Disagreements rage as White House contemplates risky strikes in country with Russian ties

Already mired in a war with Iran that has cost him support with the Republican Party and his most avid base of voters, President Donald Trump is being pressured internally towards a military intervention in Mali.

The administration is preparing plans to strike an al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group operating across West Africa, according to current and former U.S. officials, The Washington Post is reporting

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If approved, Mali would become the eighth nation where Trump has authorized military operations since taking office—a stark contradiction of his campaign promises of ending America's endless wars.

The proposal has sparked internal debate among senior officials. National Security Council counterterrorism director Sebastian Gorka is pushing hard for military action, while others within the administration urge caution.

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The target is JNIM, or Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an al-Qaeda-aligned group that has transformed into the region's most formidable militant force. Operating from Mali, JNIM has expanded its reach across coastal West African nations, establishing itself as one of the world's most heavily armed insurgent organizations.

Mali, a landlocked nation of nearly 25 million, has "in recent years been plagued by violence by Islamist militant groups — and by Mali’s own junta government and the Russian mercenaries whom it hired to get the situation under control," the report notes.

According to the Post, "Any direct U.S. military involvement in Mali runs the risk of hostilities with Russian forces in the region. It also could require deconfliction efforts between Washington and Moscow akin to ones that existed in Syria during that country’s civil war."

The timing is catastrophic for Trump politically. His Iran war has already fractured his base. Adding an eighth military engagement while Americans struggle with inflation and rising costs could accelerate the political erosion already evident in recent polling.