The News
Iran might not be the only military operation about which the Trump administration has shared limited information with Congress.
New reports that US President Donald Trump is considering military intervention in Mali caught senators from both parties by surprise when asked by Semafor about the possibility on Thursday, with some complaining about a lack of consultation over a potential new US military campaign.
“What US military intervention?” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said when asked about the plan.
“Why on earth would that be a good idea? I’ve been to Mali several times. I’ve been to every country in the Sahel,” Coons added. “I don’t know anything other than you asking me right now.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said he had “seen headlines” but “heard nothing from the administration.”
Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Todd Young, R-Ind., Josh Hawley, R-Mo. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., all said they had either not seen the reports or had not been briefed.
Lawmakers have repeatedly complained about the Trump administration keeping them in the dark on military action and other foreign policy moves, including the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro at the start of this year.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the administration is considering strikes to target al-Qaeda affiliated group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, known as JNIM, in Mali.
If carried out, Mali would become the eighth country where Trump has ordered military strikes during his second term.
Many Democratic senators who spoke to Semafor questioned the strategy, which they said they only learned about through media reports.
“It doesn’t seem to me that this president ever hesitates to use, or at least threaten, military intervention. It’s already got us into a war in Iran with no strategic goal. And now he finds himself not being able to get out of it,” Kelly said.
“The last thing the US needs is another foolish Trump war right now,” said Kaine. “No one has briefed us on this.”
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said he has “concerns about a military adventurism of our country,” adding that cuts to US aid and diplomacy had undermined stability in the region.
Coons also questioned whether airstrikes would achieve their intended goal.
“That’s not likely to end well. What the current war in Iran is showing us is the limits of air power, and the limits of using technology to impose costs on an ideological opponent. JNIM is not going to suddenly give up because we drop munitions on them,” said Coons.
Step Back
The administration has quietly deepened engagement with Mali’s military government despite years of strained relations following the country’s coups and growing partnership with Russia.
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia visited Mali last week on his first trip to the continent, meeting with the prime minister and foreign minister in Bamako. Earlier this year, the Trump administration also lifted sanctions on three senior Malian officials with ties to the Wagner Group.
“I can’t imagine any meaningful positive impacts,” Nathaniel Powell, a West Africa analyst at Oxford Analytica and research associate at Lancaster University’s Centre for War and Diplomacy, said of a possible American military intervention. “If 5,000 French troops deployed in the Sahel over a decade could not stem the spread of jihadist insurgencies, a few US airstrikes won’t either.” He added that Malian authorities “would likely cautiously welcome more US engagement” but would insist on framing it as a sovereign decision, not one imposed by an outside power.
Mali’s security situation has deteriorated in recent years. A coordinated offensive by JNIM and the Tuareg-dominated Azawad Liberation Front in April worsened the crisis with government losses across the country and a suicide bombing that killed the Malian defense minister.
The Trump administration appears to be angling for a similar arrangement as it had in Nigeria, where Christmas Day US strikes were carried out at the request of Abuja.