Religious War in Nigeria

There is evidence that Islamic extremists are looking radicalize the religious conflicts in West Africa, especially Nigeria. Christians and Muslims there are been at each other’s throats for a while now, but the introduction of Al-Qaeda’s radical ideology will only make things worse - especially since Nigeria is an emerging oil power.

Janes reports:

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the continent's leading oil producer. It has the largest Muslim population in Africa after Egypt. In recent years, there has been mounting Islamic militancy and growing anti-Western hostility in Nigeria that makes it fertile ground for extremist recruiters. The unrest is apparently being stoked by radical Arab Islamic preachers and agents of Al-Qaeda.

The USA is already deploying small groups of special forces throughout the impoverished Sahel region states of Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger to counter infiltration by Islamic militants moving south from Algeria. With West Africa in danger of becoming the new battleground between the USA and Al-Qaeda, heavier oil-driven US intervention may become unavoidable - a path fraught with pitfalls and one that could have a dramatic impact on US policy in Africa.

One of the failures of U.S. foreign policy has been the government’s inability to appreciate the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. Here, however, it’s possible that they have recognized an emerging threat in time. It’s important to deal with this sort of thing before it gets out of hand.

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