A ruthless Islamic radicalist with twisted beliefs, Abubakar Shekau is the leader of Boko Haram. Boko Haram is the terrorist organization responsible for the murder and kidnapping of hundreds of innocent Nigerian schoolgirls, which occurred in mid-April but is just now being brought to the world’s attention. Shekau is an incredibly elusive man who works in the shadows and commands a very powerful terrorist organization in Nigeria, an organization that has pledged its allegiance to Al Qaeda and has also claimed to “now comfortably confront the United States of America.” Shekau’s plan is to sell these innocent children into the dark and disgusting world of the child sex slave trade. Shekau says in a video, “I abducted your girls…There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell.”
Shekau is a madman who needs to be found and killed immediately. With Al Qaeda making a resurgence and terrorist groups like Boko Haram popping up across Africa, these threats need to be dealt with swiftly and aggressively to protect the innocent who are unable to defend themselves, such as these kidnapped girls. The US is sending a small team of seven or ten military advisers to help with the search for these missing girls, but that is not nearly enough. The US should instead send special operation troops to Nigeria and surrounding countries as soon as possible to locate and rescue the young girls before they are sold into the evil that is the child sex slave trade.
The idea of US special operators entering Nigeria and conducting raids and rescue missions is one that has been widely supported by Republicans in Congress including Arizona Sen. John McCain, who said, “If they knew where they were, I certainly would send in U.S. troops to rescue them, in a New York minute I would, without permission of the host country,” McCain told The Daily Beast. “I wouldn’t be waiting for some kind of permission from some guy named Goodluck Jonathan.” Goodluck Jonathan is the president of Nigeria and has not been forthcoming on whether or not he would authorize a rescue mission lead by the US if the girls were located. America has to place the lives of these innocent girls over relations with a nation such as Nigeria, and John McCain sums that point up quite well. McCain also said that if he were the President he would already have a joint special operations unit on standby, and ready to enter Nigeria at any second. McCain’s firm stance against terrorism is something that must be adopted by our nations current leaders if they hope to end the global terror being administered by the Islamic extremists who control most of the Middle East and Northern Africa.
Women are treated like possessions in these particular Muslim societies, and education is not allowed. A well known incident can be related to the Nigerian kidnappings: the attempted assassination of Pakistani school girl Malala Yousafzai. The Taliban attempted to murder Malala, an innocent girl, only because she had a dream of acquiring an education and becoming a successful woman. The acts of violence and kidnappings carried out by Boko Haram in Nigeria were motivated by the same hatred for women and their right to an education. Not taking action against an organization like Boko Haram deviates from core American values such as freedom, equality and protecting those who cannot protect themselves.
The United States is facing another enemy in Boko Haram that continues to grow by the day. Boko Haram and its leader Abubakar Shekau have made it clear that they do not have any regard for human life and will stop at nothing to crush Western influence in Africa. The United States of America must overwhelm this evil and stop further attacks against humanity from being carried out. Setting aside all politics and international relations, America must act solely because innocent girls are being ripped from their families and tortured by a ruthless warlord. Inaction hurts everyone in this situation. When America is pitted against evil, we must act and reestablish safety and order in these regions filled with terror. Our great nation has the power and the men to stop these terrorists. It is not a matter of “can we do it?” It is a matter of whether or not our leaders are brave enough to take action.
