Is it President Trump’s impulsivity that resulted in the Nigerian Missile Attack? Or the ineptitude of the US Senate?
(source: https://thebulwark.com/trumps-loyal-senate-republicans/)
On the 24th of August, in response to Boko Haram’s bombing of the US Embassy in Lagos, President Trump launched an independent 10-missile attack on the Lake Chad basin in Nigeria in a futile attempt to quash Boko Haram forces stationed there, killing thousands in the process. Overnight, in a fit of madness, President Trump launched another 50 missiles, this time completely decimating the Lake Chad region and the 20 villages surrounding it.
These actions have resulted in severe backlash from the international community - states such as France, the United Kingdom and China have issued public statements condemning the inhumane acts, while other countries have expressed fear over the precedent that this incident has set for future attacks. International ties have been severely depleted as a result.
Now, havoc and disarray are also rampant both in and outside of the US with anti-US riots in various large cities, with death and casualty tolls on the rise. Reports of lone wolf insurgents launching attacks in revenge have also been cited. Citing a report by the CIA:
“Mount Rushmore has been destroyed to ashes after attackers defaced and ruined the monument. The Times Square, in New York City, has been devastated after many bombs were let off. It looks like these attackers are motivated by a shared vengeance against the United States. Parts of Manhattan are being evacuated now, leading to widespread delays and havoc, traffic has come to an utter standstill."
This is indeed a dark chapter in the history of America, a country headed for ruin.
We here at the Catholic News Agency feel that President Donald Trump’s actions are absolutely unforgivable. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that ‘the use of arms must not produce evils or disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated.’ War should only be waged as a last resort, and when there is a just reason for it. Even then, effort should be taken to minimize casualties as much as possible, as pointed out by Sen. Harris and Murkowski in debate yesterday.
By all means, protecting the safety of the Americans are a just and laudable cause, and the duty of the leaders of the US to look after their citizens. However, we clearly did not have to resort to the course of action taken by President Trump, as evidenced by the many good suggestions by the senate to provide resources and ground troops to the Lake Chad area. Furthermore, the magnitude of the attack on Nigeria was completely unjust, given the much smaller scale of the attack enacted on the US Embassy. Though 10 people were killed there, the air strikes caused more harm than good to the region, causing the loss of thousands more innocent lives. How could we say that we had saved our compatriots in Nigeria, if we had killed more of them than Boko Haram did?
President Trump’s actions in commanding the missile strike are tantamount to a war crime or genocide - the unnecessary culling of so many innocent people for the sake of “protecting precious American lives” speaks multitudes about President Trump’s stance, and essentially shows that he feels not even a thousand Nigerian lives are equivalent to a single American life.
The catechism states that “God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being. Fifth commandment” and that “Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation.”
All life on earth is equal - this is an irrefutable fact. The fact that President Trump thinks that it is alright to trade the lives of those in other countries for those in his own is an unacceptable act of discrimination and blatant racism. These acts are a crime against the people of Nigeria, leaders of countries in similar positions, as well as God and mankind itself.
The Catholic Church does not typically condone attacks upon persons, but we do agree on the fact that President Trump’s actions are completely unfitting of a leader and condemn them for the resultant pain and loss of life they caused. Bishops around the country are issuing statements pleading with the US populace as well as Donald Trump to “see the err of his ways” and to work together as one people in the interest of “our common home” and other “children of God”.
“It pains me to see other children of God suffering by our hands. These atrocities have to stop.”
Do we want a leader who cannot keep control of his own emotions? Who is unable to live up to his role in maintaining international peace and balance? Who has no respect for the equality of human life? Who is unable to “insure domestic Tranquility and promote the general Welfare” of America? His selfish actions which he claims to have been ‘for the sake of the country’ have instead set the country on ice as thin as the melting polar caps. If President Trump proceeds as he did, that ice is likely to melt in the near future, plunging the United States to certain death in the icy water below.
However, we find that the US Senate had also been tasked with tackling the situation on the ground and determining whether or not there was the need for US military intervention. We can't say that the senate is responsible, but they are not entirely bereft of responsibility either. Though no one could have predicted what Trump had done, it is the lack of quick and decisive action by the council to act on the crisis in the first place which allowed the attacks to worsen till they provoked the president, giving him a reason to launch the missiles.
We had hope initially when Mitt Romney said “Democrats, Republicans, let us work together to solve this crisis”. We also had hope when the senate unanimously agreed for increasing homeland security in order to protect our people and safeguard our homes. We had hoped that the two sides would put aside their differences for once, and work together to quickly resolve the crisis at hand.
However, as soon as the debate turned to the question of whether to send military aid, the talks devolved into nothing more than squabble between the two sides, with neither side refusing to accede to the others’ demands. Each side claims the other side’s incompetence and stubbornness to be the cause of why things fell apart, but how is this anything different from pointing fingers?
We understand that each senator has their own agenda to fulfill, to respect their state in the Senate’s decisions. However, when faced with an international crisis of such a magnitude, would it be too hard to cast away your pride and dignity to come together and come to a common consensus on solving the crisis? Should the US have acted on it sooner, perhaps fewer lives would have been lost due to the water poisoning, the chemical attacks, or the attacks on the embassy. Race against the Boko Haram, and the US was losing. Indecisiveness and unwillingness to enact a solution led to the situation escalating to the degree that it did, culminating in the missile attack, the jarring end to the saga.
Even after all of that, Senators might argue that they truly supported President Trump’s action in quashing the Boko Haram. After all, Senator Daines and McConnell stood by the president, claiming that “the missile attack was an absolute win” rather than swallow their pride and admit that launching the military attack was wrong.
There is no sane human being who would accept the murder of thousands of innocent lives as a necessary evil in order to further their goals. We believe in this case that the military actions undertaken by Trump were entirely unjustified, and being intelligent and socially adjusted enough to rise through the ranks to achieve a place on the Senate, the members of the senate should be at least able to grasp the simple fact that President Trump’s actions were morally unjust.
The members of the senate should question whether they are truly acting on their moral conscience, or simply following the rules dictated by the senate or going along with their party in order to escape being condemned themselves. If any person, be it Democratic or Republican, is against what they had just witnessed, the unjust, completely unnecessary culling of thousands of human lives, they ought to be vocal about it. Their silence and support of Trump means condoning these atrocious crimes, and is but an utter insult to human dignity and the value of human life.
The US ought to be ashamed for not immediately condoning such an action, let alone having allowed such a thing to proceed. In this manner, their public image is stained with the mark of their failure to fulfil their role as allies of Nigeria, and a key player in maintaining the stability of the world. They also face the consequences of not even being able to manage their own societal stability; they were unable to manage the many divided opinions among citizens, senators, leading to leaders acting against the wishes of people and resulting in widespread unrest and rebellion. The leaders of the US have hence failed in their duty to represent and protect the people - is this where democracy dies?
We and other worldwide are appalled by the behavior of the US senate, as their unyielding debates are nothing more than the arguments of rotten, stubborn, spoiled children. The senate needs to learn to recognize the urgency of the matter, and to understand that they are running a race against time and the Boko Haram, with the lives of 191 million Nigerians and many more Americans at stake. They need to learn to put aside their differences and work together to come to a consensus, rather than selfishly work only in the pursuit of their own goals. For example, not a single senator had recognized the urgency of the water crisis until much later or called for people to quickly agree on an action.
The Pope Francis had urged at a speech on healthcare in 2017 that resources should be optimized and allocated to those most in need of it. By this principle, the senate should have tackled this water crisis first rather than bicker about the sending of troops to target Boko Haram.
And now the US senate faces the problem of quelling the masses as the world turns in revolt against the US Senate and President Trump. The US Senate is highly advised by the church and the international community to tackle the matter of President Trump's immoral and atrocious acts of violence against the Nigerian population, be it take him to task through court or impeachment. His actions have set the precedent for more that he might commit, and in order to assuage fears from both domestic and international community, it is advised to take action to ensure that such actions will not happen in the future again.
We need a competent body to tackle the situation. We say ‘body’ because at the moment, we cannot see how the US Senate would be able to competently tackle the situation, since the debate yesterday only showed the complete ineptitude of the delegates to come to a quick consensus, particularly on pressing issues where every minute spent arguing meant the possible loss of lives.
This agency urges senators to recognize the gravity of such situations and the weight of their vote. As the Pope Francis had called on members of the world, we should unite for the sake of our common home. Brothers and sisters, let us put aside our differences for once, and see each other as but inhabitants of our shared Earth. Let us stop this senseless violence, and actually come together to ensure a world of peace for all.
(source: https://thebulwark.com/trumps-loyal-senate-republicans/)
On the 24th of August, in response to Boko Haram’s bombing of the US Embassy in Lagos, President Trump launched an independent 10-missile attack on the Lake Chad basin in Nigeria in a futile attempt to quash Boko Haram forces stationed there, killing thousands in the process. Overnight, in a fit of madness, President Trump launched another 50 missiles, this time completely decimating the Lake Chad region and the 20 villages surrounding it.
These actions have resulted in severe backlash from the international community - states such as France, the United Kingdom and China have issued public statements condemning the inhumane acts, while other countries have expressed fear over the precedent that this incident has set for future attacks. International ties have been severely depleted as a result.
Now, havoc and disarray are also rampant both in and outside of the US with anti-US riots in various large cities, with death and casualty tolls on the rise. Reports of lone wolf insurgents launching attacks in revenge have also been cited. Citing a report by the CIA:
“Mount Rushmore has been destroyed to ashes after attackers defaced and ruined the monument. The Times Square, in New York City, has been devastated after many bombs were let off. It looks like these attackers are motivated by a shared vengeance against the United States. Parts of Manhattan are being evacuated now, leading to widespread delays and havoc, traffic has come to an utter standstill."
This is indeed a dark chapter in the history of America, a country headed for ruin.
We here at the Catholic News Agency feel that President Donald Trump’s actions are absolutely unforgivable. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that ‘the use of arms must not produce evils or disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated.’ War should only be waged as a last resort, and when there is a just reason for it. Even then, effort should be taken to minimize casualties as much as possible, as pointed out by Sen. Harris and Murkowski in debate yesterday.
By all means, protecting the safety of the Americans are a just and laudable cause, and the duty of the leaders of the US to look after their citizens. However, we clearly did not have to resort to the course of action taken by President Trump, as evidenced by the many good suggestions by the senate to provide resources and ground troops to the Lake Chad area. Furthermore, the magnitude of the attack on Nigeria was completely unjust, given the much smaller scale of the attack enacted on the US Embassy. Though 10 people were killed there, the air strikes caused more harm than good to the region, causing the loss of thousands more innocent lives. How could we say that we had saved our compatriots in Nigeria, if we had killed more of them than Boko Haram did?
President Trump’s actions in commanding the missile strike are tantamount to a war crime or genocide - the unnecessary culling of so many innocent people for the sake of “protecting precious American lives” speaks multitudes about President Trump’s stance, and essentially shows that he feels not even a thousand Nigerian lives are equivalent to a single American life.
The catechism states that “God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being. Fifth commandment” and that “Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation.”
All life on earth is equal - this is an irrefutable fact. The fact that President Trump thinks that it is alright to trade the lives of those in other countries for those in his own is an unacceptable act of discrimination and blatant racism. These acts are a crime against the people of Nigeria, leaders of countries in similar positions, as well as God and mankind itself.
The Catholic Church does not typically condone attacks upon persons, but we do agree on the fact that President Trump’s actions are completely unfitting of a leader and condemn them for the resultant pain and loss of life they caused. Bishops around the country are issuing statements pleading with the US populace as well as Donald Trump to “see the err of his ways” and to work together as one people in the interest of “our common home” and other “children of God”.
“It pains me to see other children of God suffering by our hands. These atrocities have to stop.”
Do we want a leader who cannot keep control of his own emotions? Who is unable to live up to his role in maintaining international peace and balance? Who has no respect for the equality of human life? Who is unable to “insure domestic Tranquility and promote the general Welfare” of America? His selfish actions which he claims to have been ‘for the sake of the country’ have instead set the country on ice as thin as the melting polar caps. If President Trump proceeds as he did, that ice is likely to melt in the near future, plunging the United States to certain death in the icy water below.
However, we find that the US Senate had also been tasked with tackling the situation on the ground and determining whether or not there was the need for US military intervention. We can't say that the senate is responsible, but they are not entirely bereft of responsibility either. Though no one could have predicted what Trump had done, it is the lack of quick and decisive action by the council to act on the crisis in the first place which allowed the attacks to worsen till they provoked the president, giving him a reason to launch the missiles.
We had hope initially when Mitt Romney said “Democrats, Republicans, let us work together to solve this crisis”. We also had hope when the senate unanimously agreed for increasing homeland security in order to protect our people and safeguard our homes. We had hoped that the two sides would put aside their differences for once, and work together to quickly resolve the crisis at hand.
However, as soon as the debate turned to the question of whether to send military aid, the talks devolved into nothing more than squabble between the two sides, with neither side refusing to accede to the others’ demands. Each side claims the other side’s incompetence and stubbornness to be the cause of why things fell apart, but how is this anything different from pointing fingers?
We understand that each senator has their own agenda to fulfill, to respect their state in the Senate’s decisions. However, when faced with an international crisis of such a magnitude, would it be too hard to cast away your pride and dignity to come together and come to a common consensus on solving the crisis? Should the US have acted on it sooner, perhaps fewer lives would have been lost due to the water poisoning, the chemical attacks, or the attacks on the embassy. Race against the Boko Haram, and the US was losing. Indecisiveness and unwillingness to enact a solution led to the situation escalating to the degree that it did, culminating in the missile attack, the jarring end to the saga.
Even after all of that, Senators might argue that they truly supported President Trump’s action in quashing the Boko Haram. After all, Senator Daines and McConnell stood by the president, claiming that “the missile attack was an absolute win” rather than swallow their pride and admit that launching the military attack was wrong.
There is no sane human being who would accept the murder of thousands of innocent lives as a necessary evil in order to further their goals. We believe in this case that the military actions undertaken by Trump were entirely unjustified, and being intelligent and socially adjusted enough to rise through the ranks to achieve a place on the Senate, the members of the senate should be at least able to grasp the simple fact that President Trump’s actions were morally unjust.
The members of the senate should question whether they are truly acting on their moral conscience, or simply following the rules dictated by the senate or going along with their party in order to escape being condemned themselves. If any person, be it Democratic or Republican, is against what they had just witnessed, the unjust, completely unnecessary culling of thousands of human lives, they ought to be vocal about it. Their silence and support of Trump means condoning these atrocious crimes, and is but an utter insult to human dignity and the value of human life.
The US ought to be ashamed for not immediately condoning such an action, let alone having allowed such a thing to proceed. In this manner, their public image is stained with the mark of their failure to fulfil their role as allies of Nigeria, and a key player in maintaining the stability of the world. They also face the consequences of not even being able to manage their own societal stability; they were unable to manage the many divided opinions among citizens, senators, leading to leaders acting against the wishes of people and resulting in widespread unrest and rebellion. The leaders of the US have hence failed in their duty to represent and protect the people - is this where democracy dies?
We and other worldwide are appalled by the behavior of the US senate, as their unyielding debates are nothing more than the arguments of rotten, stubborn, spoiled children. The senate needs to learn to recognize the urgency of the matter, and to understand that they are running a race against time and the Boko Haram, with the lives of 191 million Nigerians and many more Americans at stake. They need to learn to put aside their differences and work together to come to a consensus, rather than selfishly work only in the pursuit of their own goals. For example, not a single senator had recognized the urgency of the water crisis until much later or called for people to quickly agree on an action.
The Pope Francis had urged at a speech on healthcare in 2017 that resources should be optimized and allocated to those most in need of it. By this principle, the senate should have tackled this water crisis first rather than bicker about the sending of troops to target Boko Haram.
And now the US senate faces the problem of quelling the masses as the world turns in revolt against the US Senate and President Trump. The US Senate is highly advised by the church and the international community to tackle the matter of President Trump's immoral and atrocious acts of violence against the Nigerian population, be it take him to task through court or impeachment. His actions have set the precedent for more that he might commit, and in order to assuage fears from both domestic and international community, it is advised to take action to ensure that such actions will not happen in the future again.
We need a competent body to tackle the situation. We say ‘body’ because at the moment, we cannot see how the US Senate would be able to competently tackle the situation, since the debate yesterday only showed the complete ineptitude of the delegates to come to a quick consensus, particularly on pressing issues where every minute spent arguing meant the possible loss of lives.
This agency urges senators to recognize the gravity of such situations and the weight of their vote. As the Pope Francis had called on members of the world, we should unite for the sake of our common home. Brothers and sisters, let us put aside our differences for once, and see each other as but inhabitants of our shared Earth. Let us stop this senseless violence, and actually come together to ensure a world of peace for all.
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