Althouse: "More than 100 girls are still missing three days after suspected Boko Haram extremists attacked their school in northern Nigeria..."

February 23, 2018

"More than 100 girls are still missing three days after suspected Boko Haram extremists attacked their school in northern Nigeria..."

"... parents said Thursday, as fears grew that they may have been kidnapped... Boko Haram horrified the world when it abducted 276 girls from a boarding school in Chibok almost four years ago. Though some escaped and many others were released as part of negotiations, about 100 remain with their captors. The extremist group has kidnapped thousands of people over the years."

The L.A. Times reports.

55 comments:

Oso Negro said...: Giving Islam a bad name; 2/23/18, 9:54 AM
Wince said...: I'm sure Michelle Obama is on the case with a new hashtag.; 2/23/18, 9:55 AM
AlbertAnonymous said...: #all Trump’s Fault?; 2/23/18, 9:56 AM
Curious George said...: I guess Boko Haram aren't on Twitter.; 2/23/18, 9:56 AM
langford peel said...: Another shithole heard from.

Who runs that country? Norwegians?

Still and all it is none of our business. It is just the Muslim slave trade for sexual victims. It has gone on for rthousands of years and will continue wherever Islam exists.

Not our problem.

Other than blocking these animals from immigrating from this shithole country.; 2/23/18, 10:06 AM
rhhardin said...: They're making a film.; 2/23/18, 10:10 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Doesn't matter. I still think "Whiter Shade of Pale" is a pretty good song.; 2/23/18, 10:13 AM
Big Mike said...: If the US gets involved — and I accept that a case can be made that we don’t belong in that continent — I suspect Trump will do more than have his wife pose with a hand-drawn hashtag on a sign. #ObamaFail.; 2/23/18, 10:16 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: It's what I expect in a shithole country.; 2/23/18, 10:25 AM
Leland said...: #WhenGunsAreBetterThanHashtags; 2/23/18, 10:30 AM
n.n said...: And thus the justification for CAIR: Catastrophic Anthropogenic Immigration Reform, forced by social justice adventures (e.g. shitshows or uncommitted intervention, elective wars, elective regime changes, redistributive/retributive change); dreams of democratic leverage (e.g. gerrymandered districts); profits for NGOs, "charitable" corporations, and liberal/reformed religious institutions. Social justice that left people behind, opened abortion fields, recreated the trail of tears, and exploited emotional appeals. It's been a great outlet for the UN (e.g. UNICEF), too.; 2/23/18, 10:33 AM
n.n said...: From Nigeria to Libya to Syria to Ukraine.

And, of course, the women and children whose voices have been marginalized under regimes for social progress (and cover-ups including collusion), in their native lands of Germany, Norway, Britain, America, etc.; 2/23/18, 10:37 AM
langford peel said...: You need to wear a Pussy Hat to fight this subjugation of woman.

But that is far as you should go.

Wait you can get an abortion. Especially if you are black. That will show them.; 2/23/18, 10:40 AM
Fabi said...: Has Grand Mufti Obama proclaimed this not to be true Islam?; 2/23/18, 10:42 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: #bringbackmichellesoshecanbringbackourgirls; 2/23/18, 10:49 AM
Browndog said...: I wonder what 'Boko Haram' means? No one seems interested. Maybe it means books are un-islamic, and anyone caught with a book other than a koran should be murdered, or something.

We'll never know-; 2/23/18, 10:49 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: USMC Fighting Muslim Slave Traders Since 1787; 2/23/18, 10:51 AM
fivewheels said...: "276 girls." Let's be specific, because that's very important. "Thousands of people" ... eh, whatever, some number of boys, not that it matters. If boys are kidnapped, enslaved and used as cannon fodder in war, why would that even be worth mentioning? Just gloss over it in passing, as above.

"While the Islamic terrorist organization Boko Haram gained global infamy in 2014 for kidnapping nearly 300 female students in Nigeria, the group has also abducted 10,000 boys in the last three years."; 2/23/18, 11:21 AM
Drago said...: Have the Lefties blamed Global Warming yet?; 2/23/18, 11:25 AM
Seeing Red said...: One cannot have Liberty without being secure in their person.

One cannot be secure in their person without Liberty.

Give the Christians guns. Let them protect themselves.; 2/23/18, 11:38 AM
hawkeyedjb said...: This had Nothing To Do With Islam. It may take a few minutes to figure out whom or what to blame. Stay tuned.; 2/23/18, 11:47 AM
buwaya said...: This was extremely common in history.

Muslims were quite expert at it, having an explicitly predatory social ethos, carried over from the pre-Muslim Arab tribes. Islam is not just a religion, but a complex culture, a lot of which is not in the books.

Granted one finds this raiding behavior, the stealing of women, elsewhere. The Romans did after all steal the Sabine women, and any number were taken as slaves in the multitude of Roman conquests.

But the Muslims had a special competency here, continuing it long after others had given up on this aspect of barbarism. Muslim pirates did the "boko haram" thing constantly all over East Asia into the late 19th century, likewise raiding settled areas of the Ukraine into the 1860s, and all of East and Central Africa into the 1890's, if not later.

Quite a lot of European culture retains a memory of this. The most visible these days is Mozarts "Abduction from the Seraglio", but this was just one of a very extensive genre.
Others closer to the petiods in question include the medieval "Romance de Don Boyso", famously arranged by Garcia Lorca, and Seinkiewicz's "Fire in the Steppe".; 2/23/18, 12:13 PM
Anthony said...: "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the #HashTags of war".; 2/23/18, 12:52 PM
Dave Begley said...: I don’t see the word “Muslim” in that news story.; 2/23/18, 1:13 PM
Jim at said...: This cannot be.

There was a hashtag. And everything.; 2/23/18, 1:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Its a religion of peace so no harm will come to them...right?; 2/23/18, 1:43 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Big Mike:

If the US gets involved — and I accept that a case can be made that we don’t belong in that continent — I suspect Trump will do more than have his wife pose with a hand-drawn hashtag on a sign. #ObamaFail.

Of course the US has been doing more, for several years now. We have had hundreds of US troops, as well as drones, deployed to the area to provide intelligence and assistance. I agree that no US forces belong there, but it is incorrect to say that all the previous administration did was "have his wife pose with a hand-drawn hashtag on a sign." Also, many of the problems rest with the Nigerian military.

And when it comes to pondering a US military response, keep in mind that Nigeria is a country of about 350,000 square miles and more than 180 million people. To compare, Iraq is less than half that size and has a population of 30 million.; 2/23/18, 1:57 PM
Gabriel said...: @buwaya:Muslim pirates did the "boko haram" thing constantly all over East Asia into the late 19th century, likewise raiding settled areas of the Ukraine into the 1860s, and all of East and Central Africa into the 1890's, if not later.

All over Northern and Western Europe into the 18th century as well. Forgotten history now.; 2/23/18, 2:31 PM
Big Mike said...: @Farmer, I reject the notion that the US would have to take down all of Nigeria to destroy Boko Haram.

Nor am I agreeing with the notion that the US doesn't belong in Africa. I merely recognize that a case can be made. I'm not making that case.; 2/23/18, 2:46 PM
Drago said...: Dave Begley: "I don’t see the word “Muslim” in that news story"

Surprising since the media generally include tales of fear of potential backlash by horrible and deplorable Christians and Trump voters against muslims.

I'm sure the young Christian girls have nothing to fear from the lefties beloved islamist supremacists.

You know what we need to combat this problem? More college scholarship programs for islamic kidnappers of Christian children here in the US.

If we give them enough stuff, they might even entertain the notion of giving these girls up...not that we should pressure them or anythinig. Of course.

Because that would be "ugly".; 2/23/18, 2:59 PM
langford peel said...: We have no business imposing our Western White Supremacist values on Nigeria.

This is their culture and who are we to impose our Western Imperialist values on them?

Every US soldier should come home immediately. We shouldn't spend a dollar on this. It is not our concern.

America first.; 2/23/18, 3:20 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I'm assuming "Boko Haram extremists" are also sometimes called "religious extremists" or "Islamic extremist".

I wander what is behind the dropping of Islamic/religious usage in this case.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13809501; 2/23/18, 3:25 PM
Tim said...: #bringbackourgirls

That's how you do it, right?; 2/23/18, 3:32 PM
hombre said...: "Armed gangs WIPE OUT 15 villages in mass Christian slaughter in Nigeria." https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/919422/christian-persecution-nigeria-islamic-Nasarawa

Of course, if it's not Boko Haram, the leftmediaswine don't notice that Christians are being slaughtered by Muslims in Nigeria. The President of Nigeria is related to the Muslim tribesmen and the government does nothing. Even this article from a U.K. paper does not mention Muslims until the final paragraph. You'd think they were Democrats being covered by the leftmedia or something.

"Fulani herdsmen" are Muslims who evidently are unaware that it is "the religion of peace" as are the vast majority of Muslims worldwide. Muslims have emerged as a majority in Nigeria through homicides.; 2/23/18, 3:33 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Big Mike:

@Farmer, I reject the notion that the US would have to take down all of Nigeria to destroy Boko Haram.

To "destroy" stateless actors who operate in asymmetric ways proves extremely difficult for nation-state militaries. To make another comparison, we have had thousands (often tens of thousands) of troops in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, and we are no closer to destroying the Taliban than we were in the Fall of 2001. And that is a country that is about one-fifth the size of Nigeria in terms of population.; 2/23/18, 3:33 PM
langford peel said...: Why not use the resources of the United States to tackle the tribes that are killing young black men and exploiting young black woman in Chicago and Detroit?

Recently one of the top police officials in Chicago was gunned down doing his job. He didn't hide like the Sheriff in Coward County Florida. He jumped in to arrest a perp and was gunned down.

That is where our limited resources should be used. Not in a bungle in the jungle.; 2/23/18, 3:50 PM
n.n said...: we have had thousands (often tens of thousands) of troops in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, and we are no closer to destroying the Taliban

This analogy is only as adequate as the common goals, regulations, support, etc. Rather than destroy the Taliban, a group and ideology, which as you recognize is virtually impossible, the goal should be to secure the environment and enable the native population to stand their ground. So, the questions are if the native population values life, welfare, and the pursuit of happiness; were the assembled forces competent, were they prevented from competence; do the enemy have safe harbor to reorganize, rebuild, and persist? The assembled forces in Iraq were competent and successful in their primary and sustained missions until an external intervention and other common goal, support, regulatory, etc. changes.; 2/23/18, 3:51 PM
n.n said...: Chicago, Florida... that is where our limited resources should be used. Not in a bungle in the jungle.

CAIR has been good for democratic leverage, welfare profits, and emotional appeals... racist, sexist, phobic pig.; 2/23/18, 3:54 PM
n.n said...: re: Nigeria

There is also the South Africa, Libyan factor of natural resources, but lacks the Russian factor in Syria and Ukraine, home to their warm water ports, which irks Soviet-era relics in America's swamp.; 2/23/18, 3:58 PM
hombre said...: Strange. I have never had a comment rejected by the LA Times, but the tell me they rejected one on the article due to their "spam policy."

I pointed out their failure to mention that Boko Haram is a Muslim extremist organization and the the Nigerian President is a Muslim whose name mean Mohammed.

Imagine that!; 2/23/18, 4:00 PM
langford peel said...: Afghanistan is another prime example of the failure of the nation building mania of the Deep State.

We should never have been involved going back to the days of the Russians and Jimmy Carter. We should just provide arms to one side and let them kill each other like crabs in a bucket.

Not one American should have died or been wounded in that shithole.

It has been the graveyard of imperial aggressors since the days of Alexander the Great.; 2/23/18, 4:05 PM
J. Farmer said...: @n.n.

The assembled forces in Iraq were competent and successful in their primary and sustained missions until an external intervention and other common goal, support, regulatory, etc. changes.

Actually, I think the record "external intervention" against local insurgencies is pretty abysmal. To take the example of Iraq, in my reading of history, the decisive event was not the much vaunted "surge," but rather the Anbar Awakening. Once the local population turned on the insurgency, it's days were numbered. Similarly, the most impressive example of counterinsurgency by a foreign power were the British in Malaysia. And that was not because of the superior skills or technology of the British but rather the fact that the insurgency was limited primarily to the ethnic Chinese, who were widely loathed by the majority Malay population.; 2/23/18, 4:38 PM
Big Mike said...: @Farmer, “Boko Haram” means “books are evil.” (Actually worse than evil, in opposition to Allah.) I do not believe that people like that should be allowed to live. Smothering them to death in a bucket full of pig shit seems about right.

We can’t judge potential results in Nigeria by results in Afghanistan. Wildly different countries with wildly different populations. Plus for eight years the Commander in Chief was thoroughly inadequate to the job.; 2/23/18, 4:46 PM
n.n said...: To take the example of Iraq, in my reading of history, the decisive event was not the much vaunted "surge," but rather the Anbar Awakening. Once the local population turned on the insurgency

It was both (e.g. cooperative) and not limited to one area. That said, the external intervention was a reference to political manipulation and evacuation of security forces, which undermined stabilization and reconstruction efforts, followed by a regional resurgence.; 2/23/18, 5:15 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Big Mike:

@Farmer, “Boko Haram” means “books are evil.” (Actually worse than evil, in opposition to Allah.) I do not believe that people like that should be allowed to live. Smothering them to death in a bucket full of pig shit seems about right.

That is all fine and good, but why make that an American responsibility?

We can’t judge potential results in Nigeria by results in Afghanistan. Wildly different countries with wildly different populations.

Yeah, as I said, Nigeria has 5 times the population of Afghanistan. And Boko Haram is not just active in Nigeria but in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. In fact, it is the border region where those four countries comes together, the boundary space between West and Central Africa, that Book Haram is most active. It also has satellites in areas throughout Nigeria.

Plus for eight years the Commander in Chief was thoroughly inadequate to the job.

As abysmal as Obama's foreign policy generally was, one should avoid the talk radio/cable news habit of blaming everything in the world on the current officeholder. Unless you are advocating large US military deployments in central Africa to attack Boko Haram, then you are left with what we have basically been doing for the last several years: small special forces operations, intelligence gathering, and funding and training African forces.

And I don't think we should be doing any of that. For one, the Nigerian army has proven pretty inept and corrupt, full of all forms of nepotism and kleptocratic tendencies. There is good reason to believe that Boko Haram sympathizers exist within the military and intelligence ranks of Nigeria, and there has been a tendency to share intelligence data with Nigeria. That is to say, there are a whole of hosts of problems that complicate matters that have little or nothing to do with the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.; 2/23/18, 5:18 PM
n.n said...: Afghanistan... We should never have been involved going back to the days of the Russians and Jimmy Carter.

Soviets and Carter. That may be, but once we decided to intervene, we should have followed through. Instead, we have half-hearted efforts that produce dead Americans, dead natives, and CAIR (immigration reform) with ulterior motives.; 2/23/18, 5:19 PM
J. Farmer said...: @n.n.

That said, the external intervention was a reference to political manipulation and evacuation of security forces, which undermined stabilization and reconstruction efforts, followed by a regional resurgence.

Ah...I did misread you. My apologies. Nonetheless, I reject this argument as well. It is another version of the Obama-lost-the-war-Bush-won argument. In this version, the "surge" had "won" the war. Never mind what "winning" even meant at that stage of the Iraq War. Obama then came to office, pulled the troops, and ISIS came to power.

First, the surge by its own metrics failed. Its intended purpose was not merely improvement in security. Security was the means to the ends of political reconciliation, the true problem Iraq faced (and continues to face). Western Iraq is basically a failed state. It is a nation forced to share political space inside of a Shia-dominated state. There is absolutely nothing a residual American troop presence could do to remedy that problem.

The biggest blunder Obama did to encourage the growth of ISIS was support for the Syrian insurgency against Assad. Unfortunately, this was a bipartisan strategy differing only in tactics. Most of the criticism Obama faced was that he was not intervening enough in Syria. McCain was arguing for shipping heavy arms to the Free Syrian Army and establishing a no fly zone over the country.; 2/23/18, 5:30 PM
Gahrie said...: Scared kid: Somebody with a gun is shooting up the English building!

Broward County Deputy Sheriff: That is all fine and good, but why make that my responsibility?

Do you have relatives in Florida J. Farmer?; 2/23/18, 6:14 PM
langford peel said...: Do you have relatives in Afghanistan? Or Iraq? Or Syria?? Or Lybia? Or Nigeria?; 2/23/18, 6:36 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Gahrie:

Do you have relatives in Florida J. Farmer?

I live in Tampa, the second largest metropolitan area in the state. I have family roots in the state to before the 20th century.

Broward County Deputy Sheriff: That is all fine and good, but why make that my responsibility?

Ah ha. Because the deputy is a servant of the public. And the students are members of that public. Those outside our borderer are not members and thus are not owed American police protection. This is the basic tenet of nationalism. You treat citizens differently (and preferentially) than non-citizens. Similarly, I suspect you treat members of your immediate family better than you do random strangers.; 2/23/18, 6:48 PM
bolivar di griz said...: Book harm was handpicked by URL, according to the files, the first I heard of it, was innconnection to underwear bomber, in university college days.

The infrastructure for Islamic state were the same salafis assad had allowed transit through to attack coalition forces; 2/23/18, 6:51 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Gahrie:

Thought experiment. About 3,000,00 children under 5 die from malnourishment every year. That's more than 100x the cumulative Boko Haram body count. Someone therefore argues that we should increase personal income taxes in order to fund a massive food aid budget to those areas most affected by child starvation. I would oppose such a plan. And I would be prepared to argue my position against any opposition any time, anywhere. Suppose the opposition says, "You oppose this because you don't care about kids starving." How convincing would you find that argument?; 2/23/18, 7:00 PM
Big Mike said...: Here's another thought experiment. How many people would stay with Boko Haram if the fate of every one of them captured was to be smothered in pig shit? How many would fight Americans if word got out that our troops used hollow point bullets filled with bacon grease?; 2/23/18, 8:19 PM
Paul said...: "More than 100 girls are still missing three days..."

Meanwhile the world awaits the next lament from 'celebrities' like Vonn, or Rosie O'Donnell, or Cher.; 2/23/18, 9:20 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: buwaya,

Mozart's Seraglio is, indeed, not the only one, not even the only one by Mozart. There's the half-finished Zaide, and even Monostasos in the Magic Flute. Haydn wrote an opera or two touching on the same themes. But the 18thc. is full of "rescue-from-harem" operas, and other works involving Islam.

The genre goes back at least to Monteverdi's Combattimento, and likely well before. (I can't remember right now who first used Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata, but it wasn't Mv.) By the mid-17thc. opera was common, and operas about Muslim sieges were awfully common, possibly because the Turks had in fact besieged Vienna around then, and were only just held off from storming the city. (Napoleon supposedly said "If you start to take Vienna -- take Vienna." The Turks didn't.); 2/23/18, 9:28 PM