Why is the U.S. Getting Involved in the Nigerian Schoolgirl Kidnapping Case?

Hashtag activism may feel good, but trending
Twitter topics should not substitute for thoughtful foreign policy,
especially involving interventions that involve members of the U.S.
military.

From my latest column at
Time:

“It’s a heartbreaking situation, outrageous situation,” said
President Barack Obama, referring to the kidnapping of more than
250 schoolgirls in Nigeria by the radical terrorist group Boko
Haram.

That’s absolutely true, but why in the world is Obama
directly involving the U.S.—“we’ve already sent…a combination of
military, law enforcement, and other agencies”–in the search for
the girls, who are reportedly being sold into slavery?

The goal of our foreign policy, and especially
interventions involving soldiers, should always be tightly tied to
protecting American lives, interests and property. If the past
dozen years and actions of the two most recent presidents should
have taught us anything, it’s that the U.S. is not particularly
adept at solving its own domestic problems, much less those in
faraway lands….

Involving ourselves in Nigeria will create yet one more
distraction for a government that hasn’t figured out how to deal
with far more consequential situations involving Iran, Syria,
Ukraine, Russia and Venezuela, not to mention myriad domestic
problems.

Read the whole thing.

Your thoughts?