A coup by any other name would smell as foul. Nonetheless, the U.S. still refuses to call the military takeover — mutiny, putsch, overthrow, take your pick — that took place two months ago in Niger a "coup.”
That’s because this label would legally require America to halt military cooperation with a strategically located country in Africa’s Sahel region, a notorious playground for jihadist terrorists and Russian mercenaries, among other unsavory characters.
How much longer can Washington keep up this linguistic squirming? More importantly, should the U.S. cut off relations with Niger’s new regime in Niamey? Yes, the junta ousted a democratically elected leader and former darling of U.S. diplomacy, Mohamed Bazoum, who’s now under house arrest. But there are ulterior considerations of American statecraft.