Why don't we care about these girls?

[HairOfTheDog]

Last I checked, the families of the girls who were kidnapped and appealed for help outside of Nigeria weren't predominantly "white folks". Nor were the women's right groups in Asia and Africa. Nor was the US President and his wife. They were among the first to hit the media and start the global campaign or outcry, along with or followed shortly thereafter by other world leaders of all racial and religious backgrounds, including Muslims.

It doesn't matter. I understand your personal perspective.

[BlueTiki]

Outcry: a strong expression of public disapproval or anger. Egyptian Muslim leaders have called the acts of Boko Haram "pure terrorism". Indonesia with the largest Muslim population, has seen its Muslim leaders express the same frustration and disappointment as you are expressing in the Nigerian government's failure to handle a growing terrorist cult which they claim falsely uses Islam to attract recruits and carry out crimes against innocents. These such acts/crimes are forbidden in the Quran -- that's what has been clearly and strongly and consistently stated by the Muslim leaders worldwide who have denounced Boko Haram and the kidnappings. As I noted upthread, you can find the outcry from the Islamic world's leaders quite easily in the media -- it's not been hidden.

And yet, the Muslim faith allows for excommunication.

Not one US Muslim cleric has gone on record to support this type of action!

Why? Because Shekau's views are based on iconic Islamic texts.

The Catholics and Mormons have bigger stones, than these hypocrites, when it comes to their own.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah, I'm not arguing in favor of the Muslim religion over other religions or defending Islam. I don't subscribe to any religion.

The question was, "where's the Islamic outcry?". I addressed that question.

And, pointed out to Six, who claims to find racism intolerable, that it doesn't take white folks to show colored folks right from wrong and motivate an outcry. That's not what happened here.

I'm equally intolerant of all terrorists and violent criminals, regardless of their backgrounds and their proclaimed motivations and rationalizations. I hope the Nigerian girls are safely rescued -- if that means all of the Boko Haram members are killed, fine by me. If they instead go to trial, get convicted, and are punished harshly, okay too. If some Muslim leaders want to try to show them the "true path" while they're rotting in jail cells, that doesn't bother me either.

Regarding excommunication, I'm not sure, but I get the sense that Muslim leaders are not recognizing them in the first place based on the public statements of disapproval and claims that Boko Haram's actions go against Islamic teachings.

[Maggot]

I think Egypt should go there and straiten this mess out. Get the Muslim brotherhood together and start a "posse" but I hear the people there are doing it themselves.

[BlueTiki]

. . . I get the sense that Muslim leaders are not recognizing them in the first place based on the public statements of disapproval and claims that Boko Haram's actions go against Islamic teachings.

The implementation of Sharia Law is against Islamic teachings?

Holy Taliban, Batman!

Besides . . . Shekau is an Iman.

I'd figure they'd at least boot his ass, publicly, as to send a message supporting their condemnation of his interpretation of Islam.

[HairOfTheDog]

Update

More bombings by Boko Haram, the schoolgirls are still missing, and Nigerian Christians and Muslims are working together in efforts to find the girls and stand up against Boko Haram's terrorist attacks on Christians and Muslims.

Note: the date on the Youtube video title is incorrect -- it's from today.

Not much information about what, if any, progress is being made by the international team now in Nigeria for over a week.

The US designated Boko Haram a "terrorist group" late last year -- years after the group had already carried out many mass killings. It was a heated debate in Congress. Some Congresspersons argued that Boko Haram wasn't specifically targeting the US and that by designating the group as terrorists it might send the wrong message to President Johnathan that the US condoned the Nigerian government/military's heavy-handed effort to thwart the group (luckily, IMO, wiser heads prevailed and those objections were effectively countered).

Today, the Nigerian government is petitioning the United Nations to designate the Qaeda-linked group a global terrorist organization.

I don't know if making the "terrorist list" really works against such groups or works for them in some ways, giving them more exposure and more ability to attract disgruntled and imbalanced recruits. In any case, it's indisputable, to me, that Boko Haram is a band of criminals led by a nutjob seeking control and profit via murder and terror.

Refs:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/21/world/...-violence/
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/13/world/...index.html

(HOTD edit: name spelling correction)

[BlueTiki]

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/21/world/...-violence/

This should have been done in 2011 when Boko Haram bombed the UN Headquarters in Abuja.

[username]

I don't know if it's just me but I notice a big difference in media coverage and political babble about foreign events in general. I think Obama determined that the American public are generally just war weary and he's taken a weak stance on everything since. Syria, the Ukraine, North Korea, even Israel. He's focusing on home and just placating people with words and empty threats about what's going on overseas.

So, our leaders express outrage over what's happened to these girls, offer some strategic/practical help and then shut up about it. It's outside our area of immediate concern.

Of course I feel badly for those girls but I tend to agree that we can only get involved so much. These fucked up people need to address their own messed up countries and deal with the criminals in their midst themselves or with their own allies.

[BlueTiki]

So, our leaders express outrage over what's happened to these girls, offer some strategic/practical help and then shut up about it. It's outside our area of immediate concern.

Ya know . . . for a Civil Rights Administration . . . they blow!

Anyone listen to the First Lady's Mother's Day address?

It was about evil menz deprivin' wimminz of an education!

These menz aren't terrorists or religious extremists . . . they are chauvinists!

[SIXFOOTERsez]

So, our leaders express outrage over what's happened to these girls, offer some strategic/practical help and then shut up about it. It's outside our area of immediate concern.

Ya know . . . for a Civil Rights Administration . . . they blow!

Anyone listen to the First Lady's Mother's Day address?

It was about evil menz deprivin' wimminz of an education!

These menz aren't terrorists or religious extremists . . . they are chauvinists!

Where ya recon she got her data?
Last I read there are now more educated black women and more of them in college than ever before and their increase rates are ahead of black men to the point that educated black women are cruising white men because there are so few successful black men out there.
Or was she just bashin us evil mens in general?

[HairOfTheDog]

So, Now What -- Rock and a Hard Spot?...

Snip:
A top Nigerian military official believes he knows the whereabouts of girls kidnapped last month, but he says the nation's military will not use force to try to rescue them, a state news report said Monday.

"We want our girls back. I can tell you that our military can and will do it, but where they are held, can we go there with force?" asked Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh.

"Nobody should say Nigerian military does not know what it is doing; we can't kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back."

Badeh continued: "The good news for the parents of the girls is that we know where they are, but we cannot tell you.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/26/world/...hpt=iaf_c1
===================================================

Assuming military officials really know where the 200 remaining girls are being kept, how do they get them back without almost ensuring at least some of them will be killed by their captors or in the massive raid that would be required to retrieve them by force?

In the past, the Nigerian politicians and military might have negotiated with Boko Haram and released some of its members from jail. Maybe that's why Boko Haram has gotten bolder and bolder?

Anyway, now the eyes of the world are on Nigeria and even if the leadership wished to reluctantly negotiate a hostage for prisoners exchange this time, the UK's Africa Minister (Simmons) told the world two weeks back that Nigerian President Jonathan promised him that there would be no prisoner release negotiations this time (source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/nige...d=23717882). And, the international team of specialists now in Nigeria may well not support a negotiation with terrorists either.

Waiting...

[HairOfTheDog]

Boko Haram Blazes On

It's been over three months since the school girls were abducted.

During that time, some have escaped their captors, but 200 are missing and there's nothing being published about what the international team of experts is doing in Nigeria.

In the meantime, it's looking to me like Boko Haram owns Nigeria. The Nigerian security forces can't handle them and media outlets on Monday reported that Boko Haram had taken over Damboa and were seeking to establish themselves as the local authority, something the Boko Haram is not widely known to do.

But the military tried to play down the extent of the crisis. "We are not conceding any portion of this country to any terrorist group," Chris Olukolade, defence spokesman, said. "Security agencies are firming up deployment of troops in the entire area. We are also going to reverse every form of insecurity in that area very soon."

Thousands of people have been killed in Nigeria's insurgency, more than 2,000 so far just this year, and an estimated 750,000 Nigerians have been driven from their homes.

Full story: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/201...63368.html
==============================

2014 looks like the year of Islamic militant insurgents, to me -- gaining more ground, maturing into more sophisticated and larger operations, and becoming dominant over local security and military in parts of the Middle East and Africa.

It's not so much about hitting an embassy or international event anymore for some of the most driven militant groups, it's take over time. I see the war on terror much like the war on drugs -- too widespread with deep unaddressed root causes within communities to be contained by laws or throwing money/security at the situation. It's disturbing to me.

[Maggot]

I wonder if there is room for them here?

[HairOfTheDog]

I wonder if there is room for them here?

Them, who? Boko Haram or those driven from their homes?

In either case...how about Ragged Mountain State Forest, NH.

Big, clean lake, good fishing, friendly locals...

[Maggot]

I wonder if there is room for them here?

Them, who? Boko Haram or those driven from their homes?

In either case...how about Ragged Mountain State Forest, NH.

Big, clean lake, good fishing, friendly locals...

A tent would be cheaper than a plane ride.

[HairOfTheDog]

It's a tents situation, no doubt.

It's been 100 days since the school girls were abducted.

The Nigerian government says it knows where they're located, but can't risk their lives in a mission to rescue them.

11 of their parents have died since the abduction; either in attacks by Boko Haram or due to illness.

Boko Haram continues invading villages and killing the residents. Its lunatic leader, Abubakar Shekau, released another video demanding the release of its prisoners and mocking the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

Nightmare for Nigerians.

Stories:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/201...65384.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/23/opinio...?hpt=hp_t5

[HairOfTheDog]

This is such a colossal mess.

The Nigerian government seems, to me, to spread misinformation as a matter of routine. And, the Boko Haram leader is a crazy fucker who appears to thoroughly enjoy all of the exposure he's receiving from terrorizing the country.

Unsurprisingly, the wide-scale Twitter hashtag campaign to "Bring Back Our Girls" doesn't seem to have helped the abducted girls. Boko Haram leaders have repeatedly mocked the campaign since it was launched.

The latest -- snip:
Nigerian officials announced two weeks ago that they had struck a deal with the Islamist terror group. The deal, the government said, included the release of more than 200 girls whose kidnapping in April at a boarding school in the nation's north stunned the world.

In a video released today, Boko Haram laughed off Nigeria's announcement of a ceasefire agreement, saying there is no such deal and the abducted schoolgirls have been converted to Islam and married off.


"Don't you know the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam?" Abubakar Shekau (pictured above) said. "They have now memorized two chapters of the Koran." "We married them off. They are in their marital homes," he said, chuckling.

Shekau also said the militant group was holding a German hostage. CNN's attempts to reach officials of Chad, who helped strike the purported deal, were unsuccessful Saturday.

The ceasefire deal announced October 17 followed a month of negotiations with representatives of the group, Hassan Tukur, an aide to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, said at the time.

After the deal was announced, the aide said final negotiations on the girls' release would be completed at a meeting a week later in Chad. That day passed without any signs of the girls.

Despite government claims of a ceasefire, Boko Haram fighters have continued deadly attacks on villages, killing scores and abducting an unknown number of people. One attack a day after the purported ceasefire killed eight people.

Days later, members of the Islamist terror group abducted at least 60 young women and girls from Christian villages in northeast Nigeria, residents said Thursday.

The militant group, which shuns western education, is trying to impose strict Sharia law across Nigeria, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south. Like ISIS, it has ambitions for a caliphate, or religious state.

Ref: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/01/world/...?hpt=hp_t1


I hope the girls eventually see their surviving family members, but I don't think well-intentioned Twitter demands are gonna help make it happen.