Trump Weighs Strikes on Mali's JNIM, Potentially Opening 8th Second-Term Front
Updated
Updated · The New Republic · Jul 22
Trump Weighs Strikes on Mali's JNIM, Potentially Opening 8th Second-Term Front
3 articles · Updated · The New Republic · Jul 22
Summary
U.S. officials say the Trump administration is considering military action in Mali against JNIM, an al Qaeda-linked group active across the Sahel.
An approved operation would make Mali the eighth country hit by Trump-ordered strikes in his second term, after Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and Venezuela.
Sebastian Gorka, the National Security Council's senior director for counterterrorism, is among the strongest internal advocates for using force against the group.
Sahel specialists argue military action is unlikely to work, pointing to 10 years of French operations and five years of Russian efforts that they say only worsened the conflict.
The debate opens as Washington looks beyond a collapsed preliminary peace deal with Iran and weighs a wider counterterrorism role in West Africa.