FWD ( Dagens Nyheter.) : Trump wants to stop terror - but his policy favours the Islamists
Cornelius Hamelberg
Erik Esbjörnsson: Trump wants to stop terror in Nigeria but strengthens the Islamists himself
US President Donald Trump has ordered attacks against Islamist terrorists in Nigeria. But they cannot be fought militarily alone – and US policy in Nigeria risks strengthening terrorist groups in the country.
In his usual tone, US President Donald Trump announced on Christmas Day that US forces had carried out an attack against Islamist terrorists in northern Nigeria.
“MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of whom there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues,” Trump wrote on his own Truth Social platform .
A more restrained press release was issued by the US regional military command Africom, which said that the attack was directed against Islamist groups in Sokoto state in Nigeria's northwest corner, and that Nigerian authorities were involved in the planning and gave the green light for its execution. Images released by the US Department of Defense show missiles being fired from a warship, likely from the Gulf of Benin off Nigeria.
The move was not unexpected. In early November, Trump accused the Nigerian government of being too lax in its response to attacks on Christian Nigerians and threatened to invade the country militarily. In connection with this, Trump's reality was questioned by President Bola Tinubu, who also pointed out that the government is trying to protect all Nigerians, regardless of religious affiliation.
It is true that Tinubu and his government have failed to stop terrorist attacks and that the security situation has deteriorated further in recent years, although it has been serious for more than 15 years. But in all other respects, Trump has seriously misread the situation.
Nigeria's population of around 250 million people is divided into two roughly equal parts, Christians and Muslims. The Christians live mainly in the south and the Muslims primarily in the north. A large majority of the attacks by terrorist groups such as Boko Haram have been carried out in the Muslim north. Over 20,000 civilians have died in attacks in the past five years, according to the conflict database Acled. This is therefore a war-like situation. If it was previously the state of Borno in the northeast that was hardest hit, it is worrying that the violence has now also taken hold in Sokoto in the northwest.
Over the past five years, figures from Acled cited by CNN show , 317 deaths have been linked to attacks specifically targeting Christians, while 417 people have died in attacks targeting Muslims. In 96 percent of the deaths, it is not possible to say whether any group was specifically targeted. But it has long been known that an overwhelming majority of the victims of the violence are Muslims.
There are several explanations for why Islamists target Muslims. The aim is to make the government appear weak and incapacitated, and in a second step, the groups try to provoke heavy-handed reactions from the government, which affects the civilian population doubly. In the chaos that has arisen, economic misery has become everyday life for millions of Nigerians, making them easier to recruit for the Islamist groups that give the appearance of standing for order – when in fact they are the cause of the situation.
In this hopeless situation, there is basically a consensus that it is not possible to combat militant Islamism solely through police and military means. Recruitment to terrorist networks must be stopped, and there it is not that different from gang violence in Sweden. Young people who are about to become adults must be given prospects for the future and feel that they have a purpose. Jobs must be created, both in the public and private sectors, so that there are more attractive alternatives to joining terrorist groups that offer both status and financial gain.
In that respect, Trump is a great asset to the Islamists. At the beginning of the year, he slaughtered the American aid agency USAID, which led to a loss of revenue worth many billions of kronor for Nigeria alone. A quarter of all aid activities financed by American funds had been closed by the end of March. In northeastern Nigeria, the part of the country that has historically been worst hit by terror, the UN World Food Programme WFP has been forced to close half of all clinics to combat hunger.
Just the other day, the US showed signs of wanting to back down from the decisions. It signed a new agreement on support for healthcare in Nigeria – but it will only be channeled to Christian organizations. Which risks creating more widespread resentment against Christians, which did not exist before.
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