Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, said Dec. 27 that the United States’ airstrike against ISIS terrorist camps in Nigeria on Christmas Day underscores to terrorists that persecution of Christians and other religious groups has “profound consequences.”
“President Trump’s decisive action reflects the United States’ unyielding commitment to standing up to the Nigerian terrorists, who have been murdering, raping, torturing and violently harassing Christians and non-radical Muslims in the region for decades,” Smith said in the statement.
“Coordinated under Secretary Pete Hegseth, the limited precision airstrikes against Islamist terrorists in Nigeria clearly demonstrate that violent actions against Christians and other religious groups have profound consequences,” he continued. “The strikes also put the radical Islamist terrorists in Nigeria on notice that the United States will never condone or turn a blind eye to religious persecution and violence.”
>> Harrowing stories of persecution turned Congressman Smith into a religious freedom champion <<
Trump announced Dec. 25 that the United States carried out “a powerful and deadly strike” against ISIS terrorists in northwest Nigeria after warning that “if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay,” as CatholicVote previously reported.
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Dec. 26 statement that the Nigerian government worked with the U.S. to confront “the persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism” and the precision airstrikes were the result of that cooperation.
Smith said that on Dec. 19 the U.S. Department of State and Nigeria signed a five-year bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) called the America First Global Health Strategy, which is aimed at expanding faith-based healthcare in Nigeria, according to a Dec. 20 press release from the state department. The U.S. intends to commit almost $2.1 billion to expand healthcare services and Nigeria will increase its domestic health expenditures by almost $3 billion during the MOU’s term, according to the release.
“The MOU was negotiated in connection with reforms the Nigerian government has made to prioritize protecting Christian populations from violence,” the release states, “and includes significant dedicated funding to support Christian health care facilities with a focus on expanding access to integrated HIV, TB, malaria, and maternal and child health services.”
The MOU also aims to strengthen Nigeria’s health system more broadly. Nigeria has approximately 900 faith-based clinics and hospitals, which serve more than 30% of all Nigerians, according to the state department, which added that “investments in these facilities are uniquely positioned to complement efforts in public run facilities and strengthen Nigeria’s overall health infrastructure.”
Smith noted that the release also states that the Trump administration “expects Nigeria to continue to make progress ensuring that it combats extremist religious violence against vulnerable Christian populations.”
Concluding, the chairman recalled that he and many colleagues praised Trump in October when he declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” in light of the violence against Christians in the country.
Smith said he chaired a committee hearing in November describing the declaration as a “serious, well-founded wake-up call.”
In this hearing, several key state officials “made it clear that the Trump administration was working tirelessly,” Smith said, “to ensure that human rights and religious freedom remain central to our bilateral relationship with Nigeria.”
The post Rep. Chris Smith: Airstrike on ISIS in Nigeria shows that US will not ‘turn a blind eye to religious persecution’ appeared first on CatholicVote org.