Mindless bombing: On the U.S. and Nigeria bombings

On Christmas Day, Nigeria became the latest target of U.S. President Donald Trump’s bombing spree. Mr. Trump had earlier claimed that Christians were facing “genocide” — an allegation Abuja has strongly rejected. The U.S. targeted two alleged Islamic State camps in Sokoto, a northwestern State. During last year’s presidential campaign, he had repeatedly criticised what he called America’s “forever wars”. He styled himself as the ‘President of peace’, taking credit for ending several conflicts, including the combat between India and Pakistan. In reality, however, Mr. Trump is little different from his predecessors, who deployed America’s military might at will against weaker nations. Since returning to office, Mr. Trump has bombed Yemen, Syria, Somalia and Iran. He is also overseeing an ongoing bombing campaign off the Venezuelan coast, targeting civilian boats for ‘carrying drugs’. In Nigeria’s case, Mr. Trump has fused military aggression with religion in an apparent bid to appeal to his Christian base. While he insists that his actions are aimed at protecting Nigeria’s Christians, the realities are complex.

Nigeria’s 237 million people are roughly divided between Muslims, who predominantly live in the north, and Christians, who are concentrated in the south. In recent years, there has been a surge in Islamist militancy, particularly in the north. Two major Islamist groups — Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) — operate mostly in the northeast and northwest. The collapse of state institutions, porous borders and free flow of weapons have turned the Lake Chad region into a hotbed of jihadist activity. Boko Haram and ISWAP, along with the Islamic State Sahel Province, target both state apparatuses and local populations, regardless of their faith. In northern Nigeria, Muslims are the primary victims of Islamist violence. U.S. policies towards the region have also contributed to the spread of jihadist activity in West Africa and the Sahel. The NATO-led bombing that toppled Libya’s Gaddafi regime in 2011 unleashed armed fighters and weapons across the region. What Africa needs is a coherent regional counter-terrorism strategy, focused on building state capacity at the local level and enhancing ground level cooperation against jihadist groups. The U.S. should play the role of a facilitator, not an arsonist. Such a strategy is conspicuously absent today. Worse, repeated coups and state collapses have created a vacuum which the jihadists are eager to exploit. Mr. Trump’s episodic military strikes, along with religious rhetoric, risk worsening the ground situation, ultimately benefiting the very forces he claims to be fighting.