At this point in time, no other names of the members of the "Congressional delegation" led by Alan Grayson have been released raising deeper questions about the Uranium Coup.


Michael Carmichael is the founder of Planetary.

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Comments (1)Add Comment
Obama's Apologies
written by Harold Pulley, March 13, 2010
The Right Wing in my part of North Carolina are primarily "Red Neck" Republicans. This is a population which feels that African-Americans against which they have to compete are "Welfare Refugees". It is to this mindset that the post-Helms Republicans pitch their message that the Healthcare Bill, with its many give-aways to the Insurance Companies and therefore many imperfections, before Congress will be paid for by working class white males, who tend to be Republicans. The Right Wing also boot-strap such claims with another--American has NOTHING to apologize for! Therefore, an American President who tells post colonial countries that our Government has not only interfered in their internal affairs but has, primarily through the agies of the CIA, deposed governments popularly elected by its people and either put in place a CIA puppet goverment or one quite willing to do Americas will, usually with significant financial rewards. It is sad that Niger, identified as the source of Saddam Houssein's uranium for a weapon of mass destruction, was fraudently used as a pretext for leading the American People and its Loyal Military into a war which benefitted Hailburton--a corporation with close ties to the sitting Vice-President; at the blood and expense of the American People. No need for apologies? With the coup in Niger, here we go again, BACK to the fifties and sixties!

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