Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / Trump threatens possible military action against Nigeria

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Trump threatens possible military action against Nigeria · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: Ten out in our deep dive President Trump, setting his
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  Speaker 1: sites on Nigeria and multiple social media posts. Trump adhues
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  Speaker 1: Nigeria's government of allowing the killing of Christians and said
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  Speaker 1: the US may quote go into the West African country
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  Speaker 1: and quote wipe out Islamic terrorists he says are responsible
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  Speaker 1: for horrible atrocities. He says that he's instructed the Pentagon
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  Speaker 1: to prepare for possible action. Meantime, Nigerian President Bolah Ahmed
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  Speaker 1: Tanubu says religious freedom and tolerance are core tenets of
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  Speaker 1: Nigeria's collective identity and will remain so. He also said
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  Speaker 1: his administration is committed to working with the US government
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  Speaker 1: to protect communities of all faiths. For more on this,
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  Speaker 1: I'm joined by Atlantic staff writer Graham Wood, who has
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  Speaker 1: reported extensively in Nigeria. Graham, thank you so much for
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  Speaker 1: joining me here today. Now Nigeria is nearly evenly split
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  Speaker 1: between Christians and Muslims. Is there any credibility to President
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  Speaker 1: Trump's claim that Christianity faces an existential threat?
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  Speaker 2: There no that would be new to the one hundred
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  Speaker 2: million plus Christians who are living full and happy lives
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  Speaker 2: in Nigeria. But it is true that bok of Haram
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  Speaker 2: and other Islamist groups have created a elich atmosphere for
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  Speaker 2: Christians and for Muslims who were under their territory. So
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  Speaker 2: the idea that Christians are persecuted not false, but a
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  Speaker 2: lot of other people are too. The Bokoharam's a group
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  Speaker 2: that's that's part of the Islamic state, and if you
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  Speaker 2: remember from when the Islamic State was a going concern
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  Speaker 2: in Syria a couple of years ago, they were very
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  Speaker 2: very very hard against fellow Muslims as well. So this
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  Speaker 2: is this is a very messy situation and it certainly
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  Speaker 2: doesn't rise to the level of possibly extinguishing Christianity in
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  Speaker 2: Nigeria now.
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  Speaker 1: In terms of that situation, Amnesty International calls the violence
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  Speaker 1: in Nigeria a humanitarian crisis. Do we know who's responsible
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  Speaker 1: and who the victims typically are.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So this group bok O Haaram, has been around for
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  Speaker 2: twenty five years or so, and it's gotten more ideological
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  Speaker 2: and quite violent over the years. Since two thousand and nine,
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  Speaker 2: when it's leader was killed, they've started to The group's
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  Speaker 2: name means books are forbidden, so like Western education is forbidden,
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  Speaker 2: which gives you a sense of the type of real
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  Speaker 2: law that they would like to inflict on everybody. That
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  Speaker 2: group has been displacing millions of people in Nigeria.
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  Speaker 4: So when we were talking about the death toll, we're
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  Speaker 4: talking about people who have been who have had to
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  Speaker 4: flee their homes and who have suffered from disease as
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  Speaker 4: well as direct violence from that group.
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  Speaker 1: Now you've reported extensively about the rise of the Islamic
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  Speaker 1: State and Boko Haram, So what is specifically driving this resurgence?
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  Speaker 2: You know, there's often there's a lot of things that
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  Speaker 2: go into this. And the thing that the Islamic State
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  Speaker 2: brought was ideology.
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  Speaker 3: So there was this idea.
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  Speaker 2: That there's only one way to be Muslim, and if
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  Speaker 2: you're not that type of Muslim, then you.
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  Speaker 3: Need to be fought against, and you have to be
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  Speaker 3: fought against.
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  Speaker 2: Actually more vigorously than you fight against Christians.
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  Speaker 3: So Nigeria is a split country. Is half Muslim, it's
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  Speaker 3: half Christian.
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  Speaker 2: And of the Muslims, very few of them have the
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  Speaker 2: same attitude as.
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  Speaker 3: Book over wrong. They don't play well with others. And
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  Speaker 3: so what we're.
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  Speaker 2: Seeing is areas of Nigeria that are being cleared out
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  Speaker 2: that are extremely violent and that have been kept that
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  Speaker 2: way for quite some time by.
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  Speaker 4: A group that simply does not like the type of
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  Speaker 4: religion that is practiced by others.
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  Speaker 1: So why is President Trump now focused on this issue
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  Speaker 1: at this moment?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Trump has over the years, We've seen
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  Speaker 2: this a number of times and passing interests, and some
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  Speaker 2: of those interests have been things that are very worthwhile
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  Speaker 2: to take an interest in, including islands in Nigeria. Why recently,
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  Speaker 2: you know, as we see the things that he's taken
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  Speaker 2: an interest in foreign affairs, we've seen in South Africa,
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  Speaker 2: it's fixation on white farmers and their plight, and there
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  Speaker 2: is indeed violence against white farmers, but there's not a genocide.
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  Speaker 3: And similarly, there's.
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  Speaker 2: Indeed violence against Christians in Nigeria, but it too is
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  Speaker 2: not a genocide. So I think what we've seen here
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  Speaker 2: is that Trump gets an idea in his head that
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  Speaker 2: there is something that he can do something about, that
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  Speaker 2: he can lend his leverage against.
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  Speaker 3: And this happens to be it. Right now.
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  Speaker 2: This is strongly being pushed by American Christians.
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  Speaker 5: Who have again possibly read some headlines, possibly been aware.
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  Speaker 2: Of the real difficulties that Christians and others have faced
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  Speaker 2: in Nigeria.
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  Speaker 3: And then tells Trump, let's see if you can do
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  Speaker 3: something about it, and this is what he's tried to do.
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  Speaker 1: Now, what precedent is there for US military interventions in
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  Speaker 1: West Africa?
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  Speaker 2: The US military interventions in West Africa, unlike say the French,
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  Speaker 2: who have gone into their former colonies very eagerly, that
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  Speaker 2: the US interventions have been much more modest. They've been
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  Speaker 2: counter terror operations. Molly has had some important ones going
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  Speaker 2: into Nigeria. Is not going to be easy to extinguish
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  Speaker 2: Boko Haram is something that the Nigerian military has tried
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  Speaker 2: to do for quite some time now.
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  Speaker 5: Now the United States military is of course much more competent,
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  Speaker 5: less corrupt than the Nigerian military. But if the people
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  Speaker 5: who are there are trying to do it and can't
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  Speaker 5: get it done, then I think that we should be
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  Speaker 5: humble about what we think the United States military would
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  Speaker 5: like to do and have some sense of the morass
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  Speaker 5: that it would involve sending US Special operators, for example,
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  Speaker 5: into the jungle in West Africa, a country where that
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  Speaker 5: they likely have not been training for.
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  Speaker 3: So it would be a huge, huge undertaking, and I
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  Speaker 3: would be surprised if Trump himself.
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  Speaker 2: Where the US military has the appetite to undertake it.
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  Speaker 1: Graham Wood, your analysis is always welcome. Thank you very
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  Speaker 1: much for that.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks, I got it.