Trump’s Threat Against Nigeria Is Based on Incomplete Information

After reportedly watching a Fox News segment about Islamists killing Christians in Nigeria, a U.S. ally, President Donald Trump accused its government of failing to protect the victims. He then threatened to attack that country and wipe out the Islamist groups.

Trump warned that “if the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians,” he might go in with “guns-a-blazing” to “completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.” The president continued the hyperbole by asserting he could launch a “fast, vicious, and sweet” attack, perhaps with U.S. troops, on the most populous nation in Africa. To make the threat more real, he ordered the Pentagon to prepare for military action. Of course, the friendly Nigerian government was aghast.

Trump’s position is perplexing. Even his senior adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos, has noted what the Fox News report neglected to mention: that Islamist groups such as West African Islamic State and Boko Haram have long been killing more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria, which has a population that has a plurality of Muslims. Boulos recently noted, “People of all religions and of all tribes are dying, and it is very unfortunate, and we even know that Boko Haram and ISIS are killing more Muslims than more [sic] Christians. So people are suffering from all sorts of backgrounds. This is not specifically targeted at one group or the other.”

A few points are in order. First, before directing bombast against other nations, especially friendly ones, Trump should consult his advisers instead of relying on one news report. But then this is the man who threatened nuclear war (“fire and fury”) against a nuclear-armed North Korea before becoming, for a time, buddy-buddy with its ruthless despot.

Second, these Islamist groups have been a problem in Nigeria for a long time, and the Nigerian government has made some effort to regain the areas where they operate.

Third, even the implication that Trump would insert American ground forces into this chaos is alarming because of its sure-fire potential to become yet another forever war against elusive and deadly guerrillas who have some support from the populace in certain areas.

Finally, launching a crusade to save the world’s persecuted Christians would likely be a fruitless and costly endeavor for a country with a ballooning $38 trillion national debt. Yet Trump was quoted as saying, “The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!”

Instead of going to war, the United States could vociferously condemn the persecution of Christians globally while including the killing of Christians and Muslims by the Islamists in Nigeria. Trump’s Christian-nationalist supporters might be disappointed with his limiting the U.S. response to nonmilitary options, but his larger MAGA base might appreciate avoiding yet another military quagmire. For the same reason, Trump should also nix an attack on Venezuela, where extreme socialists oppress a population that is almost entirely Christian.