American soldiers are launching drones from a base in Cameroon. The surveillance flights bring the U.S. closer to the brutal war against Boko Haram.
Yet the latest drone mission solidifies an alliance with an unsavory African strongman: Cameroonian President Paul Biya, who has clung to power for 33 years, almost as long as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and is regarded as a corrupt, remote, and authoritarian leader.