American Troops: Fear Of Nigerians
Believe it or not, we are now a terrain where bombings, kidnapping and all sorts of atrocities reign supreme.
Who would have thought that Nigeria will play host to American Soldiers? Mind you, we are not hosting them for a sporting event nor are we welcoming them for a beauty pageant. But, they are coming to our shores to render military assistance in the curbing of this madness called Boko Haram. Should we open our arms in warm embrace? Do we have a choice? Of course not!How and when did we get here? American Soldiers on our land to do what? What are we going to tell our children? Will our fore-fathers be proud? Certainly not, I bet they would be turning in their graves. Oh dear, our once darling Nigeria is now a war-torn enclave. No thanks to politics, insincerity, sentiments and inept leadership. It’s a shame.
Let me quickly state that the Americans would not be coming to our shores to help with curbing the menace of the insurgents alone. They would be in the company of the French, Britons, Israelis and the Chinese. However, we all know these periphery nations would not take charge but the Americans would.
The fears being expressed by Nigerians alike are quite understandable in view of the modus operandi of Uncle Sam in countries where they held sway such as, Vietnam, Kuwait, Kosovo and most recently Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.The general feeling is that Americans would not help without furthering their cause hence, the growing mistrust around the Nation. The popular saying that Americans don’t leave a place the same way they met it is quite debatable, some will even go as far as saying they usually leave the country worse off. Do you agree?
They either come for your Natural resources or they stay in their domain. Some asserted that Opium led them to Afghanistan, Oil led them to Libya, Iraq and Kuwait. What is bringing them to our shores? Why haven’t they gone to Syria, some would ask? I don’t think International Relations is that basic and one-dimensional. It is a fact that the American Government led by Barack Obama has made tremendous effort in stopping the carnage in Syria but to the stumbling block from the end of China and Russia with their constants use of their veto power in arm twisting proposed resolutions. Anyway, let leave that analysis for another day. Why are Nigerians afraid of American soldiers? Are they coming with the famous drones that have unleashed havoc on the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan? Is it rocket propelled grenade? Or maybe it’s Ballistic Missile? It’s pertinent to bring us up to speed, according to White House Spokesman Jay Carney, the assistance would not be combative but strictly intelligence.
Americans don’t just come to your shores to help and simply shake hands with you saying thank you. They don’t set up committees, they simply take action. Did I hear, this should be the beginning of the end of Boko Haram? Time will tell. Would the fighting expand? The following should serve as a panacea for their engagement.
The rules and terms of engagement should be clearly spelt out; this is very key because in as much as we are seeking help from them, and the almighty Americans, the only super power in the world, we should give them our terms and the US should not only keep to the terms, it should be seen to have been so..Isolated and quarantined in a particular terrain; if their stay and activities is in the North-East, they should be restricted to that environment. We don’t want a situation like the one in Afghanistan when they stretched their limitation beyond Kabul and started bombing and raping innocent civilians in other part of the country.
Time frame; how long would the Americans and her allies be staying in Nigeria. Is it six months? A year, or two years? The scenario where Americans practically turned Iraq to their 51st domain would be met with stiff oppositions. We would like to know how long they would be staying on our shores. We say a big welcome to the US.
Do you believe we need their presence to get read of Boko Haram in Nigeria?
-by Clement Ogbemudia
Source: Legit.ng
