Nigeria’s Boko Haram isn’t just about Western education - The Washington Post
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/nigerias-boko-haram-isnt-just-about-western-education/2014/05/16/d9bb5824-d9de-11e3-bda1-9b46b2066796_story.html
U.S. military officials have chosen their words carefully when describing American counterterrorism assistance in Nigeria. They have talked about the difficulty of finding units the United States can legally work with, given widespread human rights abuses during “indiscriminate” crackdowns on Boko Haram. So far, the U.S. military has remained sober.
Yet, neither Secretary of State John Kerry nor President Obama has been so circumspect. “We are . . . going to do everything possible to counter the menace of Boko Haram,” Kerry proclaimed on May 8. Obama was equally intense two days earlier, describing Boko Haram as “one of the worst regional or local terrorist organizations. . . . They’ve been killing people ruthlessly for many years now, and we’ve already been seeking greater cooperation with the Nigerians.”
Not a word from either of them about the government abuses that have driven young Nigerians into the extremists’ arms. In this regard, the U.S. reaction seems reminiscent of the intervention in Afghanistan: persistent collusion with the corrupt government, and then confusion as to why the insurgency was expanding.