Boko Haram: United States Has Never Helped Any Nation To Successfully Fight Insurgency, Terrorism

Buhari and Obama at the White House

Somalis dragging dead American soldiers on the streets of Mogadishu

The United States has never successfully helped any nation to fight terrorism or insurgency in that nation's territory. This begs the question over all the noise about how President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to United States at the invitation of President Barack Obama is going to help Nigeria win the war on terrorism and insurgency against Boko Haram. Let us interrogate America's efforts in fighting terrorism or insurgency around the world, in contemporary history.

At the end of December 1979, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan and immediately assumed complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country. This event began a brutal, decade-long attempt by Moscow to subdue the Afghan civil war and maintain a friendly and socialist government on its border. The United States and its European allies, guided by their own doctrine of containment, sharply criticized the Soviet move into Afghanistan and devised numerous measures to compel Moscow to withdraw.
The United States connived with the Islamic Jihadists to drive away the Soviet Union that was supporting the then government of Afghanistan and encouraged Jihadists like Osama Bin Ladan, the founder of Al-Queda to mobilise Jihadists from around the Middle East to join the 'holy war' to drive away 'infidels' (Soviets) from Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
With the help of US and unable to bear losses any more the Soviets withdrew finally in 1989. With its victory Osama Ibn Ladan realised that America was not invisible and that the war was won by the jihadists. They detested America and its influence on the new order. The Taliban emerged with an ideology that wanted Sharia as a way of running the country. They fought the Afghan government and made the country ungovernable. The Afghan government lost more than half of the country to Taliban insurgents. Facing total decimation the Afghan government ran to America for help.
America promised help and soldiers on ground. The terrorists routed both the Afghan and American soldiers. Like the Soviets before it the Americans are withdrawing their soldiers and restrict their support to supply of equipment and training of Afghan soldiers. Recently, President Obama said that he would freeze U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan at 9,800 through the end of the year but vowed to end the American war by the end of his presidency. Even with that avowal Taliban continues to gain grounds. Today America is negotiating with the Taliban (from a position of weakness). That is a country that Nigerian leaders are putting their hope of defeating Boko Haram on. 
The impact of Taliban insurgency also spread to neighbouring Pakistan, with the Taliban also holding territories in that country.
It would be recalled that the Taliban emerged in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. A predominantly Pashtun movement, the Taliban came to prominence in Afghanistan in the autumn of 1994.
It is commonly believed that they first appeared in religious seminaries - mostly paid for by money from Saudi Arabia - which preached a hard line form of Sunni Islam.
The Taliban's promise - in Pashtun areas straddling Pakistan and Afghanistan - was to restore peace and security and enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, once in power.
In both countries they introduced or supported Islamic punishments - such as public executions of convicted murderers and adulterers and amputations of those found guilty of theft.
Men were required to grow beards and women had to wear the all-covering burka.
The Taliban banned television, music and cinema and disapproved of girls aged 10 and over from going to school. The Taliban unleashed terror on the people. Thus America had enough reason to be scared of their influence and was ready to help Afghanistan and Pakistan to rout the group.

Despite the help provided by America for decades, the Talibans are holding swat of lands in Pakistan. You recall that the late leader of Al-Queda, Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan (not as a help to Pakistan) because Pakistan government protested the violation of its territory in the process. Bin Ladan was killed because he posed a threat to America. Even with his death the Talibans are still strong insurgents in Pakistan.

There is a raging insurgency in Yemen. In recent months Yemen has descended into conflicts between several different insurgent groups, pushing the country "to the edge of civil war", according to the UN.

The main fight is between forces loyal to the beleaguered President, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and those allied to Zaidi Shia rebels known as Houthis, who forced Mr Hadi to flee the capital Sanaa in February. Yemen is a haven for radicalisation. A Nigerian born terrorist Mutallab was a student of 'Yemen Terrorism School'. It is also the ancestral home of Osama Bin Ladan. After rebel forces closed in on the president's southern stronghold of Aden in late March, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia responded to a request by Mr Hadi to intervene and launched air strikes on Houthi targets. The coalition comprises five Gulf Arab states and Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan.

 Initially in his desperation to retain power the embattled President Hadi sought American help being an ally of America in the war against terrorism. American help came only in unmanned drones that targets individual terrorists that also killed innocent people in the process. However, these innocent lives do not have human rights because they were killed by America drones.

While Obama keeps seeking isolated terrorists to kill by drones, the insurgents were taking territories. Alarmed by what was going on in Yemen and its potential to spread into Saudi Arabia, the Saudis had to enter the Yemen insurgency war claiming invitation by the embattled Yemeni President. The war is still raging.

Somalia is the poster face of a failed state. In the early 90s the Somali government was over-run by the insurgents. The then government also an ally of United States asked for help. The Americans sent soldiers and equipment to clear the insurgents in December 1992. They did not stay long. Once television networks in America showed how the insurgents’ supporters were dragging bodies of dead American soldiers on the streets of Mogadishu while the Somalis celebrate, Americans forced their government to withdraw the soldiers. The Somalis were left to their own devices. It remains a failed state till date.

Following the illegal war led by United States and United Kingdom against Iraq in 2003 under Saddam Hussien, Iraq was destroyed and Saddam killed. Members of the Barth Party who formed the nucleus of the ruling class and the army were driven from power. The Shiites with their numerical advantage came to power. With vengeance in their minds they moved against the Baathists and Sunnis. Al-Qaeda in Iraq was born to resist the hegemony of the Shiites. Suicide bombs were pouring like rain. Even America could not contain with the situation, as Obama was given the humiliating task of withdrawing American soldiers leaving behind few trainers of Iraqi army. On Eid Day when Muslims were celebrating the end of Ramadan fast, last week, suicide bomber detonated his bomb killing over 100 people to sort of remind the world how disastrous America has being in helping other nation's fight terrorism.

It is therefore obvious that when America gets involved with any nation fighting terrorism or insurgency, it get worsened. Nigeria has better watch it or may get more than it bargained for. After all even without American help Boko Haram was already on its knees towards the tail end of President Goodluck Jonathan's administration with Russian supply of needed equipment that was denied Nigeria by United States under the guise of Nigerian army’s inability to operate some of the weapons and violation of human rights by the soldiers fighting insurgency in the North East.