MoveOn.org Petitioned to Keep Boko Haram Off Terrorist List

10 May, 2014 by Ashley Herzog

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This is unbelievable. Yesterday, I reported that Hillary Clinton’s State Department ignored repeated requests to designate Boko Haram, the Islamist group behind the kidnapping of 200 Nigerian schoolgirls, as a terrorist group. Well, it also turns out that the liberals at MoveOn.org petitioned Hillary to keep Boko Haram off the terrorist watch list, urging her to play nice with this group of slave-trading savages.

It’s unbelievable because, as you can see from the photo above, the #BringBackOurGirls campaign is all the rage now among liberals who want to look appropriately concerned about human rights atrocities in Africa. (Remember the genocide in Darfur? Neither do they. Those “Save Darfur” shirts that were popular when I was in college are apparently so 2005.) But before this cause was taken up by Hollywood and Michelle Obama, MoveOn.org was dismayed by the Nigerian government’s “repressive action” against Boko Haram. (Yes, seriously. Grab a barf bucket for this one!)

We urge you not to support the formal designation of Boko Haram in Nigeria as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO). Such a move would be a counterproductive mistake with far-reaching negative consequences for both Americans and Nigerians.

Most significantly, it would reinforce militarization of Nigerian government actions against the group. Repressive actions by Nigerian security forces in the past have already contributed to increasing support for Boko Haram among those affected. What is needed instead is a multifaceted strategy. Such a strategy must include not only security measures to protect civilians but also flexible diplomacy and serious attention to development issues, particularly in the disadvantaged North of Nigeria where Boko Haram finds support.

Is it too harsh to say these bandwagon activists make me sick? They have no moral compass whatsoever. Instead of relying on old-fashioned concepts like right and wrong, or good versus evil, they just ask themselves, “Where does Angelina Jolie stand on this issue?”

Also see: An Interview With Andrew Breitbart