Nigeria says U.S. support lacking in Boko Haram battle

From Reuters:

'Nigeria's envoy to Washington criticized U.S. support in the battle against Boko Haram militants as insufficient, including failure to share enough intelligence and sell needed weaponry to fight the Islamist group.

Ambassador Ade Adefuye, in remarks posted on the Nigerian Embassy's website on Tuesday, appealed for greater backing from Washington and rejected claims of human rights abuses that have limited some U.S. military assistance.

Nigeria says U.S. support lacking in Boko Haram battle | Reuters

I disagree. Nigeria's issue isn't a lack of U.S. support. Nigeria's problems are:

1. An incompetent military that lacks the courage to stand its ground in head-to-head battles with Boko Haram.
2. A political leadership that dissembles, most recently proclaiming a ceasefire that never was agreed while cynically preying on the hopes of the families whose daughters were kidnapped by Boko Haram.

Addressing those two problems would do more for Nigeria in its fight against Boko Haram than blaming the U.S. for shortcomings that largely, if not entirely, have nothing to do with the United States. While the current Nigerian regime may find it expedient to blame others for its chronic and substantial shortcomings in a bid to evade responsibility and ward off possible defeat in next year's election, that blame is a gross misdiagnosis of the problem.

At this point in time, my guess is that Nigeria's best hope for beginning to turn around its situation would come from the election of new leadership. The current government is not trustworthy and has demonstrated little capacity to align support for a competent strategy for defeating Boko Haram. If anything, it is a big part of the reason Boko Haram has been able to expand its clout and now holds a chunk of northeastern Nigeria under its control.

When in doubt, blame America.

donsutherland1 said:

From Reuters:

'Nigeria's envoy to Washington criticized U.S. support in the battle against Boko Haram militants as insufficient, including failure to share enough intelligence and sell needed weaponry to fight the Islamist group.

Ambassador Ade Adefuye, in remarks posted on the Nigerian Embassy's website on Tuesday, appealed for greater backing from Washington and rejected claims of human rights abuses that have limited some U.S. military assistance.

Nigeria says U.S. support lacking in Boko Haram battle | Reuters

I disagree. Nigeria's issue isn't a lack of U.S. support. Nigeria's problems are:

1. An incompetent military that lacks the courage to stand its ground in head-to-head battles with Boko Haram.
2. A political leadership that dissembles, most recently proclaiming a ceasefire that never was agreed while cynically preying on the hopes of the families whose daughters were kidnapped by Boko Haram.

Addressing those two problems would do more for Nigeria in its fight against Boko Haram than blaming the U.S. for shortcomings that largely, if not entirely, have nothing to do with the United States. While the current Nigerian regime may find it expedient to blame others for its chronic and substantial shortcomings in a bid to evade responsibility and ward off possible defeat in next year's election, that blame is a gross misdiagnosis of the problem.

At this point in time, my guess is that Nigeria's best hope for beginning to turn around its situation would come from the election of new leadership. The current government is not trustworthy and has demonstrated little capacity to align support for a competent strategy for defeating Boko Haram. If anything, it is a big part of the reason Boko Haram has been able to expand its clout and now holds a chunk of northeastern Nigeria under its control.

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Nigeria has a Presidential election scheduled for (I think) Jan 2015. Looks like ole Goodluck Jonathan is looking to spread some blame.

Hey Nigeria, maybe you'd get more stuff if A) we didn't think it would get stolen and disappear and B) you didn't give us so many problems with Leahy vetting.

cpwill said:

Nigeria has a Presidential election scheduled for (I think) Jan 2015. Looks like ole Goodluck Jonathan is looking to spread some blame.

Hey Nigeria, maybe you'd get more stuff if A) we didn't think it would get stolen and disappear and B) you didn't give us so many problems with Leahy vetting.

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I suspect that this latest criticism is a very cynical way for the Nigerian government to use the victims of terrorism as pawns in their intent to circumvent the Leahy Law. I think the US response should be two-fold: first, show us, and show the World, that your security apparatus is making serious efforts to confront Boko Haram on the ground, recover the missing abductees and create the climate amongst the people of NE Nigeria that can undermine the support that BH obviously receives from Moslem Nigerians. Secondly, immediately cease the obfuscation and evasion that is delaying the completion of the Leahy process.

Claiming that it is BH that is responsible for the abuses carried out by its own military makes the Nigerian government look corrupt, which it certainly is, malevolent and incompetent. If the entire military of a nation of 150 million people, numbering 130,000 active servicemen, cannot deal with an insurgency by a group of around 10,000, then it is clearly unfit for purpose and needs wholesale reform, not just a bigger cache of munitions.

As most people who've read any of my posts here will know, I'm no fan of US foreign policy, pretty much anywhere, but this is a case where the criticism is wrong, disingenuous, driven by corruption and incompetence and is borne out of the systematic, long-term misgovernment of an oil-rich nation by a military-corporate oligarchy that really doesn't care much about the abduction of schoolkids, provided they are not those attending the private academies reserved for the oligarchy's own kids.

Andalublue said:

I suspect that this latest criticism is a very cynical way for the Nigerian government to use the victims of terrorism as pawns in their intent to circumvent the Leahy Law. I think the US response should be two-fold: first, show us, and show the World, that your security apparatus is making serious efforts to confront Boko Haram on the ground, recover the missing abductees and create the climate amongst the people of NE Nigeria that can undermine the support that BH obviously receives from Moslem Nigerians. Secondly, immediately cease the obfuscation and evasion that is delaying the completion of the Leahy process.

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Recovering the schoolgirls is an impossible task at this point, unfortunately. I'm not so sure that BH receives lots of support from locals out of anything but fear - BH's approach to governance appears (thus far) to mostly consist of "kill lots of people, declare yourself in charge, leave." But you are correct that the locals also do not support Abuja, due not least to (accurate) perceptions that the government of Nigeria is also likely to conduct human rights abuses and atrocities.

Claiming that it is BH that is responsible for the abuses carried out by its own military makes the Nigerian government look corrupt, which it certainly is, malevolent and incompetent.

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Without saying that they don't do this, it is worth noting that BH probably also conducts atrocities while wearing Nigerian uniforms they have captured from the 7th Division precisely in order to create the impression that the Nigerian government is equally abusive.

If the entire military of a nation of 150 million people, numbering 130,000 active servicemen, cannot deal with an insurgency by a group of around 10,000, then it is clearly unfit for purpose and needs wholesale reform, not just a bigger cache of munitions.

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Welcome to Africa?

As most people who've read any of my posts here will know, I'm no fan of US foreign policy, pretty much anywhere, but this is a case where the criticism is wrong, disingenuous, driven by corruption and incompetence and is borne out of the systematic, long-term misgovernment of an oil-rich nation by a military-corporate oligarchy that really doesn't care much about the abduction of schoolkids, provided they are not those attending the private academies reserved for the oligarchy's own kids.

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:shrug: I'd call that accurate, except that from what I understand Jonathan is thoroughly civilian, and mostly just buys the military off.

Heya DS. :2wave: That's not all Nigeria is saying.


Nigeria cancels US military training to fight Boko Haram.....


Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria has halted US training of its soldiers to fight Boko Haram, Washington's mission said on Monday, in the latest sign of strained ties between the two countries.

"At the request of the Nigerian government, the United States will discontinue its training of a Nigerian Army battalion," the US Embassy in Abuja said in a statement. Two initial phases of training had already been completed between April and August this year .

Last month Nigeria's ambassador to Washington, Adebowale Adefuye, claimed that his government was dissatisfied with the "scope, nature and content" of US support. In particular, he accused Washington of failing to provide the "lethal" weapons needed to deliver "a killer punch" to the militants, including attack helicopters.....snip~

Nigeria cancels US military training to fight Boko Haram

MMC said:

Heya DS. :2wave: That's not all Nigeria is saying.

Nigeria cancels US military training to fight Boko Haram.....

Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria has halted US training of its soldiers to fight Boko Haram, Washington's mission said on Monday, in the latest sign of strained ties between the two countries.

"At the request of the Nigerian government, the United States will discontinue its training of a Nigerian Army battalion," the US Embassy in Abuja said in a statement. Two initial phases of training had already been completed between April and August this year .

Last month Nigeria's ambassador to Washington, Adebowale Adefuye, claimed that his government was dissatisfied with the "scope, nature and content" of US support. In particular, he accused Washington of failing to provide the "lethal" weapons needed to deliver "a killer punch" to the militants, including attack helicopters.....snip~

Nigeria cancels US military training to fight Boko Haram

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:doh You won't give us attack helicopters, so we're going to get rid of your trainers in a fit of pique. Brilliantly done, Nigeria.

MMC said:

Heya DS. :2wave: That's not all Nigeria is saying.

Nigeria cancels US military training to fight Boko Haram.....


Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria has halted US training of its soldiers to fight Boko Haram, Washington's mission said on Monday, in the latest sign of strained ties between the two countries.

"At the request of the Nigerian government, the United States will discontinue its training of a Nigerian Army battalion," the US Embassy in Abuja said in a statement. Two initial phases of training had already been completed between April and August this year .

Last month Nigeria's ambassador to Washington, Adebowale Adefuye, claimed that his government was dissatisfied with the "scope, nature and content" of US support. In particular, he accused Washington of failing to provide the "lethal" weapons needed to deliver "a killer punch" to the militants, including attack helicopters.....snip~

Nigeria cancels US military training to fight Boko Haram

Click to expand...

This is yet another example of blame-shifting by a grossly incompetent Nigerian government. What Nigeria needs first is a competent government and, second, a reconstituted military. Otherwise, the government, which is unable to exercise jurisdiction over a growing share of the country, will see its legitimacy continue to decline. At the same time, the Nigerian military will continue to suffer defeats in its head-to-head battles with Boko Haram, even as the government spins "victories," claims that are quickly discounted by witness accounts and other facts on the ground. The government's credibility has also been further damaged by its false claims of a ceasefire, which also proved incorrect.

donsutherland1 said:

This is yet another example of blame-shifting by a grossly incompetent Nigerian government. What Nigeria needs first is a competent government and, second, a reconstituted military. Otherwise, the government, which is unable to exercise jurisdiction over a growing share of the country, will see its legitimacy continue to decline. At the same time, the Nigerian military will continue to suffer defeats in its head-to-head battles with Boko Haram, even as the government spins "victories," claims that are quickly discounted by witness accounts and other facts on the ground. The government's credibility has also been further damaged by its false claims of a ceasefire, which also proved incorrect.

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Mornin' DS. :2wave: Which Boko Haram and ISIS now communicating with each other. It will only get worse for the Nigerians. And now with a City in Libya pledging to the Islamic State. Then the Benghazi Emirate with 3 major terrorist organizations operating out of there. I think you can see how moving West is at their will.

MMC said:

Mornin' DS. :2wave: Which Boko Haram and ISIS now communicating with each other. It will only get worse for the Nigerians. And now with a City in Libya pledging to the Islamic State. Then the Benghazi Emirate with 3 major terrorist organizations operating out of there. I think you can see how moving West is at their will.

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Unfortunately, a lot of Nigeria's problems with Boko Haram are the result not just of the terrorist organization's violent tactics, but also the combination of a grossly incompetent government and impotent military. At least in the near-term, I don't see those dynamics changing. Hopefully, next year's election will result in a new government and then that government will take on the difficult task of completely remaking the military.

donsutherland1 said:

-- Hopefully, next year's election will result in a new government and then that government will take on the difficult task of completely remaking the military.

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There are longstanding issues when it comes to reforming the military that cannot be so easily overcome. Incompetence & corruption in Nigerian governance go back many decades and is so deeply ingrained as part of the "dashi" culture.

Dash/dashi was a word I heard often when trying to negotiate with Nigerians to just do their already paid for job - it meant "offering" or "bribe."

Infinite Chaos said:

There are longstanding issues when it comes to reforming the military that cannot be so easily overcome. Incompetence & corruption in Nigerian governance go back many decades and is so deeply ingrained as part of the "dashi" culture.

Dash/dashi was a word I heard often when trying to negotiate with Nigerians to just do their already paid for job - it meant "offering" or "bribe."

Click to expand...

I'm familiar with that term, as friends from South Asia often used it to describe how things are sometimes conducted in their home country. The issues you cite will make for a difficult and challenging process with no guarantee of success. Still, a successor government would need to try to launch and sustain such a process to give it its best chance to defeat Boko Haram in the end.

donsutherland1 said:

-- Still, a successor government would need to try to launch and sustain such a process to give it its best chance to defeat Boko Haram in the end.

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That's the rational thought but not the most likely where Nigeria is concerned.

The US shouldnt be involved. At all. Africa has become too dependent on Western aid, whether military or economic, rather than learning to be self sufficient.

PoS said:

The US shouldnt be involved. At all. Africa has become too dependent on Western aid, whether military or economic, rather than learning to be self sufficient.

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It may be Africa's problem now, but it could be our problem in the future. Better to deal with it now while it's in Africa then wait until it reaches the US.

donsutherland1 said:

Nigeria's issue isn't a lack of U.S. support. Nigeria's problems are:

1. An incompetent military that lacks the courage to stand its ground in head-to-head battles with Boko Haram.
2. A political leadership that dissembles, most recently proclaiming a ceasefire that never was agreed while cynically preying on the hopes of the families whose daughters were kidnapped by Boko Haram.

Click to expand...

And spam, don't forget.

Roadvirus said:

It may be Africa's problem now, but it could be our problem in the future. Better to deal with it now while it's in Africa then wait until it reaches the US.

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How will it be our problem in the future?

PoS said:

How will it be our problem in the future?

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If you need to ask that question, you are obviously not very smart.

donsutherland1 said:

I'm familiar with that term, as friends from South Asia often used it to describe how things are sometimes conducted in their home country. The issues you cite will make for a difficult and challenging process with no guarantee of success. Still, a successor government would need to try to launch and sustain such a process to give it its best chance to defeat Boko Haram in the end.

Click to expand...

Mornin DS. :2wave: Did you hear they had snatched some more girls before Christmas? They also grabbed some Boys.


Boko Haram seizes 40 boys, men in northern Nigeria......

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have kidnapped 40 boys and young men in a remote village in northeast Nigerian Borno state on New Year's Eve‎, residents who fled the isolated settlement said on Saturday.

Scores of Boko Haram militants stormed the Malari village around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) and whisked away the males, aged between 10 and 23, into the nearby Sambisa forest, believed to be one of the Islamists' major bases.....snip~

Boko Haram seizes 40 boys, men in northern Nigeria

MMC said:

Mornin DS. :2wave: Did you hear they had snatched some more girls before Christmas? They also grabbed some Boys.


Boko Haram seizes 40 boys, men in northern Nigeria......

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have kidnapped 40 boys and young men in a remote village in northeast Nigerian Borno state on New Year's Eve‎, residents who fled the isolated settlement said on Saturday.

Scores of Boko Haram militants stormed the Malari village around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) and whisked away the males, aged between 10 and 23, into the nearby Sambisa forest, believed to be one of the Islamists' major bases.....snip~

Boko Haram seizes 40 boys, men in northern Nigeria

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No surprises. For all intents and purposes, Nigeria lacks a functional military and a functional government. It's a terrible situation and Boko Haram is exploiting that situation time and again.

donsutherland1 said:

No surprises. For all intents and purposes, Nigeria lacks a functional military and a functional government. It's a terrible situation and Boko Haram is exploiting that situation time and again.

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BO's pivot to the African Theatre isn't working.....is it?

Another week and yet another Boko Haram victory in a military engagement...

From the BBC:

The militant group Boko Haram has seized a town and key multinational military base in north-eastern Nigeria, officials and eyewitnesses say.

A senator in Borno state said troops had abandoned the base in the town of Baga after it was attacked on Saturday.

BBC News - Boko Haram seizes army base in Nigeria town of Baga

As noted previously, Nigeria needs new political leadership. The first act of such new leadership should be a complete overhaul of the nation's military and its leadership. Otherwise, the country will accomplish little in the fight against Boko Haram.

Roadvirus said:

If you need to ask that question, you are obviously not very smart.

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Since you cant answer a simple question and instead go back to name calling its obvious youre just a troll.

PoS said:

Since you cant answer a simple question and instead go back to name calling its obvious youre just a troll.

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If that's the way you want it, i'll answer your stupid question.

Look at how we treated Al-Queda before 9/11. We basically ignored the problem until they finally hit us at home. By then, they were a huge & sophisticated global network.
Boko Haram is so far local to Nigeria. Dealing with them now will prevent another Al-Queda from emerging and becoming a grave threat.

Roadvirus said:

If that's the way you want it, i'll answer your stupid question.

Look at how we treated Al-Queda before 9/11. We basically ignored the problem until they finally hit us at home. By then, they were a huge & sophisticated global network.
Boko Haram is so far local to Nigeria. Dealing with them now will prevent another Al-Queda from emerging and becoming a grave threat.

Click to expand...

AQ attacked us because we were messing around in the Middle East for years, this whole thing didnt start in a vacuum you know. And now if we start messing around in Africa the same thing will happen again, we create our own enemies.