Rep. Sara Jacobs Argues For New Counterterrorism Approach in Africa and Discusses CODEL to Ukraine with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell
On MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-53) discussed her new op-ed in Foreign Policy arguing for a new counterterrorism approach in Africa that focuses on good governance, and her recent congressional delegation trip to Ukraine.
Watch Rep. Sara Jacobs Discuss Her Op-Ed Here
In reference to her op-ed in Foreign Policy arguing for a new counterterrorism approach that focuses on good governance, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs said, “We have a real opportunity right now with this African Leaders Summit to rethink the way we approach counterterrorism in Africa. We’ve poured billions of dollars in it over 20 years, and yet, we’re only seeing violence and violent extremism increase. And that’s because we focus so much on the military approach instead of really looking at the underlying drivers of this issue which, based on my experience working at the State Department, is that when human rights abuses are being committed, when militaries are committing abuses against their populations, that’s what’s really driving recruitment into violent extremism. And so if we really want to be able to address this issue, what we need to do is focus on increasing good governance in Africa and really work with governments there to make sure they understand what they need to do to bring young people into the government, to make sure that everyone in the country feels included and has a stake in the future of those countries.”
In her op-ed, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs goes on further to say the U.S. should pursue good governance in Africa through investment, diplomacy, security sector reforms, and thoughtful implementation of the Global Fragility Act.
Watch Rep. Sara Jacobs Discuss End-Use Monitoring of Weapons Here
On strengthening end-use monitoring of weapons in Ukraine, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs said, “Part of what we were doing there [on our CODEL to Ukraine] was actually looking at what our embassy and what the Ukrainian government is doing to make sure the weapons are getting to the right place. I think the best evidence of that is that they’re winning the war and they wouldn’t be able to do that if they were misusing the weapons. It’s a bit of a false choice between more assistance and providing oversight. Actually, even before the invasion by Russia, I had been calling for more oversight of the weapons that we transfer to other people. And I think this is a real opportunity to make sure we are doing that globally and that none of the weapons that we send overseas are going to the wrong hands.”
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