Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said he does not think President Donald Trump has explained why the United States needs to intervene in the ongoing conflict in Nigeria.
Trump ordered military strikes against Islamic State terrorists in Nigeria for allegedly targeting Christians, calling it a “very bad Christmas present.”
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“There’s no doubt that what has been happening in Nigeria is terrible,” York said. “I mean, I guess the question is why is the United States getting militarily involved in it.”
York highlighted that Trump has been talking about what’s happening in Nigeria for “quite a while.”
The Trump administration has accused Islamic State terrorists of targeting Christian Nigerians for months, with the president saying in November that he was “really angry” about the violence and ordering the military to prepare plans to combat the group in Nigeria.
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Trump announced that he ordered the strikes against “ISIS terrorist scum” on Christmas Day on Truth Social.
“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday.
A War Department official told the Washington Examiner that it “worked” with the Nigerian government to “carry out” the strikes.
“The Department of War worked with the government of Nigeria to carry out these strikes. These strikes were approved by the government of Nigeria,” the official said.
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York pointed out that there have been about 4,500 Christians who have been killed for their faith around the world last year, and more than 3,000 of them were in Nigeria.
“But still I think Trump has not made the case for why the United States needs to intervene militarily in this,” he said.
