[AnNahar] The insurgency waged by Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... 's leader Abubakar Muhammad Shekau, who claimed the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls, has grown so ruthless that even former Islamist allies have cut ties.
Born in a village in Nigeria's northeastern Yobe state on the border with Niger, Shekau had a traditional Islamic education in neighboring Borno state, where Boko Haram was founded more than a decade ago by the holy man Mohammed Yusuf.
After meeting Yusuf, Shekau joined his movement made up largely of radical youths who believed that the prevalence of Western education and values were to blame for many of Nigeria's problems, including egregious corruption and crippling poverty.
Boko Haram, which loosely translates as "Western education is forbidden", is a nickname that the Islamists have disowned, referring to themselves as Jama'tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad).
Awareness and condemnation of Shekau spread across the globe this week after he released a video boasting about the April 14 mass abduction in Chibok, Borno state, in which he threatened to sell the hostages as "slaves".
But for Nigerians, the chilling video was consistent with an Islamist leader who is believed to have criminal masterminded waves of horrific attacks since he took charge of Boko Haram several months after Yusuf was killed by Nigerian police in 2009.
"With Shekau at the helm," the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report last month, "Boko Haram has grown more ruthless, violent and destructive."
Shekau's extremism is perhaps best highlighted by the decision of Ansaru -- a Boko Haram offshoot which has kidnapped foreigners and published their execution online -- to cut ties.
Ansaru "distanced itself from the rest of Boko Haram because it disapproved of its indiscriminate killings and Shekau's lack of tact," the ICG report said, citing security sources and people with close ties to both bad boy groups.
There were significant outbursts of violence under Yusuf but the group was nominally committed to spreading sharia (Islamic law) across northern Nigeria, a goal some in the deeply conservative region support.
Yusuf's ideology and anti-corruption preachings have been largely buried by Shekau's repeated attacks on defenseless civilians, including mass kidnappings and the slaughter of scores of students in their sleep, analysts say.
Even before Yusuf's death, Shekau had accused him of "being too soft", according to the ICG, and Shekau signaled the new direction he meant to take Boko Haram roughly a year after taking charge.
Major attacks in Nigeria's capital Abuja in 2012, including a bombing at the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... headquarters that killed scores, raised concern that Boko Haram's new leaders had received jihadist training abroad, perhaps in Algeria or Somalia.
The specific details of those foreign links have been much debated by experts but little has been confirmed.
Since 2011, the Islamists have attacked churches, mosques, politicians, police and the military, among various other targets.
The United States has declared Shekau a global terrorist and put a $7 million (5.3 million euros) bounty on his head.
The U.S. Justice Department lists 1965, 1969 and 1975 as possible years of the birth.
And Shekau's videos have become the primary channel through which the gunnies speak.
At times he makes threats against specific Nigerian targets.
At others he seems completely disconnected from current events, threatening world leaders who are dead, like recent warnings against ex-British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and the late pope John Paul II.
A quote from one his first video, released in 2012, has been cited by experts as perhaps providing a window into his character.
"I enjoy killing anyone that God commands me to kill the way I enjoy killing chickens and rams," Shekau said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/09/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] With international attention focused on Nigeria and the plight of more than 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... , Margee Ensign is keen to stress one thing: it's not just girls at risk from the myrmidons.
"It's children," said Ensign, the president of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), based in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, which is one of three in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... worst affected by the five-year insurgency.
"Girls have been kidnapped. It's horrible," she told Agence La Belle France Presse, but added: "Hundreds of boys have been killed. It's a huge part of the story."
The abduction of women and girls was a tactic employed by Boko Haram even before the group snatched 276 schoolgirls in the remote town of Chibok in Borno state on April 14 and threatened to sell them as slaves.
Last year, Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... published a report based on interviews with women who said they had been kidnapped and forced to marry myrmidon fighters before managing to escape.
Eleven girls were also kidnapped last weekend in Borno state, the epicenter of the increasingly deadly violence that has claimed more than 1,500 lives this year alone.
But boys are also frequent targets, most recently in February, when heavily armed gunnies stormed the dormitories of a boarding school in Yobe, slaughtering scores of students as they slept.
The abduction has led some to fear that Nigeria and its Moslem-majority north is on the brink of a Taliban-style crackdown on education for girls.
But Ensign disagreed, arguing that from her experience working in the insurgency-hit area, most people recognized the importance of education -- and the "Western" curriculum to which Boko Haram so vehemently objects.
"We're up in the northeast, we're in one of the poorest parts of Nigeria and we're in a state of emergency and there are girls being educated," she said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Africa in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.
"Eighty percent of the people up there can't read, so the issue is not just girls' education. It's just getting people literate.
"We're using technology and after-school programs with girls, boys and now parents who are coming back to learn how to read.
"There's a tremendous hunger for education. I don't see people keeping their girls away."
The abduction and international pledges of support have dominated discussions at the economic summit, which the government had hoped would showcase Nigeria's growing economic clout and investment potential.
Bineta Diop, the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... 's special envoy on women, peace and security, said the girls were being denied their "fundamental right" to education and no resource should be spared to find them.
The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... special envoy for global education, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown ... the hapless former British PM ... , announced a "Safe Schools Initiative" to help make Nigerian schools in the restive north more secure.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... said he hoped the international attention would spur efforts to end the insurgency once and for all.
Ensign said the focus on Nigeria should also concentrate on tackling the growing humanitarian crisis that has seen tens of thousands of people forced from their homes in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
The AUN, set up in 2003 by Nigeria's former vice-president Atiku Abubakar to train young people to tackle the many problems facing their countries, has been called upon to help the internally displaced, she said.
But the situation should also serve as a wake-up call to improve education in Nigeria, which has been hit by wider issues of mass unemployment, poor governance, corruption and poverty that have been seen as drivers for extremism.
The west African giant has some 11 million children out of school -- the most in the world. Buildings are crumbling, textbooks lacking, sanitation non-existent while teachers often go months without being paid.
"It's more comple than just nobody wants to send girls to school," said Ensign.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/09/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Kidnapped girls = hashtag heard around the world
Murdered boys = *crickets*
[Ynet] IAF believes it can shorten next war on its own by striking thousands of targets a day, dropping more than 10 accurate bombs from one plane on different areas. Ron Ben-Yishai reviews revolution in aerial warfare branch perceived as 'Israel's insurance policy.'
Long and detailed article explaining what Israel's air force has been doing with their share of the budget. Pictures at the link.
At first we'll experience a number of tough days. Rockets and missiles, directed mainly at the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. The aerial defense will mostly defend strategic facilities and bases, in the big cities buildings will collapse and there will be casualties.
So be sure to store a pick and shovel in your bomb shelter, guys, along with the family collection of gas masks. You might also want to invest in hard hats all around, and a hardened car seat for the baby. Oh, and don't forget a hardened animal carrier for the kitten. You really, really don't want to be dealing with a hysterical kitten as you dig out from the rubble of the sixth floor.
But it won't last for long. The Israel Air Force will respond immediately, and after a few days we will see a significant drop in the number of missiles fired on Israel. A ceasefire will follow, there will be some more rocket fire, and then a truce and relative calm for several years thanks to the restored deterrence.
This is, perhaps, taking "Keep calm and carry on," to a new level.
#1
Perfect English, yet some word choice leads to at least a bit of vagueness.
If an F16 can drop ten bombs on ten targets, it must carry ten bombs. Allowing for the fact that the range is probably short and a half a load of fuel is all that is necessary--for the sake of discussion--how big are the bombs likely to be if the aircraft can get off the ground?
What kind of targets can be destroyed by such bombs?
IOW, the target choice has to be for smaller or more vulnerable targets, which means the big ones are addressed by other means. Possibly an F16 with, say, four bombs. And the big targets and the little targets would be mixed up.
Figuring out and programming for such targets in a fluid situation is going to be a hell of a job.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/09/2014 8:50 Comments ||
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#2
Israel has relied too heavily on its air force before.
#3
But its a great optimization problem of precision statistical targeting, maximum gain vs risk game theory and the traveling salesman's shortest path problem, Rich. No more 'one load, one target' solutions.
I think I'd go with 10 canisters of smart cluster bombs rather than 'heavy iron'.
#4
Rockeye, just use Rockeye. Screw accuracy, take out the baby milk factory and the rocket launcher at the same time; won't be able to re-use either one ( for cover or assault)
OTOH I suspect ISRAEL = US EAST ASIA ALLIES = now are more likely than not to be on the receiving end of High-Intensity, Unilateral or Preemptive Conventional andor Limited Nuclear First-Strikes.
IN this age of OWG Globalism, Global Fed Unions, + Multiple "par" Co-Superpowers, ANY + ALL "MAJOR" WARS ARE NOW DESIRED TO BE "MINOR" WARS = LIMITED MILACTIONS.
Conventional, but ideally NOT worse or beyond the level of LIMITED TACNUKE OR STRATEGIC NUKE EXCHANGE.
Once again, people, wid feeling, .... ...
* OWG GLOBALISM = CAN BE LABELED ORASCRIBED AS HOW MUCH OR HOW FAR CAN THE "SOLE" SUPERPOWER US + CONTEMPORARY "GREAT POWERS" [E.G. Nuclear Club] SAFELY UNILATERALLY GIVE UP, PULL BACK, OR OTHERWISE GEOPOL RETREAT, ETC, ACROSS THE WORLD WIDOUT BEING EXISTENTIALLY THREATENED OR DESTROYED???
AND WHILE STILL BEING CONSIDERED BY THE WORLD COMMUNITY AS A "SUPERPOWER" = "GREAT POWER"???
The inverse is also true - HOW MUCH OR HOW FAR CAN GEOPOL WANNABES, NEW POWERS ANDOR OLD RESURGENT POWERS, EXPAND-N-CONTROL, ETC. THEIR REACH ACROSS THE WORLD.
Lest we fergit, the Radical Jihadis = MilTerrs at the middle + lower tiers come from mostly or wholly poor, uneducated, jobless + prolly abusive backgrounds - THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT THE PCORRECT, UNIVERSITY OR INTELLECTUALIST PREMISES OR CONCEPTS BEHIND OWG-NWO + GLOBALISM, ETC. ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS WHETHER YOUR ARMY CAN STOP THEIR ARMY FROM TAKING AWAY EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR OR EVEN JUST TO STOP FROM ENSLAVING OR KILLING YOU. Everthing else in between is just so much Fluff-n-Bluff.
"KILL OR BE KILLED" = "CONVERT OR DIE"!
ALLAN/GOD SAYS "WAR IS KILLING, + KILLING IS FUN"!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Gordon Brown
Goodluck Jonathan
[Ynet] IAF believes it can shorten next war on its own by striking thousands of targets a day, dropping more than 10 accurate bombs from one plane on different areas. Ron Ben-Yishai reviews revolution in aerial warfare branch perceived as 'Israel's insurance policy.'
