Another illegal war: Obama creating drone base in Niger

In a letter yesterday, President Obama informed Congress that 40 troops, mostly Air Force logistics specialists, have been sent to Niger to establish a new drone base that will run surveillance in west Africa. The drones will support the French-led efforts against extremists in Mali, and is the latest maneuver in a steady US military build-up on the continent.

Gawker - Niger signed a "status-of-forces" agreement last month that paved the way for greater American involvement inside of the large, poor strategically-located African country. However, while they might start as strictly surveillance, African Command has left the door open for more deadly use of the drones:

For now, American officials said, Predator drones will be unarmed and will fly only on surveillance missions, although they have not ruled out conducting missile strikes at some point if the threat worsens.