The death of Chad president Idris Deby in fighting with rebels last week is a loss for the US and France, the top imperial powers in Africa, said Dr. Gerald Horne, professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. “Idris Deby’s army has been essential to France’s neocolonial pretensions, and those of the United States, as well,” said Horne. US military “trainers” serve with the Chadian military and France maintains a permanent base in the country.