Officials said the only way to decisively quell the violence would be to launch a large-scale campaign similar to Iraq or Afghanistan
According to The New York Times reporting, the Pentagon has prepared a range of military options for potential intervention in Nigeria following President Donald Trump’s order to protect Christians from attacks by Islamic militants. However, U.S. defense officials cautioned that any intervention is unlikely to end Nigeria’s decades-long insurgency, which has claimed thousands of lives across religious lines.
Officials said the only way to decisively quell the violence would be to launch a large-scale campaign similar to Iraq or Afghanistan — an option not currently under consideration. Instead, the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in Stuttgart, Germany, has drawn up three escalatory plans — “light,” “medium,” and “heavy.”
The light option involves “partner-enabled operations,” where U.S. forces would support Nigerian troops in targeting Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) militants. This would be complicated by the Trump administration’s closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development office in Abuja, which once played a key role in such partnerships.
The medium option includes drone strikes on militant camps and convoys using MQ-9 Reaper and Predator drones, though logistical constraints remain after the U.S. vacated its drone bases in Agadez and Niamey, Niger, now occupied by Russian forces.
The heavy option, considered least likely, would involve deploying an aircraft carrier group to the Gulf of Guinea for long-range airstrikes.
Retired Maj. Gen. Paul D. Eaton, a veteran of Iraq, warned that a direct U.S. military assault “would be a fiasco,” adding that any airstrike campaign would amount to “pounding a pillow.”
Nigeria’s government has expressed conditional support for U.S. assistance but insisted that any action must respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Officials noted that while President Trump’s directive has spurred swift planning, few expect Washington to commit fully to a new African conflict.