Category: A Victory!
The Pentagon announced Monday that it had finished withdrawing U.S. forces from a $110 million military base in Niger, Africa, as the nation’s ruling regime takes over.
Niger’s Air Base 201 previously hosted hundreds of U.S. troops who have now evacuated at the request of the country’s military junta. The Pentagon said in a statement on Monday that all remaining forces and assets at the base have been withdrawn as final evacuation efforts come to a close.
“This effort began on May 19 following the mutual establishment of withdrawal conditions and coordination will continue between U.S. and Nigerien armed forces over the coming weeks to ensure the full withdrawal is complete as planned,” a statement from the Pentagon reads. “The effective cooperation and communication between the U.S. and Nigerien armed forces ensured that this turnover was finished ahead of schedule and without complications.”
American soldiers in front of military vehicles that they are preparing to board a cargo plane in Niamey on June 7, 2024 during the ceremony for the first departure of American troops from Niger. (Photo by BOUREIMA HAMA/AFP via Getty Images)
Some U.S. troops will remain at the U.S. Embassy in Niger while final withdrawal operations are completed in the coming weeks, according to The New York Times. Some equipment from Air Base 201 was shipped out, such as weaponry, but other equipment was left behind.
The U.S. relationship with Niger began to unravel after the country’s military regime toppled the democratic system in mid-2023, sending the nation spiraling into chaos. The regime was adamant that it did not want the U.S. to maintain a presence in Niger and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
Attempts to negotiate with the military regime largely failed as the country became increasingly hostile to troops stationed in the country. Officials issued a formal order in May to begin evacuating U.S. forces over the coming months, with the last of troops expected to depart from Niger by mid-September, according to the Times.
Some prominent U.S. defense officials argue that not having forces in Niger limits the U.S.’ ability to conduct counterterrorism operations against extremist and terrorist groups in the Sahel region.
TOPSHOT – Niger’s security officers stand guard as supporters of Niger’s National Council of Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) gather oustide Niger and French airbase in Niamey on September 3, 2023, to demand the departure of the French army from Niger. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
“This does make safeguarding U.S. security interests in the Sahel that much harder,” Maj. Gen. Kenneth P. Ekman of the Air Force, tasked with overseeing the withdrawal, told the Times in July. “The threats from ISIS and Al Qaeda in the region are getting worse every day.”
However, some defense experts and former U.S. officials who previously spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation believed that withdrawing forces from Niger was the right decision, given that they were falling under an increasing amount of danger from the country’s hostile government and population. Boots on the ground are not necessarily needed to conduct counterterrorism operations, as the U.S. has other extensive military and intelligence capabilities, experts told the DCNF.
“What the [Biden administration] was not understanding, is that these guys are cold-blooded. This new government in Niger? They don’t care. They do not want the United States involved in their country,” Michael DiMino, a former CIA official and senior fellow at Defense Priorities, told the DCNF. “There was this denialism for several months that, ‘We can salvage this, we did fix this.’”
The Pentagon and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gee, just another thing that the US Media has missed AGAIN!!! Why am I so not surprised by this? Grumpy
Vincent Hancock, right, celebrates a gold, and Conner Prince, left, the silver for Men’s Skeet in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. USA Shooting photoIt’s a wrap for the shooting events at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the world saw phenomenal shooting with five new Olympic records set in 14 different medal events and 42 medals up for grabs. China showed they are currently the ones to beat winning the most shooting medals in Paris with 10 including five gold, two silver and three bronze.
The USA (one gold, three silver, one bronze) and Korea (two gold, three silver) were next with five medals each and Italy followed suit with four medals (one gold, two silver, one bronze). India, Switzerland and Guatemala each joined the countries earning more than one medal with two apiece.
The USA saw veteran skeet shooter, Vincent Hancock, become one of only six competitors in Olympic history to win four gold medals in the same event. He joins Al Oerter (USA, discus), Paul Elvstrom (Denmark, sailing one-person class), Carl Lewis (USA, long jump), Michael Phelps (USA, 200m individual medley), and Mijain Lopez (Cuba, Greco-Roman heavyweight) to accomplish the feat and is the first Olympic shooter to do so. He won gold medals in 2008 in Beijing, in 2012 in London, in 2020 in Tokyo and now in 2024 in Paris. He also won a silver medal for his participation and finish in the Skeet Mixed Team competition.
USA Shooting Olympic Highlights
Here are more USA Shooting highlights from Paris:
- Sagen Maddalena, earned the first medal for USA in the 2024 Olympics when she won a silver medal in the Women’s 50m Smallbore Rifle. Maddalena, from Groveland, California, is a sergeant in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and a University of Alaska Fairbanks alumna. She previously competed in Tokyo 2020, placing fifth.
- Conner Prince from Burleson, Texas, made his Olympic debut in Paris 2024 where he won silver in Men’s Skeet finishing right behind Hancock. Besides being his first Olympic medal in his first Olympics, it also marked the first time the USA secured more than one medal in Men’s Skeet at an Olympic Games. Prince’s performance, which included tying the Olympic qualification record, was a significant achievement.
- Austen Smith from Keller, Texas, is a University of Texas at Arlington student and a seasoned international shooter with over 20 medals. She made her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020, finishing 10th. She won bronze in Women’s Skeet in Paris this year for her first Olympic medal and followed it up with a silver while paired up with Hancock competing in the Skeet Mixed Team event.
Olympic Shooting Went Viral
Olympic shooters in 2024 also became brief internet sensations with their style and approach to their games with Korean shooter, Kim Yeji, 31, landing attention for the aura of cool she projected when competing and winning a silver in the 10m Air Pistol event. While Turkish shooter, Yusef Dikec, rolling in with regular looking glasses, a white Turkish t-shirt, no muffs, gray hair and just hanging back with one hand in his pocket and the other driving tacks from his air pistol, looked more like a guy who got disturbed from reading a book and asked if he wanted to compete in a shooting event. Dikec, 51, a former officer in the Turkish Gendarmerie, won a silver along with Sevval Ilayda Tarhan in the Mixed Team 10m Air Pistol. But not until after he had already been featured in countless memes and videos on X, Instagram and YouTube. He has competed in every Olympics since 2008.
Olympic Shooting Records Broken and Tied
Five Olympic shooting records were broken and two were tied during the games as well, as reported by the Associated Press:
- Chiara Leone of Switzerland scored a 464.4 in the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Position final, breaking the Olympic record of 463.9 set by fellow Swiss shooter Nina Christen at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
- Adriana Ruano of Guatemala hit 45 of 50 targets in women’s Trap to break the Olympic record of 43 set by Rehak Stefecekova of Slovakia at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
- Nathan Hales of Britain scored a 48 in men’s Trap, breaking the Olympic record of 43 set by Jiri Liptak and David Kosteleck at the Tokyo Games in 2021, during the gold medal round.
- Sheng Lihao of China scored 252 in men’s 10m Air Rifle, breaking the Olympic record of 251.6 set by William Shaner of the United States at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
- Ban Hyojin of South Korea and Huang Yuting of China each scored a 251.8 in women’s Team 10m Air Rifle to tie the Olympic record set by China’s Yang Qian at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
- Yusef Dikec and Ilayda Tarhan of Turkey scored a 582 in Mixed Team 10m Air Pistol to tie the Olympic record set by India’s Manu Bhaker and Chaudhary Saurabh at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
- Oh Ye Jin of South Korea scored a 243.2 in women’s 10m Air Pistol, breaking the Olympic record of 240.3 set by Vitalina Batsarashkina of the Russian Olympic Committee at the Tokyo Games in 2021. Roommate Kim Yeji also surpassed the previous mark with her score of 241.3 and won the silver medal in that event.
Complete Olympic Shooting Results
Following is a complete rundown of the 2024 Paris Olympic shooting events and medal winners:
10m Air Rifle Mixed Team
Gold: China
Silver: Korea
Bronze: Kazakhstan
10m Air Pistol Men
Gold: China – Xie Yu
Silver: Italy – Federico Nilo Maldini
Bronze: Italy – Paolo Monna
10m Air Pistol Women
Gold: Korea – Oh Ye Jin
Silver: Korea – Kim Yeji
Bronze: India – Manu Bhaker
10m Air Rifle Women
Gold: Korea – Ban Hyojin
Silver: China – Huang Yuting
Bronze: Switzerland – Audrey Gogniat
10m Air Rifle Men
Gold: China – Sheng Lihao
Silver: Sweden – Victor Lindgren
Bronze: Croatia – Miran Maricic
Trap Men
Gold: Great Britain – Nathan Hales
Silver: China – Qi Ying
Bronze: Guatemala – Jean Pierre Brol Cardenas
Trap Women
Gold: Guatemala – Adriana Ruano Oliva
Silver: Italy – Silvana Maria Stanco
Bronze: Australia – Penny Smith
50m Rifle 3 Position Men
Gold: China – Liu Yukun
Silver: Ukraine – Serhiy Kulish
Bronze: India – Swapnil Kusale
50m Rifle 3 Position Women
Gold: Switzerland – Chiara Leone
Silver: USA – Sagen Maddalena (first medal for U.S. Shooting at the Olympics)
Bronze: China – Zhang Qiongyue
25m Pistol Women
Gold: Korea – Yang Jiin
Silver: France – Camille Jedrzejewski
Bronze: Hungary – Veronika Major
Skeet Men
Gold: USA – Vincent Hancock (first shooting gold medal and record set)
Silver: USA – Connor Prince (Prince’s first medal)
Bronze: Taipei – Lee Meng Yuan
Skeet Women
Gold: Chile – Francisca Crovetto Chadid
Silver: Great Britain – Amber Jo Rutter
Bronze: USA – Austen Smith
25M Rapid Fire Pistol Men
Gold: China – Li Yuehong
Silver: Korea – Cho Yeongjae
Bronze: China – Wang Xinjie
Skeet Mixed Team
Gold: Italy
Silver: USA (Vincent Hancock & Austin Jewell Smith
Bronze: China
Absent from Competition
An obvious absence among the medal winners is Russia , always a nemesis in the Olympics for the USA, even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia was banned, along with Belarus, from this year’s games by the IOC for their country’s involvement in the war in Ukraine. Their athletes can still technically compete as Individual Neutral Athletes, but not under their nation’s flags.
Correction: The winner of the Women’s Skeet medal event was incorrectly identified and should be from Chile, not China. China also won 10 medals, not 11 and only five gold, not six. Russian and Belarus was banned from competition, not their athletes. Athletes can still compete as Individual Neutral Athletes without a country as their designation. This story updated Aug. 5 at 11:17 EST.