RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - boko haram again

Baga is a soft target. It was attacked a few times before. Boko Haram (BK) fighters also seem to be more highly motivated to fight and die than the men and women of Nigeria' security forces (NSF).
BK without question has some foreign sponsors especially from the Middle East. For these countries, Nigeria would be the jewel in the crown of Arab/Muslim conquest of Africa south of the Sahara. They never let off. BK also has some Domestic sponsors and sympathizers as would be expected of an effective insurgency. Jonathan himself said BK has supporters and sympathizers in and outside his government. The surprise for many is that he does not seem to have done all he could do to make things different and better. There most likely is some interfacing of domestic and foreign support of BK. It would be good business/money maker for domestic supporters and terrorism entrepreneurs.
Until BK finally ran amok attacking all kinds and manners of targets including mosques and members of Northern Nigeria's establishment, BK had many supporters and apologist from among that establishment. The suspicion has persisted that some highly placed members of the NSF are BK's closet supporters of consequence. Some enlisted members of the NSF have claimed that some of their commanders work for and with BK. Are the allegations a case of " smoke caused by a fire"?
BK has scaled up its level of violence close to the presidential elections. The suspicion in some quarters is that BK is the military wing of the Jonathan opposition. The hope must be that it is not. That cannot be be good for Nigeria's democracy. History tends to repeat itself. Few Nigerians would want that history repeated.

oa
________________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kenneth harrow [harrow@msu.edu]
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2015 10:47 PM
To: usaafricadialogue
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - boko haram again

why did BH attack baga? i assume its residents were resistant to BH? the
terrible slaughter reminds me of the charles taylor tactics in sierra
leone and liberia, intended to terrify people in the region, without
having to use bullets to do it. but the nytimes report tells me nothing
at all why baga, and why BH seems to have more and better weapons than
the nigerian army, after all this talk about needing to bolster the
army. does anyone have anything more substantial to help us understand it?
ken

--
kenneth w. harrow
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
harrow@msu.edu

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