Ignoring Boko Haram Won't Make It Go Away

Despite repeated urgings in the last two years from the CIA, the FBI, the Justice Dept. and over one dozen senators and congressmen, to convince Secy. of State Hillary Clinton and the State Department to officially label Boko Haram a terrorist organization, the group was never put on the list during her tenure.

Now Boko Haram, known for attacking Christians and government targets, and bombing churches, schools, and police stations, is in the headlines as the group responsible for kidnapping 300 school girls in Nigeria. Had the group been classified a terrorist group, (with clear ties to Al Qaeda), the government agencies would've had the authority to go after them and and most likely could have diminished their threatening and destructive activities, which have been going on for many years. Now Clinton is recognizing them as a terrorist group, in her recent characterization of the abduction - it's "abominable, it's criminal, it's an act of terrorism and it really merits the fullest response possible, first and foremost from the government of Nigeria." The State Dept., at the time, refused to put them on the terror list, concerned that it would elevate their status and give them undue publicity. Secy. Kerry eventually did give them the designation, after a series of church bombings in the region, but the delay proved to be a huge mistake.

The former Secy. has taken her eye off the ball too many times now. As we get closer to 2016, Clinton's record should be scrutinized. Her strategy of inaction did not serve our best interests, as we have allowed this dangerous anti-western group to intensify their terrorist actions.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/07/hillary-s-state-department-refused-to-brand-boko-haram-as-terrorists.html