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Boko Haram was a vehicle for Muslim political interests inside and outside Nigeria to destabilize the oil-rich country. By the end, even the Obama administration made it clear that Muhammadu Buhari, the Muslim ex-dictator who had seized power in a coup before being overthrown, was their choice. Simpson reports that Secretary of State John Kerry “made a mockery of the administration’s pretext by hinting in January meetings with both Jonathan and Buhari that the Obama administration might allow weapon sales after the election.” Now the election came out their way, but the weapons sales may be surplus to requirements. Boko...

A spokesman for Gen Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) party praised Mr Jonathan, saying: "He will remain a hero for this move. The tension will go down dramatically." The APC issued a statement after the result was announced, calling for "calm, sober celebrations" and warning supporters not to attack opponents. "He or she is not with me, whoever does that," the new president said. ... It is the fourth time the former military ruler, 72, has sought the presidency. He ruled Nigeria from January 1984 until August 1985, taking charge after a military coup in December 1983. Mr Jonathan had...

In the dangerous last two years of Obama's presidency, things could go from bad to worse. His allies are now backing a pro-Sharia populist in Nigeria's presidential election, with potentially disastrous results On Saturday, Nigerians will go to the polls to choose their president. The race pits an incumbent with an imperfect record against a former military dictator who has flirted with Islamism. As with the recent election in Israel, alumni of Obama are aiding the challenger -- and not because he would make the region safer. The decision Nigerians will make this weekend matters greatly, both for themselves and...

Saudi Arabia accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of hypocrisy on Sunday, telling an Arab summit that he should not express support for the Middle East while fuelling instability by supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. In a rare move, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that a letter from Putin would be read out to the gathering in Egypt, where Arab leaders discussed an array of regional crises, including conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya. "We support the Arabs' aspirations for a prosperous future and for the resolution of all the problems the Arab world faces through peaceful means, without any...

The former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency on Sunday described President Obama's Middle East policy as one of "willful ignorance," saying the administration needs a clearer strategy for dealing with conflicts emerging across the region. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said during an interview on "Fox News Sunday" that recent developments in the Middle East are moving in a bad direction for the United States, with Iran "clearly on the march" to influence events in a "regional sectarian war." “At the end of the day, we have just this incredible policy confusion — never mind what our strategy is to...

(Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused Iran on Thursday of trying to dominate the Middle East and said its efforts have begun annoying Ankara, as well as Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab countries. Turkey earlier said it supports the Saudi-led military operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen and called on the militia group and its "foreign supporters" to abandon acts which threaten peace and security in the region. "Iran is trying to dominate the region," said Erdogan, who is due to visit Tehran in early April. "Could this be allowed? This has begun annoying us, Saudi Arabia and the...

In recent years it has become increasingly clear that the Jihadists have targeted the African continent. On September 11, 2001, the groups Al Shabaab, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar al Shariah and the Islamic State were not just unheard of–they didn’t even exist. Today these groups are waging Jihad, killing thousands in their drives to establish Islamic rule under Shariah law… This development didn’t just “happen.” The rise of Jihad was promoted and financed. Africa is becoming a battleground because the global Jihadist movement has targeted it. At least one analyst reports that Al Qaeda, the...

The full-scale social engineering of President Barack Hussein Obama in the elections of countries where he has no business being seeks to install radical Islamists to power. Even though it’s s a provable deadly blueprint that’s putting the West at great risk, no one is calling him on it. Obama’s been on the trail of replacing Christian leaders with Islamic ones before he became president, starting with Kenya where he actively campaigned to elect Islamic defender Raila Odinga in 2007. Obama got away with it because following a violent post-electoral crisis, Odinga took office as Prime Minister in April...

When the notorious Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, kidnapped 278 school girls [1] from the town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria last year, Michelle Obama began a Twitter hashtag campaign [2], #BringBackOurGirls. But behind the scenes, the Obama administration was undermining Nigeria’s efforts to take the battle to the terrorists. Obama refused to sell Nigeria arms and supplies critical to the fight, and stepped in to block other Western allies from doing so. The administration also denied Nigeria intelligence [3] on Boko Haram from drones operating in the area. While Boko Haram was kidnapping school girls, the U.S. cut petroleum...

Follow link to read article with complete links to sourced material: NiceDeb: The reason Obama hasn't been helping Nigeria fight Boko Haram will make you sickAccording to Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, more than 13,000 people have been killed in the Boko Haram insurgency since 2009. Some estimates put the carnage as high as 17,000 deaths. Between July 2013 and June 2014 alone, an estimated 7,000 people died in incidents related to the insurgency. Boko Haram – which means “Western education is forbidden” – recently pledged allegiance to ISIS. When these formidable jihadists rampaged through Nigeria, last year – kidnapping schoolgirls,...

The world’s three most infamous terrorist organizations are working together at Al-Qaeda-run training camps in the Sahara Desert in Mauritania, where dozens of recruits from the U.S., Canada and Europe are being indoctrinated into violent jihad and training for attacks that could expand the so-called caliphate across North and West Africa, according to analysts. ISIS, Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda all have links to two camps in the remote sands of the expansive North African country, according to Veryan Khan, editorial director for the Florida-based Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, which tracks international terrorism and had a source on the ground...

Locals from Damasak reported that the militant Islamic group passed through town shortly after troops from Niger and Chad secured it. Group members killed 50 and kidnapped 400 to 500 women and children as they left. Damasak had recently been freed by troops from Chad and Niger. Souleymane Ali, a local trader, told Reuters that the militants took 506 women and children, and killed about 50 of them. “We don’t know if they killed others after leaving, but they took the rest with them,” he added.

Dozens of Nigerian women who were forced to marry Boko Haram fighters were reportedly slaughtered by their 'husbands' before a battle with troops in the northeast town of Bama. Witnesses said the Islamist militants feared they would be killed by advancing soldiers or separated from their wives when they fled the town. They killed the women to prevent them from subsequently marrying soldiers or other so-called non-believers, they said. Sharifatu Bakura, 39, said: 'The terrorists said they will not allow their wives to be married to infidels.'

DC political insiders believe that if President Barack Obama truly seeks compromise with Republicans, he should begin by ditching White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett. It goes without saying that Jarrett, the president's longtime trusted confidante, political ally, and family friend, is a divisive figure inside the beltway. Calls for her dismissal have been rampant since the president began his second term -- and even before then. It is a demand still ignored by the White House.

Nigeria has drafted “hundreds of mercenaries from South Africa” in its fight against Boko Haram. South Africans have a long-standing reputation as being among the best mercenaries in the world, and have been present in one form or another in most African conflicts for the past two decades.

One senator wants to know if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton deleted her emails regarding the very delayed designation of Boko Haram as a terrorist organization — and if a very well-heeled donor influenced that policy.The query is not new for Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), but it’s now reflected in some additional disturbing lights: the admission by Clinton that she used personal email while the nation’s top diplomat and screened which ones to keep or discard, and the ascension of Boko Haram to an ISIS affiliate.In June of last year, Vitter questioned why the State Department, under former...

Smith Jadesimi, from Nigeria, donated a kidney to Israeli Omaima Halabi through the NGO Matnat Chaim Israeli media is awash with the touching tale of how the son of a Nigerian billionaire braved all odds against him to donate his kidney to a dying lady he had never met... The Jerusalem Post in an article titled, ‘The Human Spirit: Love, Give, Live’, reported that the story of Smith Jadesimi, son of oil magnate Ladi Jadesimi, resonated in hearts across the country as an untainted demonstration of compassion beyond religion and race. Born in 1987 into the large and prosperous Jadesimi...

Hundreds of South African mercenaries and hired fighters of other nationalities are playing a decisive role in Nigeria’s military campaign against Boko Haram, operating attack helicopters, armored personnel carriers and fighting to retake towns and villages captured by the Islamist militant group, according to senior officials in the region.The Nigerian government has not acknowledged the presence of the mercenaries, but a senior government official in northern Nigeria said the South Africans — camped out in a remote portion of the airport in Maiduguri, the city at the heart of Boko Haram’s uprising — conduct most of their operations at night...

If a jayvee team puts on Lakers uniforms, that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant.President Obama That line sums up President Obama’s tendency to downplay foreign-policy crises with derisory humor. And today his arrogance bears its toll. This weekend, Abubakar Shekau — the half-Salafi/half-psychotic leader of Boko Haram — pledged fealty to the Islamic State (IS). Defined by extreme violence — burning students alive, slitting throats, destroying villages, etc. — Boko Haram is well matched to IS. As I recently explained, it threatens both regional and U.S. interests. Yet Shekau’s pledge to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi catalyzes the threat....

At least 19 civilians were killed in a weekend attack by Boko Haram Islamists on three remote islands in Niger with many victims burnt alive, a local lawmaker said. Sunday’s onslaught took place on three islands located on Lake Chad, said ElHadj Aboubacar, a deputy from the town of Bosso in southeastern Niger. “We have been informed that at least 19 people have died, most of whom were either burnt alive or drowned in the lake,” he told AFP. There has been no official confirmation of the death toll but a private radio station in Niger has reported that two...