Josh Scarborough
January 13, 2015
Boko Haram, officially known as
Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad, are a scourge on the face of the
earth. Rather than being equivalent to Al Qaeda, they are more easily compared
to the Taliban, an oppressive regime that forces their own countrymen into
fearful subjugation. Their self-righteous fervor is similar to that of the Hutu insurgents in Hotel Rwanda who justified their actions by blaming the Tutsi aristocracy ( and indirectly, the Belgian monarchy that set them in power) for all of their problems. The similar hate of the western world is apparent, as Boko Haram literally translates to "Western education is a sin."
They have committed numerous human rights violations in their short existence- rape, terrorism, the forced suicide bombing of young children- the list is long and cruel. One of their most malignant practices is the kidnapping (and in some cases conscription) of children and adolescents. Last April, the terrorist cell was under international scrutiny, however briefly, for their abduction of over 200 young women and girls. The initial outrage sparked a renewed awareness of religious extremism in the African countries which Boko Haram operates ( mostly Nigeria, with branches in Chad, Niger and Cameroon) and a trending social media tag that permeated the internet, #Bringbackourgirls. Almost a year later, Boko Haram is in the global spotlight again for their terrorist actions. On January 4th, reports of the taking of 40 young men and boys reached African and world media. They will be indoctrinated, brainwashed, and enlisted into the ranks of the extremist regime as unfeeling killing machines. This is eerily reminiscent of the malicious metamorphosis that Ishmael Beah and boys like him experienced as detailed in his memoir, A Long Way Gone. The evil has spread from farther than just Sierra Leone or revolutionary wars; it has now become the tool of jihadists bent on the complete control of entire regions of Africa. Even worse, it has gone one step farther than the atrocities described in Beah’s accounts, as the extremist cell have stooped as low as using the children they have captured as human weapons.
They have committed numerous human rights violations in their short existence- rape, terrorism, the forced suicide bombing of young children- the list is long and cruel. One of their most malignant practices is the kidnapping (and in some cases conscription) of children and adolescents. Last April, the terrorist cell was under international scrutiny, however briefly, for their abduction of over 200 young women and girls. The initial outrage sparked a renewed awareness of religious extremism in the African countries which Boko Haram operates ( mostly Nigeria, with branches in Chad, Niger and Cameroon) and a trending social media tag that permeated the internet, #Bringbackourgirls. Almost a year later, Boko Haram is in the global spotlight again for their terrorist actions. On January 4th, reports of the taking of 40 young men and boys reached African and world media. They will be indoctrinated, brainwashed, and enlisted into the ranks of the extremist regime as unfeeling killing machines. This is eerily reminiscent of the malicious metamorphosis that Ishmael Beah and boys like him experienced as detailed in his memoir, A Long Way Gone. The evil has spread from farther than just Sierra Leone or revolutionary wars; it has now become the tool of jihadists bent on the complete control of entire regions of Africa. Even worse, it has gone one step farther than the atrocities described in Beah’s accounts, as the extremist cell have stooped as low as using the children they have captured as human weapons.
This has to end. The U.S., U.K, and
the rest of the Western world have turned a blind eye to these tragedies for
too long. It is up to us to be the hands of the powerless, the voice for the
voiceless. So let us speak. Let us scream. Let us move through sound. Because
if we don’t who will?
Isn't this sad? We are doing a blog post on a horrid subject and yet we are doing absolutely nothing about it? With all this information the government knows, our army knows, our society knows, how can we sit back and let this happen? Those girls never made it home. They were married off. What is this world turning too? We are all people and DESERVE to be treated like it. Un-human things going on in Africa but are we causing as much damage? A common saying goes "if you are not apart of the solution you are apart of the problem." It is un-human of us to do absolutely nothing. But, what could our army do at this point?
ReplyDeleteThe Army can only act on the information garnered by our intelligence community and our intelligence community only pursues issues that our government is concerned with. That means it is up to us to pressure our leaders to act if we want global change.
ReplyDeleteA good percentage of people don't want global change. But, if something were to happen in our country they would be calling other countries begging for help. We can survive alone, we are all people living on this world.
ReplyDeleteAgain, i'm not one to believe that our country should just get involved with every problem all over the world. If we did we'd run out of troops to protect our own country. On the other hand I hate hearing about such tragic things. A job like this, is a job for the UN. There are now 193 members (countries) that are a part of the UN. Everything that we know, obviously the government knows too. And I mean if you look into it, there are things actually being done to help these problems. No they may not be on a massive scale, but at least things are being done. Going back to Ishmael, he was picked up by the UN and given back the life a child should have. Look at him today, yes he still stuggles with his past, but he has made a remarkable recovery mentally. Like I said if we tried to fix everything especially in large scale ways, we'd start having problems of our own.
ReplyDeleteWhat is there left to do? If we do not step in, will the situation get worse? And if we do, what would happen then? These people know exactly what they want and they will endure many hardships to achieve it. They are malicious and cold hearted, yet they still continue their work. Why do they believe they are right?
ReplyDelete