(CNN) Trump threatens to send US troops to Nigeria.

A better choice: Arm ECOWAS, of which 2/3 of the member population is Nigerian, with hi-tech surveillance gear. The prerequisite for destruction of Boko Haram is accurate intelligence. The U.S. has been a pioneer in this field since the Vietnam War, when Operation Igloo White deployed thousands of sensors to monitor the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

A geographically separate threat, al-Shabaab, has the potential for linkage through a desire to establish jihadist belts in territories that adjoin Nigeria at the savanna Sahel, the  semi-arid belt that girds Africa just south of the Sahara. This is already in play from Somalia in the east, through Mali and the other the Francophone states that recently expelled French influence. See (CNN) US intelligence assesses Houthis in Yemen in talks to provide weapons to al-Shabaab in Somalia, officials say.

ECOWAS has been pleading for Western arms for years, which have been denied for reasons of bad governance and ubiquitous violence against civilians. The Western evaluation mirrors the Syrian, when the Assad regime was a reliable bulwark against Islamism, at the cost of brutality the West could not stomach.

ECOWAS is worth another look. Some member states, such as Nigeria, are relatively advanced, though their measures against  Boko Haram have included mass slaughter of youths thought to be involved. Other member states have doubtful back stories.

How picky should we be? Should we default to Russian and Chinese influence, give it the old half-hearted try, arm ECOWAS with intelligence, or send Americans to rumble in the jungle?

***We’ve been there before***