Did you see the photo the First Lady tweeted yesterday? I liked it, and it seems as good a way as any to start a thread about this crime against humanity committed by Boko Haram (not to be confused with Boko Maru).
Here’s a good piece from The Guardian answering key questions about the crisis.
And I also like this piece in the NYT, about the fact that what this group has done is so outrageous that it has embarrassed other Islamist groups.
Further thoughts?
Related Posts
It’s hard to imagine a group of radicals trying to restrict access to education.
Oh, wait, this isn’t the post about South Carolina representatives banning books?
But seriously, how can the blunt instrument of our approach to the War On Terror deal with the Whack-a-Mole nature of terrorism? We push down on a group over there and they pop up over here.
By not having a War. Having negotiations, with carefully targeted boots on the ground as a rescue operation. Why is CNN all over the recovery of the missing jet, but not this?
NPR has been all over the story for many days. The most interesting piece was with a guy from Kidnapping and Ransom magazine, the existence of which is truly horrifying. There is a worldwide epidemic of kidnappings.
Also, many pieces on the horrifying place that is Nigeria, where being gay is a crime–simply being gay. The plight of women and girls there is medieval, and the Boko boys are just the extreme radicals who grabbed headlines.
The only real solution is to offer asylum. We can’t fix countries and cultures. If someone wants to leave, let’s get them out and put them somewhere safe.
Actually asylum is a great option. So is diplomacy.
It’s not a particularly great option for the children who are being held captive, waiting to be sold into slavery.
I meant asylum for gays and women, obvi not captives, although when they are freed….
This from the guy who wants to crack down on illegal immigration?
Even I don’t think we can bring everybody who lives in a bad part of the world here. Some, yes, but not all. Seems to me better to what we can to improve conditions in the bad parts of the world…
Actually, you know what? You changed my mind. Bring as many as possible here, and help them to become Americans. Quickest way to break up the dynamic of where they are….
I am not opposed to helping people who will enter legally. Never have been. I am opposed to granting any benefit to those who chose to use other means to enter. It’s pretty simple. Just today, I saw that California politicians are mad because the Department of Homeland Security rejected their plan to give illegals drivers licenses. Allowing people who are not supposed to be in the U.S. to walk into a government agency and get an official id card is beyond comprehension. Why would you make it MORE attractive for people to enter illegally???
I full expect to be completely denounced for this comment:
You know, when I first saw this tweet, I thought that it had to be a joke – a parody. Because, you know, it makes no sense to respond to the brutality of killing children, kidnapping children, and selling children into slavery in the name of Allah…with a Tweet and a hashtag campaign.
It’s a fundamentally unserious response, and I expect more from people in power, who have actual levers of power at their disposal, rather than Twitter.
Yes, our prayers are with the families, but as I mentioned earlier in the discussion of legislative prayer, prayer is not for show.
I’m not sure what the point of the Tweet is. Is to “raise awareness”? Huh? Ok, yeah, we’re all aware, great. Now, what are we going to DO about it? Is the Tweet the end? Is that it? Because I’m pretty sure that folks who kill, kidnap, and sell children into slavery aren’t going to be persuaded by a hashtag campaign.
I don’t know where the Nigerian government is on this, but if they wanted our help, we could do more than just send in a few Tweets. We could send over some Marines and put some .50 caliber holes into the bad guys, rescue the children, and come home. Nothing “raises awareness” like watching your terrorist buddy next to you crumple as he’s shot by a Marine Sniper.
It’s just stupid. You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, and you certainly don’t bring a selfie with a hashtag to a slave liberation fight.
Personally, I’d prefer some hard power to all this Twitter soft power. We’re either going to help these children, or we aren’t. Quit talking about it and DO something. Tweeting about it doesn’t do anything but make people here in the USA feel good about themselves. I see people acting like every retweet is a gleaming sword for social justice.
And the sad thing is that some people think this is a serious response.
I agree. It seems like the “celebrity” Presidency demonstrated in the movie Idiocracy is becoming closer to a reality. It’s become about marketing and messaging instead of DOING SOMETHING!
We must have a few Special Forces guys hanging around who could do something. Here’s the conversation that Obama should have with the President of Nigeria:
Obama: I’ve got 100 men ready to drop into Nigeria if you’d like. Yes or no?
Nigerian President: We don’t want to look like we can’t handle this
Obama:
click…
I shouldn’t write when I’m that frustrated – too many typographical errors.
I give myself a D- for editing on that one.
A “D” for grammar and a big fat “F” for extreme partisanship. Is there nothing the Obamas could do that wouldn’t be held in contempt by the right? It is utterly beyond the pale to be so damn negative about everything the administration does. Here’s the thing. All this talk of aggressive, military style options is a non-starter until the awareness campaign leads the way first. That’s the whole point of the hashtag effort. Without public support no military campaign, no matter how worthwhile can EVER succeed.
“Without public support no military campaign, no matter how worthwhile can EVER succeed.”
That’s just wrong. Nigeria could ask for our assistance. We could send in some military units, kill the bad guys, free the children, and come home. Then let Nigeria take all the credit if the Nigerian government is worried about looking weak.
And don’t give me this stuff that we can’t find them. The Boko Haram guys have over 200 hostages, armored vehicles, and a bunch of soldiers. It’s not like we’re looking for one guy.
But “awareness” needs to lead the way?
Hey Hitler!
#leavePolandAlone
One lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with hashtags.
#NoMissiles4Cuba
Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the hashtags of war.
I have not yet begun to Tweet!
Mr. Paul — I’m going to use your real name — did you also just comment as “Pearl Harbor”? I didn’t allow it because the email was unfamiliar and the IP address just looked bizarre…
“Don’t Give Up the Ship!”
Which James Lawrence said just before he died, and his men gave up the ship. Which to me has always taken something away from it as a battle cry…
#philipbrokerules!
FYI, those last four messages were from Bryan. #spoiler
Pleased to meet you, won’t you guess my name?
🙂
Hey, I was just excited when I saw the picture because I was thinking, “Hey, I think I’ve seen that room on ‘The West Wing.'”
But seriously… You know me; I tend to vote for sending in the bully boys. I’d like to know a little more first — like, what are the actual odds of being able to rescue any of these girls. There are 200 of them, right? So they are probably held by a good-sized force. Are they in one place? What are the chances of being able to kill the bad guys before they kill their victims?
Another thing: I don’t think .50-cal. rounds leave holes. More like, they tear the target apart, don’t they?
Send in Justin Bieber and the girls will rip apart their captors to get to him… and worst case scenario? Bieber doesn’t make it. Seems worthwhile.
Targets? Really? We’re back to that? How about tear human flesh apart thus inflicting pain and suffering on the victim and causing mental trauma to his family. As long as the neo-cons think of human beings as “targets” they will continue this delusion that killing has no consequences beyond the immediate event. If you see your father or brother cut down as an inconsequential “target” that will lead to the creation of a terrorist hell bent on looking for “targets” of his own. This is a common sense reality that the neo-con brain simply cannot understand for some inexplicable reason. That’s why they need to be kept out of power. Thankfully the students at Rutgers understand that and one neo-con was shamed out of sullying their graduation event.
Got to actually find the bad guys first. We are not in the best position to do so. The locals are. Outside pressure, the eyes of the world, may push the locals to do what they have been dragging their feet on.
Who says this is the only action being taken?
And another thing…
The First Lady has no statutory or constitutional power. She’s not an elected or appointed public official of any kind. She’s not the commander in chief. She’s just the person who happens to be married to the commander in chief.
So what do you expect her to do, Bryan? What CAN she do, beyond showing her concern, which is what she’s doing here…
Yeah, if only the First Lady of the United States knew some powerful people in the government, maybe she could get something done. But your right, all she can do is show concern.
Great. Concern registered. Box checked. We’re all aware that FLOTUS cares. That’s wonderful.
What does anyone intend to DO about it?
I’m just tired of all this conspicuous “caring” and “empathy”. It does nothing. It’s largely meaningless – and (arguably) entirely meaningless without action.
My main gripe is not with FLOTUS, but with the thousands of mindless people who retweet this message to “do something”. Hey, let’s get this hashtag trending, y’all!
So what?
You think either Boko Haram or the Nigerian government are going to say: “Whoa fellas, it looks like there’s some serious Twitter opposition here. Better stop killing and selling children into slavery in the name of Allah.”
Think about it. Who who is the audience for this exhortation?
It’s called grass roots activism and it can be an extremely powerful force for change. Here are a few examples of how major change was started with comparable Twitter opposition of the day: slavery repeal, the end of gilded age, ending of Jim Crow, women’s sufferage, end of Vietnam calamity, end of tobacco tyranny, gay rights, end of Communism in Easter Europe (especially in Poland), Indian rights (IE Ghandi).
On the opposite side of the spectrum we have some spectacular failures where public opinion was opposed to hard action and the action failed badly. The best example is the invasion of (fill in the blank with a wide range of countries) by (fill in the blank for a wide range of imperialist nations).
The point is concrete action can only succeed once public support is secured. Seems like the hashtag campaign is working and will pave the way for the more concrete steps that Bryan suggests.
The question here is not how a society should confront terrorists; in this case it is how a corrupt government should deal with psychopaths. I’m not sure they can. Or that we can help stop the crazies without propping up the corrupt and incapable.
The bit with the tweet has to do with how long it took for this story to actually gain attention. It also has to do with keeping it in the news and keeping massive public opinion directed toward freeing these girls. If the first lady is willing to participate in this action, I’m all for it. It’s a mode of communication that reaches a lot of people.
It’s a bit politics
It’s a bit social media buzz
all the “massive public opinion” in the world isn’t going to make .000000000000000000000000000000000001% difference to the folks that kidnapped these girls.
They want massive public opinion directed at them – the worse the better.
But the government of Nigeria, who lied about the event, just might!
Just might what? Send in the forces and get everyone killed because of public pressure?
Just might be swayed by the massive public opinion! Indeed, more than three weeks after the event, they have finally agreed to allow outsiders in to help.