What Dixie Can Learn from Niger

[U]S foreign relations continue to be a dumpster fire around the world, which is causing many countries to rethink their ties with the DC FedGov.  This should be both a rebuke and spur for the South – a rebuke, for most of our people seem content to remain united to the DC ‘sewer,’ as Dr. Wilson put it recently; a spur, to separate from that corrupt capital. 
 
Niger, a country in north-central Africa (capital city – Niamey), is one of the latest to tell the Yankee Empire to hit the road.  Prime Minister Zeine’s discussion of why they have done so reveals typical Yankee smugness at work: 

Niger’s decision to scrap military ties with the US was in response to threats made by American officials during negotiations, the West African nation’s prime minister, Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, said in an interview published by the Washington Post on Tuesday. 
 
Zeine repeated allegations that a senior US delegation, including Molly Phee – the State Department’s top official for African affairs – who was in Niamey in March to negotiate the renewal of a decade-old defense agreement, attempted to dictate which countries should be Niger’s partners. 
 
During the meeting, Phee warned the Sahel state against engaging with Iran and Russia at levels that were unacceptable to Washington if it wanted to maintain the US as a security partner, according to the Nigerien prime minister. 
 
Phee also threatened sanctions if Niger pursued a deal to sell uranium to Iran, he reportedly added. ​

The threats didn’t sit well with the Nigeriens, who responded with a mixture of politeness and frankness that any Southerner would approve of: ​

“When she finished, I said, Madame, I am going to summarize in two points what you have said. First, you have come here to threaten us in our country. That is unacceptable. And you have come here to tell us with whom we can have relationships, which is also unacceptable. And you have done it all with a condescending tone and a lack of respect,” Zeine said. 
 
Niamey’s military government canceled its security agreement, which had allowed 1,000 US soldiers and civilian contractors to operate in Niger, in mid-March, just days after the encounter with the American delegation. ​

And, echoing the Declaration of Independence, he denounces the Empire’s quartering of troops in Niger while at the same time allowing lawless men to run about without hindrance: ​

Zeine told the Washington Post that Niamey’s authorities were “bewildered” that the US insisted on keeping its troops in the country while denying Nigerien troops additional support, including military equipment to counter extremist attacks. 
 
“The Americans stayed on our soil, doing nothing while the terrorists killed people and burned towns,” Zeine said. 
 
“It is not a sign of friendship to come on our soil but let the terrorists attack us. We have seen what the United States will do to defend its allies, because we have seen Ukraine and Israel,” he added. 
 ​

The decrepit French Empire also faced reprisals from Niger for its meddling in Nigerien affairs: ​

France withdrew its troops from Niger in December after Niamey ordered them out for allegedly failing to combat the jihadist insurgency in the Sahel. The authorities also accused the former colonial power of aggressive behavior and internal meddling. ​

These experiences have resulted in Niger looking to new countries for assistance: ​

The landlocked country has turned to Moscow for security assistance, with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirming earlier this month that Russian forces were sharing a base with American troops in Niger. Russian military instructors are reportedly in Niamey to train the national army in counterterrorism tactics, as American troops are scheduled to leave the African country in the coming months, as demanded by the government. ​

Here at the South, we are experiencing the very same problems from an aggressive, arrogant, Yankee-dominated DC that Niger has, but our response thus far hasn’t been nearly as forceful as Niger’s.  The federal government wants to dictate to the Southern States on things ranging from what cars we can drive to transgender rights in public schools to the maps of our congressional districts, while they fail in one of the most basic governmental functions (public safety) by allowing millions of illegal immigrants to flood into the States.  Where is our will to counter these threats and survive as a Christian people? 
 
There are some glimmers of hope, as Gov Abbott and the Texas Legislature have made some moves to secure their State’s border, while other Southern States have bluntly said they will not comply with the Biden regime’s transgender rewrite of Title IX and have initiated some lawfare over it. 
 
Still, the main problem is spiritual:  Too many Southerners remain under the spell of the notion of a mystical, unbreakable union of the States and the exceptionalism of this union in world history.  Until we reject these false ideas, unite around the Christian Faith and our Southern patrimony, and seek out Christian and traditionalist allies in the world, we will continue to suffocate beneath Yankee/globalist culture and politics. 
 
The actions of Niger ought to inspire Southrons:  It is possible to break free from the tentacles of DC.  And having done so, should the Lord allow it, may our love for our Southland never wane again as it has so lamentably over the last several decades but remain fervent forever. 
 ​