This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/6145
October 30, 2013
October 29, 2013 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org – The Nigerian government's war against the Muslim terror group, Boko Haram has assumed something of the surreal over the last few months. In many ways the press surrounding this ongoing conflict is reminiscent of the way in which the Vietnam War was covered, with constant [and triumphant] announcements of enemy body counts which where wholly concocted to make it appear that the NV/VC were being decimated.
So daily, the African media prints sketchy stories alleging that huge numbers of BK insurgents are being killed while downplaying any suggestion that government forces are taking a veritable shellacking.
Case in point…
A CNN report claimed - Government: Nigerian troops kill over 90 Boko Haram members.
Yet that number is not borne out by a tally within the piece. Numerous other sources report similar claims.
The problem with this type of reporting is that media don't embed with Nigerian government forces and thus have no first-hand knowledge of the details of offensive operations.
Generally the most reliable information comes from first hand witnesses, almost always requesting anonymity, who suggest a far different and more daunting reality – Boko Haram is actually growing stronger and the government seems powerless to stop it.
As we go to press there are claims that the aforementioned attack on the capital of Yobe state, Damaturu, on October 23 might have been led by a lieutenant colonel who apparently defected from the Nigerian defense force.
At least one newspaper stated that the Lt. Col was arrested and is undergoing "interrogation."
Please keep in mind that this is the same encounter which CNN characterized as a victory for the Nigerian army…but locals tell a different story reporting that they have seen the bodies of at least 35 members of the Nigerian army in a morgue.
The takeaway here is fairly straight forward.
Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, is in the midst of a frenzied jihad carried out by Boko Haram – the purpose of which is to subject Nigerians to the brutal justice of 10th century Shari'a.
Irrespective of the human tragedy inherent in such warfare, U.S. strategic concerns are also being threatened since the country supplies the U.S. with roughly 10% of its imported oil.
The growing threat posed by Islamic radicalism in Western Africa is mirrored in the East where al-Shabaab is carrying out a similar – atrocity laden – campaign in Kenya.
Team Obama has done almost nothing in the way of rendering assistance to these beleaguered states and now that the administration is under siege over its disastrous healthcare roll out, there is little chance that either al-Shabaab or Boko Haram will ever face significant push-back from the current DC crowd.
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This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/6145