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The title of this thread is a bit of a non-sequitur. We know why Chad, ostensibly an ally of the U.S. in Africa, is on the banned travel list. They've been thrown in so the ban doesn't include just Muslim countries, but also other countries so this doesn't appear like a ban against a religion.
Important lesson to be learned here by smaller nations that might be considering what other nations to ally with: America is far from reliable. (Though really, what's new there?)
NBC News - Travel Ban: Why Has Trump Restricted Visas From Chad? Experts Are Puzzled
Important lesson to be learned here by smaller nations that might be considering what other nations to ally with: America is far from reliable. (Though really, what's new there?)
NBC News - Travel Ban: Why Has Trump Restricted Visas From Chad? Experts Are Puzzled
LONDON — President Donald Trump’s decision to include Chad in the latest travel ban has baffled experts who are wondering why the African nation was chosen over others in the region.
The new presidential order renews restrictions on five of the six countriespreviously targeted — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen — and adds North Korea, Venezuela and Chad. Sudan has dropped off the list.
“It’s a head-scratcher and also strange for diplomatic reasons,” Michael Shurkin, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, said. “In terms of security, Chad is actually relatively capable.”
Out of all the countries in the Sahel, as that area of Africa is known, Chad has a reasonably close partnership with the U.S.
It has cooperated extensively in the fight against terror, and specifically against the African terror group Boko Haram. This summer, Chad hosted for the third time a 20-nation military exercise, organized by the U.S. African Command, aimed at strengthening local security forces. And the U.S. recently opened a new $300 million embassy in the capital, N’Djamena.
Trump’s proclamation said that “Chad does not adequately share public-safety and terrorism-related information and fails to satisfy at least one key risk criterion.”
It also mentioned the presence of several terrorist groups in the region, including elements of Boko Haram, ISIS-West Africa, and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Analysts say these factors are present in a number of countries both in Africa and around the world and are not unique to Chad.
“I think it’s a matter of incompetence,” said John Campbell, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, who is now a senior fellow at the Center on Foreign Relations.
The new presidential order renews restrictions on five of the six countriespreviously targeted — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen — and adds North Korea, Venezuela and Chad. Sudan has dropped off the list.
“It’s a head-scratcher and also strange for diplomatic reasons,” Michael Shurkin, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, said. “In terms of security, Chad is actually relatively capable.”
Out of all the countries in the Sahel, as that area of Africa is known, Chad has a reasonably close partnership with the U.S.
It has cooperated extensively in the fight against terror, and specifically against the African terror group Boko Haram. This summer, Chad hosted for the third time a 20-nation military exercise, organized by the U.S. African Command, aimed at strengthening local security forces. And the U.S. recently opened a new $300 million embassy in the capital, N’Djamena.
Trump’s proclamation said that “Chad does not adequately share public-safety and terrorism-related information and fails to satisfy at least one key risk criterion.”
It also mentioned the presence of several terrorist groups in the region, including elements of Boko Haram, ISIS-West Africa, and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Analysts say these factors are present in a number of countries both in Africa and around the world and are not unique to Chad.
“I think it’s a matter of incompetence,” said John Campbell, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, who is now a senior fellow at the Center on Foreign Relations.
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