AP Interview: US envoy says no soldiers to Nigeria

By CHIME JOHNBOSCO, Associated Press – 8 hours ago

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Nigeria said Thursday his nation is offering support for the West African country's fight against a radical Islamist sect, but ruled out sending troops into a region vital to American oil supplies.

Ambassador Terence P. McCulley said the U.S. encourages Nigeria reach out to residents in its desperately poor Muslim north while using security forces to target and apprehend terrorists.

He said the U.S. is also considering opening a consulate in Kano, the biggest city in Nigeria's north, to burnish America's own image among a people still suspicious about Western influence.

However, he was unequivocal when asked in an interview with The Associated Press whether U.S. troops should be deployed in Nigeria.

"That's not on the table," McCulley said. "No, absolutely not."

Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people, is under increasing attack from members of a sect known as Boko Haram. This year, the sect is blamed for killing at least 304 people, according to an AP count. At least 185 people died in Kano last month in the group's deadliest assault yet.

Nigeria's weak central government appears unable to stop Boko Haram, which analysts and diplomats believe has splintered and made contacts with two other al-Qaida-linked groups in Africa.

"It's of a great concern to us," McCulley said. "We've seen an increase in sophistication, we've seen increased lethality. We saw at least a part of the group has decided it's in their interest to attack the international community."

The U.S. is working with Nigeria's police to help them learn how to carry out forensic investigations, while a bomb expert from the FBI has been working with authorities on how to detect explosives planted by the group before they detonate, McCulley said. The U.S. also would be open to training Nigeria's military in counter-terror techniques, though the country hasn't asked for that assistance, the ambassador said.

"It's not going to be solved exclusively by treating it as a security issue," McCulley said. "It needs a holistic solution. Government needs clearly to have a targeted approach on security that targets the bad guys, that targets perpetuators of these horrible attacks and doesn't injure innocent civilians or damage property."

Intelligence-gathering also remains a concern for the U.S. in Nigeria, especially after a failure by American authorities to take seriously a warning about Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab before he boarded a U.S.-bound flight that he attempted to bring down with a bomb in 2009. While McCulley declined to give details, he said that "adequate systems" were now in place to receive such warnings and that the U.S. maintained "robust relations" with Nigerian intelligence agencies.

The current unrest has not affected oil production in Nigeria, an OPEC nation. Nigeria now produces about 2.4 million barrels of oil a day, with much of it shipped to the U.S. However, China has shown an increased interest in Nigeria in recent years, taking part in large-scale public projects as it expands its economic reach into the nation's crude-rich Niger Delta.

However, McCulley said he had no worries about Chinese influence in the country.

"We believe in , competition," the ambassador said. "My own personal feeling is there's a level playing field and the U.S. investors or the U.S. business is going to do very well against any competition."



http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gbb_qBDDma-hQNFvnRQxWo-ynO6w?docId=9db49f6328f8478bb1b45d7dd82289e5

Good!
Let the MODA-FOKA burn!!!!

Off course this was to be expected. Calls for a US military intervention had only stemmed from fantasy; the current realities of international politics leaves no room for such a move. Our C-in-C and his security agencies must become more resourceful in order to deal with this BH menace squarely.

They are masquerading,their intension is to penetrate into the country, God help naija oooo!

W

Naija, paying heavily for our stupidity yet they(USA) just come nd make useless comments nd feel like gods to us,

If the US truly has real human feelings for Africa why aren't they involved In anything that had to do with Rwanda, ivory coast, Liberia, seria leon, e.t.c

They are only interested in the Oil rich nations yet we think they Love us, make oil finish nd see how fast they will abandon us to our doom cos we have no single back-up plan like sensible counries , example of such na U.A.E,

Gosh, why wasn't I born a Saudi Arabian?, enjoy life to its fullest while being constanly prayerful to get Heaven,

Heeeeee

al-ahamad, it is not too late u can travel to saudi now & stay dia while u become citizen

the US cannot continue to clear our shiiiit.

Everything has a price. But this gov.t and future govts should avoid taking anything (except for money) from the US. Otherwise Nigeria will slowly become like afghanistan. And we definitely dont want that!

, Bla bla bla, "Nigeria's weak central government, " My question is: Is it only when it comes to looting the treasurely that our central government remembers that they have enormous constitutional powers? Its crazy that anyone should be mentioning the US sending any troop in whatever guise to Nigeria, That would have been 50 years ago but NOT now or in future

Naija settles shit in other African countris, yet we dey expect the devils advocates to come to our aid, who's need the US in Kano?, abeg make they drive front jare, blood sucking vampires kawai

I'm really glad everyone here so far doesn't trust the u.s, those guys are the real advocates of the devil. They give you with one hand,blind-fold you & bully you & take back with 25hands. No country that they ever step in recovers from sorrow & mess. Think Iraq,Afghanistan,Pakistan,Vietnam, & even our own African brothers here in Libya. Now that Libya is in total shambles,they won't put it on the news again,a lot of people don't even know what Libya has degraded into & how much violence is currently going on in Libya at the moment,that's how the u.s. wants it to be.That's the more reason why they won't put it in the news any longer. God Bless Nigeria.Amen.

al-ahamad:

Naija, paying heavily for our stupidity yet they(USA) just come nd make useless comments nd feel like gods to us,

If the US truly has real human feelings for Africa why aren't they involved In anything that had to do with Rwanda, ivory coast, Liberia, seria leon, e.t.c

They are only interested in the Oil rich nations yet we think they Love us, make oil finish nd see how fast they will abandon us to our doom cos we have no single back-up plan like sensible counries , example of such na U.A.E,



Heeeeee

My brother,my friend Thank God say we agree for once today.lol

@queensmith: In as much as the United State is concerned every country must obey its rules or else face its wrath through UN or NATO. Not mingling with them would make them say that the Nigerian Government is trying to rebel against them just like Gaddaffi. Nowadays they can't afford to send troops and finance wars in counrties they want to get fully established in because they have realised that it is too expensive realising this through the pointless war going on in afghanistan rather they have other tactics to sort out problems in more subtle ways. (NOTE: I'm a muslim but not a terrorist and I don't fight against western legislations, so don't think that what I mentioned is coming out from a radical)

Good one lets handle our own business

If president jonathan like make him allow them enter our country that will be the end of nigeria as a nation will should learn from iraq,afghanistan ,and other oil rich state.

hamsky:

@queensmith: In as much as the United State is concerned every country must obey its rules or else face its wrath through UN or NATO. Not mingling with them would make them say that the Nigerian Government is trying to rebel against them just like Gaddaffi. Nowadays they can't afford to send troops and finance wars in counrties they want to get fully established in because they have realised that it is too expensive realising this through the pointless war going on in afghanistan rather they have other ways sorting out problems in more subtle ways. (NOTE: I'm a muslim but not a terrorist and I don't fight against western legislations, so don't think that what I mentioned is coming out from a radical)

Bro,I'm a Christian & I know it's not even about religious sentiments,it's all about logical & rational human reasoning, YOU HAVE SIMPLY SAID THE TRUTH IN THIS POST OF YOURS.All that you said is the complete truth. The u.s. is a bully,they go around pretending to be offering help but behind the scenes,they keep causing wars,violence & commotion in different countries so that nobody ever rivals them. For instance,take a look at what the ambassador even said about China not being a competition, the truth is he & his people are seriously worried &scared that China could become a bigger trade partner with Nigeria & u can best believe that they'd start plotting evil ways to get China off the table completely but I Thank God China is equally as superior & powerful as the u.s. so they (u.s.) can't bleep with them (china). Left to me,we should even cut down drastically our trades,ties & association with u.s. & get more romantic with China. They (u.s.) typically extort people to their own advantage & to your disadvantage but the Chinese come with mutual offers that typically benefit you both. It pains me a lot that so many people didn't understand everything that happened between u.s.,nato & Gaddafi. A lot of people really think Gaddafi was the bad guy & this isn't true. The u.s & their allies were/are actually the bad guys that Gaddafi continued to oppose &they always saw him as a threat & obstacle to their imperialist ideas so they found ways to get him off the radar. BOTTOM LINE, I AGREE WITH YOU A 100% ON YOUR POST & WE TRULY DON'T NEED THE u.s UP IN OUR BUSINESS.

I realised dt d us doesnt like any peaceful country especialy d oil rich. Because it is from ds violent dy chop. The market for dr ammunition. They are coming to stay in nigeria. Oko eru elekeji.

The us wil always make u and dn break u.

I hate this west with passion. There is no permanent friend, what the US is
acting on is permanent interest.

Ya'll are correct nd the Gadaffi saga is really sad cos the media whorldwide fine-tuned the story to favor the US while distroying Libya, Russia, Venezuella nd a host of other oil rich countries tried their best to caution Libyans but the devils(Americans) are just too smart for everyone to see the truth, shortly After they killed him, france nd England started squabling for who gets what openly, eqyptians nd the libyans are presently suffering the wrath at its full scale,

Anyway, we all know retardeen will definitely dance to their tune like a weakleen that he is along side the vultures surrounding him, its only a matter of time,

@pretty_boi
, Yeah we agree on this nd I guess dats cos its simple logic applied with common sense which u, me nd most of the posters have , unlike some fools that are paid to just be negative about every,
Have a good day man, (Thumbs up )

US and their own style of diplomacy. Na God go help us in Africa.

//

The U.A.E wouldn't be where they are today without Britain support nd assitance-same for Saudi,Qatar e.t.c. Why is uae more libreal than iran? na us cause am? Check any country that has good ties with the west nd check their economices. From indonesia to malaysia to south korea to turkey e.t.c. One tin we should note is that ds nation wasn't one b4 1914 nd cnt be one 4ever. Gt that into yur brain(s).

Fear of Boko Haram grips U.S, Americans soldiers are not good on land

KnowAll:


the US cannot continue to clear our shiiiit.

Nigeria shiit is hard to clean because it's watering and the stench is very repugnant!

First of all no Nigerian official asked for US troops, Nigerian army has enough men and is equiped well enough, the problem is that we are finding it difficult to find the terrorists. That is where we asked for help, we need technologie and we need to be connected with the CIA and other western spy agencies. We need access to western military satellites and we need the west to help us monitor the banking status of our citizens (to stop ths funding of boko haram). It is only idiots who do not know Nigeria who thought Nigeria asked for US troops.
Foreign troops in Nigeria is a violation of our constitution.
So between you and me I think it is the US who wanted its troops to be given the green light by Nigeria (as to enter under false pretences and set up their africom) but I guess Nigerian army refused and warned the west it would take it as a declaration of war.

I am amazed at the kind of unbelievable postings being made on this thread. While one is saying the US only gets involved in the affairs of countries that has oil, another says they are involved in Afghanistan. Does Afghanistan have oil?
While one blames US for assisting Libyan rebels in toppling Gaddafi, others are blaming them for refusing to bring in troops into Nigeria because they don't like us. Imagine if the headline had been "US to bring in troops into Nigeria", I can bet that everyone here will attack them for threatening our sovereignty and seeking to take over our oil.
I can boldly say without fear of contradiction that while the US is actively pursuing its own interest (like every country should), it had never pursued a deliberate agenda at destabilizing Nigeria and will not benefit from doing so.
And to those who think China is a better ally than the US, you only need to know how the country treats its citizens who are in the opposition and how well the rights of everyone is respected to appreciate the good in America that Nigeria should emulate.
Why does everyone like to go to America and not China or Russia that some of you guys are promoting as models?

And thanks Gerrard for getting the point.

Afghanistan has the world's largest deposit of lithium (which is used in the production of rechargeable batteries for cell phones, laptops and other mobile devices).