Sunday, May 18, 2014

Total war declared against Boko Haram

Normally we would expect the Haramis to laugh out loud in response. Here we have a fiercely ideological force which remains true to its mission as it enslaves 200+ Christian girls and demonstrates tremendous operational smarts by hoodwinking the Nigerian forces. A few more poorly equipped, low on morale forces from the neighbors should not make the tiniest difference. Plus even fewer "western observers," NGO types in counseling positions. Finally the liberal shock troops that will always stand up in support of the forces of intolerance.

The operations are yet to start and already there are pre-emptive complaints from the liberal brigade about "Afghanistan in Nigeria."

But on careful reading of the situation we see that the Haramis have indeed made a dreadful mistake which they will come to repent very much. 
....As the summit took place, reports emerged about the latest apparent Boko Haram attack, this one in Cameroon. Hollande said one Cameroonian soldier was killed in the Friday night attack against Chinese nationals in northern Cameroon, which is known as a stronghold for the Islamic extremists. Ten Chinese nationals are missing after the attack, a Chinese official said.    


....
The Chicoms killed upwards of 40 million of their own countrymen but they will not stand for kidnapping of 10 citizens by islamists. 

It is our considered opinion that Islamist forces will dominate the world (minus the West and East Asia) because of the sheer power of ideology and the unlimited petro-dollars at their disposal. Even parts of Europe will come under islamic domination (as it was the case a few centuries ago). But the problem with confident people is that they tend to over-reach. And China does make a nice target due to its horrible human rights record in Xinjiang.

A fight between Islamists and Chicoms will be something massive, may be something even larger than the horrors faced in World War II (and we really really hope not to see it happen and live through it). But it may be inevitable. 
..................
Nigeria and four neighboring countries have declared a "total war" on Boko Haram saying the dreaded Islamist militant group holding over 220 schoolgirls must be crushed as it had become a "regional al-Qaida" that threatened all of them.


Under a "global and regional action plan" firmed up to face the challenge posed by Boko Haram, the governments of Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad will share intelligence and border surveillance in the hunt for the girls still held by the militants.

Western nations will provide technical expertise and training to the new regional African effort against the extreme Islamists.

"Boko Haram is no longer a local terror group. It is clearly operating as an al-Qaida operation" in central Africa, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said while speaking at a summit hosted by French President Hollande in Paris yesterday.

"We have shown our commitment for a regional approach. Without West African countries coming together we will not be able to crush these terrorists," he said amid criticism that his government has done enough to rescue the schoolgirls abducted last month.

Jonathan said Nigeria has deployed 20,000 troops, aircraft and intelligence sources in areas where Boko Haram is active. "The major challenge that we have faced in our search and rescue operation so far has been the deluge of misinformation about the whereabouts of the girls and the circumstances of their disappearance," the president said.

Last month, Boko Haram abducted 223 schoolgirls in northeastern Nigeria, where it is based. It released a video earlier last week showing over 100 of the girls and offering an exchange for prisoners.

President Jonathan has ruled out negotiations over their possible release, officials say.

Boko Haram's guerrilla campaign has claimed 12,000 lives, with 8,000 people injured since 2009, Jonathan said at the summit which brought together Presidents of west African countries of Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Hollande said the "global and regional action plan" to face the challenge posed by Boko Haram involved "coordinating intelligence, sharing information ... border surveillance, a military presence notably around Lake Chad and the capacity to intervene in case of danger".

Hollande called Boko Haram a "major threat to West and Central Africa", and said it had links with al-Qaida's North- African arm and "other terrorist organizations".

Speaking at a press conference, Cameroon's President Paul Biya said: "We are here to declare war on Boko Haram". "There is determination to tackle this situation head on ... to launch a war, a total war on Boko Haram," Chad's President Idriss Deby said.  Representatives from the UK, US and EU also took part in the Paris meeting.

Nigeria will coordinate patrols, pool intelligence and exchange weapons and human trafficking information with Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, according to the agreement reached at the summit.

France, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union "will coordinate their support for this regional cooperation" through technical expertise, training programs and support for border-area management programmes, a summit statement said.

......
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/17/us-nigerian-violence-summit
.....

regards

No comments:

Post a Comment