TERROR IN NIGERIA

The violent abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls by the Islamic extremist organization Boko Haram has captured the attention and raised the ire of many Americans, including government officials, the media, Hollywood celebs and average citizens, and rightly so. Any objective person would agree that it was an outrageous, heinous crime.

Most analysts have opined that the girls have already been split up into smaller groups and distributed to sex and slave traffickers in other countries. If they have fallen down that rabbit hole, their safe return is growing more unlikely with each passing day. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the girls and their families.

However, as unconscionable as this act was, we should not lose sight of the bigger picture. We should all realize that this was not an isolated incident. Young girls have been enslaved, tortured and terrorized in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and many other areas, including the US, for centuries. Even if these girls should be recovered and returned unharmed, which is very unlikely, that will not resolve the bigger problem.

In addition, Boko Haram has been wreaking terror in Nigeria for several years, mainly targeting Christians. This was merely their latest atrocity. The Nigerian government has been unable to subdue them. For example, last week BH attacked a town near the Cameroon border and killed 300 persons, including some women and children. Their goal is to impose Islamic law on the entire country. Since Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of oil, that would have major political and economic ramifications to the US. Furthermore, it has been known that BH has strong ties to al-Qaeda. You remember al-Qaeda. That is the terrorist organization that the Obama Administration has sworn was “on the run” and no longer a significant factor. Well, BH is further proof that al-Qaeda is very much alive and well. In fact, it has metastasized into other countries and terrorist groups. BH is but one example of this.

Interestingly, despite all the acts of terror BH has been committing over the past several years, the State Department did not formally designate BH as a “terrorist organization” until November 2013. Such a designation would have at least brought increased scrutiny and attention to the group. Maybe the school girls’ abduction as well as some of the other terror attacks could have been prevented. Even after BH bombed the UN Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria in 2011 the Hillary-led State Department refused to act. Even in the face of urging by the FBI, CIA, Department of Justice, General Carter Ham, Chief of US Africa Command, and various Congressmen, the Hillary-led State Department refused to act. Moreover, when the Senate introduced a bill to force the designation the Hillary-led State Department actually lobbied against it. Now, after she is no longer in charge of State and the incident has received world-wide attention, Hillary is full of righteous indignation towards BH. Disingenuous, to say the least. But, better late than never, I suppose.

CONCLUSION AND PREDICTION

This incident raises questions about how we deal with terrorism all over the world. All too often, rather than confronting it head-on, we deny its existence for political purposes. So, why did the Hillary-led State Department refuse to recognize reality? Was it poor judgment? Poor intelligence? Incompetence? Indifference to the plight of Christians or women in Nigeria? (Did I just postulate a link between “Hillary Clinton” and the “war on women?” Ironic, huh.) Or, was it to perpetuate the Administration’s myth that terrorism, in general, and al-Qaeda, in particular, was “on the run?” Soon after Hillary left office the State Department did, in fact, designate BH as a terrorist organization. The facts are the facts. You decide.

I’m not sure what the US or anyone can do to help these girls. Yes, we can help bring BH to justice for its crimes, maybe even crush the Islamic movement they are promulgating. But, don’t expect the terrorizing and enslavement of girls to end overnight. I have blogged about this before. This is the real “war on women,” not the bogus one on American women that Dems keep trying to create. As I said, it’s been going on forever, and until and unless fundamental attitudes change it will continue.