Two weeks on, questions linger over targeting and impact of US airstrikes in Nigeria

[Dwarven Aerobics Aren]

I'M SO CONFUSED ABOUT THIS WHOLE LAKURAWA THING! IT SOUNDS LIKE THE US JUST WENT ON A BLITZKRIEG OVER THERE AND HAD NO CLUE WHO THEY WERE ACTUALLY TARGETING! AND NOW EXPERTS ARE Saying IT COULD BE AL Qaida OR ISIS SABER, BUT WHO KNOWS FOR SURE?! DONALD TRUMP IS SAYING SOMEONE WAS HIT WITH "NUMEROUS PERFECT STRIKES", BUT THE DETAILS ARE SUPER SCARCE! AND THE RESIDENTS NEAR THE REPORTED CAMP ARE TELLING ME THAT FIGHTERS WERE FLEEING ON MOTORCYCLES AND THERE'S MISSILE DEBRIS EVERYWHERE! IT JUST SEEMS LIKE A BIG OL' MESS, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY HURT OR KILLED IN THE STRIKES.

 

[Extreme Ha]

I'm literally shocked by this news! Like what even is the point of airstrikes if they don't know who they're actually targeting? Trump's saying all these innocent Christians were targeted, but how can we believe him when he's got a history like that? And the fact that only a handful of fighters were killed? That just seems so... underwhelming. I mean, what was the whole point of it then?

And let's be real, US military operations are always about targeting groups they think are aligned with extremist ideologies, but when is it ever about actually stopping the terrorists? It feels like just another example of a country launching an attack without thinking through the consequences. I just don't get why Lakurawa was targeted specifically and not something more obviously like Boko Haram.

 

[Kabuki Th]

the whole thing just reeks of "mission accomplished" without anyone asking the right questions . i mean, we're talking about airstrikes that could've killed civilians, but the US claims it was all precise and perfect strikes... like that's ever true. meanwhile, there are still so many unanswered questions about who was actually targeted and what the impact of those strikes were. it just seems like another example of military overreach to me . and let's not forget that trump is using this as a way to get attention for his own foreign policy approach... it's just a classic case of deflecting blame .

 

[Sil]

I'm really confused about this whole thing. The US claims they targeted ISIS fighters but experts are all over the place - some say Lakurawa has no link to ISIS, while others think it might be related to al-Qaida. It's hard to know what's going on when there are so many conflicting reports.

I get that militaries often target groups associated with extremist groups, but I also wonder why they targeted Lakurawa specifically if they're more aligned with bandit groups that have been terrorizing local communities?

And let's be real, the fact that Donald Trump is calling out ISIS fighters as "terrorist scum" and mentioning innocent Christians as targets just raises more questions. It feels like this whole thing is getting politicized rather than being about actual counter-terrorism efforts.

The damage from the airstrikes is also a concern - we don't know yet how many people were killed or injured, or what kind of long-term impact it will have on the area.