Body count up, time for change?
Professor Paul Rogers has an article on Nigeria and this sums it up:
Quote:
Nigeria's approach to controlling Boko Haram is flawed at just about every level, from the individual to the transnational. The policy fuels the movement's image as defenders of a besieged Islam who have no choice but to resist and to inspire a process of puritan social and spiritual renewal.
Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-ro...oko-haram-risk
Alas there is no mention of alternative options to the apparent violence-only approach of the army; as reported in:http://wap.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/wo...islamists.html
That nice diplomatic phrase 'security sector reform' (SSR) is rather difficult in the midst of an insurgency, as the UK painfully learnt in Northern Ireland and only really achieved after 'The Troubles' abated.
Escalation in weapons used
Quote:
When Islamic fighters drove into a town in north-eastern Nigeria last week, they used anti-aircraft guns, mounted on the backs of trucks, to destroy nearly every landmark of the nation's federal government......Where the weaponry has come from also remains unclear. A propaganda video released in March by Boko Haram, featuring its leader, Abubakar Shekau, showed fighters gathered around weapons they said they had stolen from an attack on an army barracks. Those weapons included what appeared to be heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and possibly anti-aircraft weapons, as well as ammunition and brand-new bulletproof vests.
Link:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...g-8612408.html
Ensuring U.S. Prosperity and Security: The Case for Nigeria
Ensuring U.S. Prosperity and Security: The Case for Nigeria
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The Causes of Instability in Nigeria and Implications for the United States
The Causes of Instability in Nigeria and Implications for the United States
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'Nigeria: the (wide) context for violence'
'Nigeria: the (wide) context for violence'
Bill, now there you go again,
insulting all the real animals I love. :D
The fact is that these in Nigeria and those in Kenya are human beings with the same faculties of intellect, conscience and free will that we possess; that they have made deliberate and premediatated choices to do exactly what they have done; and that, as cognizant human beings, they deserve everything that is coming their way.
In short, they deserve retribution, reprobation and specific deterrence.
Regards
Mike