"The newest outpost in the U.S. government's empire of drone
bases sits behind a razor-wire-topped wall outside this West African capital,
blasted by 110-degree heat and the occasional sandstorm blowing from the
Sahara." "Since taking office in 2009, President Obama has relied heavily on
drones for operations, both declared and covert, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan,
Yemen, Libya and Somalia. U.S. drones also fly from allied bases in Turkey,
Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines. Now,
they are becoming a fixture in Africa. The U.S. military has built a major drone
hub in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, and flies unarmed Reaper drones from
Ethiopia. Until recently, it conducted reconnaissance flights over East Africa
from the island nation of the Seychelles. The Predator drones in Niger, a
landlocked and dirt-poor country, give the Pentagon a strategic foothold in West
Africa.""