WALL STREET JOURNAL: The U.S. signed an agreement Monday with the West African country of Niger that clears the way for a stepped-up American military presence on the edges of the conflict in neighboring Mali.
The U.S. and France are moving to create an intelligence hub in Niger that could include a base, near Mali’s border, for American drones that could monitor al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali’s vast desert north, U.S. officials said.
The moves show the extent to which the U.S. and France are girding for what could be an open-ended campaign against the militants in North and West Africa… (more)
