this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
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French military has been working with Niger's military for quite me time, actually placing French soldiers under the commandment of Niger's generals in their fight against Islamists. They will only act if the mob attacks French nationals, who are in the hundreds.
Niger is going to need a healthy dose of freedom and democracy to make sure that France can keep getting the uranium it needs to run its reactors.
Nah, they will gladly let Russia take the lead of imperialism and dictatorship. France had enough of that shit already and can find other suppliers for uranium. Also, let them deal with islamists, education needs, health care and all the costly help that democracies have supplied over the years.
It seems France didn't have enough otherwise they would free the colonies they still have and pay reparations for hundreds of years of imperialism and colonisation.
In recent history, every otherseas territory that demanded independence was able to hold a (up to 3) referendum. Most territories that had those referendums chose to leave but not all. People there have been French with equal rights for decades or centuries. The world is nor black and white my friend.
Do you know similar things happen in Ukraine no? I guess one is a bad empire and the other one is a good, white empire. Stop giving excuses and free the colonies.
Whatever, virtue is on your side and you know better.
I'm just pointing out that filling a land with settlers and then doing a referendum to see what they prefer is not an argument. I was pointing out the duality, because if I were to say that in Crimea they say they want to belong to Russia you would tell me x, y or z, but if the same happens in a Western colony you defend them. Seems hypocrite.
If you are trying to have a fair conversation, you have to understand that each territory is different with a specific history and specific dynamics.
Algeria for example was a French colony with +1 million people from European origin living there for 100+ years. Those colons were opposed to equal rights and got what they deserved, i.e. they got kicked out. The 20 yo soldiers that are sent there and had to do horrible things never asked to fight for this apartheid regime. The country got its independence because the vast majority of people from France mainland didn't want the war to go on. Algerian people who wanted to stay French were slaughtered by the new independent government.
When you take Caribbean island, the indigenous population was exterminated by the colons. People who live there are all descendent from slaves and colons. The land belongs neither to the white nor to the mixed-race (there is no black population that was not mixed). Who should France grant independence to? Also, nobody is asking for those territories to become independent.
When it comes to New Caledonia, there was a lengthy process to grant 3 independence referendums. There was no recent transfer of population from the metropole to the territory. Yet, the majority voted to stay French. If you grant independence to the territory against the will of the majority of the people, what are to you doing with people who want to stay French? Ship them across the globe to a place they don't know and where they don't have any connection?
When you take the Comores, the population voted to become independent except from Mayotte. Now people are leaving the archipelago by the thousands each year to reach Mayotte where the population is enjoying much higher living standards
Now Crimea. Ukraine didn't give less rights to Russian nationals or the Russophone Ukrainians. Both communities could have lived with equal rights under the Ukrainian government but no. Putin decided that he needed a foreign enemy to strengthen his grip on hus country.
I am not says ng that France's motives have always been noble but please don't tell me that European democracies are on the same level as Russia when it comes to the respect of individual rights and the liberty of people to chose their own government.
Nigerians don't seem very happy with all that "costly help supplied by French democracy". If history is any indicator, that deal wasn't something beneficial for all parties involved.
If even Italian right wingers can call you out on your neo-colonialist shit you're either bad at PR or you're actually still a colonizer.
None of your arguments makes sense by I agree France should have left the Sahel long ago. The islamist attacks of the mid-2010s brought them back for security reasons, they'll leave for security reasons. My point about Russia and Wagner stands.
hilarious