The main thing that makes it a hit piece is that it buried the lede about the US's efforts to stabilize the situation, it blatantly words the headline in a way to make those people who just read headlines say "US sponsors a coup in Niger" that's the way it sounded to me until I read the article. Without the detail that these officers were trained for in counter terrorism to fight a very real terrorist threat the headline absolutely makes it sound like the US was training these guys to go coup'ing. It's a fairly typical tactic that the Intercept and other less than reputable news organizations use to push their agenda.