I was heartbroken and deeply anguished to learn of the horrific kidnapping of over 200 Nigerian girls by the Islamist group, Boko Haram. As the father of a five-year-old daughter, I cannot imagine the pain their parents feel at this moment. Over two years ago, my office was one of the first to call for Boko Haram’s designation on the foreign terrorist organization (FTO) list. At the time, Boko Haram was systematically attacking Christian churches nearly every Sunday. Boko Haram has terrorized innocent Nigerians for over a decade and 16,000 Nigerians have tragically lost their lives at the hands of this radically Islamist organization. Moreover, there were understood links between Boko Haram, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and al-Shabaab multiple years ago. Hillary Clinton’s State Department was excruciatingly slow to respond to any congressional calls for Boko Haram to be placed on the FTO list. In fact, Secretary Clinton was counterproductive to any initiative to place Boko Haram on this list and actively worked against our efforts within the U.S. Congress to combat the religiously-motivated violence perpetuated by Boko Haram. I sincerely hope that the State Department will now wake up to the realities of Boko Haram and their clear intension to radicalize Nigeria and create a state fully governed by Sharia law.
Posted on: Fri, 09 May 2014 20:19:46 +0000
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