President Trump ordered precision strikes against Islamic State-linked militants in northwest Nigeria this week, a bold move that finally matches words with action in defense of persecuted Christians abroad. The missiles and drone strikes, conducted in coordination with Nigerian authorities, were aimed at ISIS camps in Sokoto State and were announced by the White House as a direct response to escalating attacks on innocent believers. This is the sort of clear, unapologetic leadership Americans expect when persecution of our brothers and sisters is allowed to run unchecked.
Former U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback sounded the alarm on the Will Cain Show, bluntly calling Nigeria the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian — an indictment that can’t be swept under the rug by politically correct elites. Brownback’s warning should land like a thunderclap in Washington: when one nation becomes a killing field for people of faith, moral clarity demands a muscular response. Conservatives have been raising this issue for years; it’s high time our government stopped treating religious persecution like a diplomatic footnote.
Reports show the strikes were carried out with Nigerian approval and built on shared intelligence, targeting camps that housed foreign fighters and plotted major attacks — the kind of transnational threat that metastasizes if left alone. U.S. assets, including drones and naval-launched munitions, were used to take the fight to those who butcher and abduct civilians, and the coordinated effort minimized collateral damage while maximizing impact on jihadist networks. This isn’t adventurism; it’s pragmatic counterterrorism that protects both American interests and innocent lives overseas.
Let’s be honest: for too long the mainstream media and many in Washington treated the persecution of Christians as somebody else’s problem while virtue-signaling about abstract human rights. That silence is complicit; it sends a signal to tyrants and terror groups that Western outrage is performative. President Trump’s action breaks that pattern and sends a simple message: America will stand with the persecuted and will use its power to defend those who cannot defend themselves.
The human toll in Nigeria is staggering and growing — clergy murdered, villages razed, and millions displaced — and reliable organizations have documented a shocking number of faith-based killings over recent years. Nigerian church leaders and international religious freedom advocates have repeatedly testified about mass burials and atrocities committed against Christians, pleading for the world to stop pretending this is merely “tribal violence.” If we value religious liberty, we cannot sit back while entire communities are terrorized and erased.
Now Congress and the administration must follow through with policy: condition aid, sanction enablers, fund security cooperation that protects vulnerable communities, and support on-the-ground relief for displaced families. Republican lawmakers and grassroots patriots should press for decisive action — including support for Nigerian forces that genuinely combat jihadists — and avoid the hollow gestures that have characterized past responses. The moral and strategic case for standing up to Islamist violence is undeniable; our policy must reflect that reality.
Make no mistake: letting extremist enclaves flourish in places like the Sahel and northwest Nigeria is not an isolated regional problem — it is a threat to global security and to the conscience of free nations. Americans who love liberty and faith must celebrate leadership that defends life and pushes back against barbarism, and we must demand sustained commitment until the job is done. If Washington wants the support of patriotic voters, it will match rhetoric with action and protect those who are being slaughtered for their faith.
