Comments | talk_politics: Medieval in Africa: from bad to worse

nairiporter in talk_politics

Medieval in Africa: from bad to worse

Feb 09, 2015 14:04

What is that thing that looks like ISIL, quacks like ISIL, but is not ISIL? Well, you may have already guessed it, that is Boko Haram. They have proclaimed their own Caliphate too, but in the north-eastern parts of Nigeria. They also shock with their cruelty, which is escalating every next year. Although Nigeria is Africa's biggest economy and one ( Read more... )

africa, islamism, extremism, recommended, civil war

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htpcl February 9 2015, 14:20:29 UTC

The Nigerian military budget is 600 times that of Boko Haram, and yet they're incapable of dealing with the group. That tells a whole story.

Spread a little happiness... johnny9fingers February 9 2015, 17:17:07 UTC

Asymmetric warfare and incompetence will do that. Sometimes asymmetric warfare will do that even if you are competent.

However, should the Nigerian military become competent...I would think there would be another blood-bath to wring ones' hands over. Which presents all new moral dilemmas: do we object to the wholesale slaughter of the bad looney religious jihadist types by bad fascist army types, or do we just turn a blind eye on the matter?

It is all horrible, and then we die. :)

RE: Spread a little happiness... htpcl February 9 2015, 18:04:52 UTC

Or we could, you know, try to address the root cause for radicalization, just for a change.

Re: Spread a little happiness... johnny9fingers February 9 2015, 20:17:00 UTC

It would be lovely, but just as with the Christian fundamentalists of America, the jihadist mindset seems difficult to shift, even if some sort of equality of opportunity and good education were in place, or even if political changes gave proper representation to folk. After all, fundamentalist Christians in the U.S. have political representation...and Egypt elected the Muslim Brotherhood...

And it's not as if the "root causes" are obvious in jihadists, any more than they are with religious fanatics anywhere, excepting I suppose for the call of the various prophets and messiahs, and the books of the religions which espouse particular rites of worship or catechisms of orthodoxy.

Corruption in Nigeria is endemic, true,..and tribalism too, but changing those patterns of behaviour takes time - generations, even; unless imposed from outside...(how very colonialist) but Boko Haram is a current problem.

Maybe I'm being unduly pessimistic, and there is a quick fix - but the usual method of throwing money at things may be insufficient.

RE: Re: Spread a little happiness... htpcl February 9 2015, 20:19:58 UTC

> the jihadist mindset seems difficult to shift

"We do things not because they're easy, we do them because they're hard". - JFK

RE: Re: Spread a little happiness... johnny9fingers February 9 2015, 21:31:41 UTC

Point.

Hard is easy...impossible takes at least a week, with goodwill on all sides too.

RE: Re: Spread a little happiness... htpcl February 9 2015, 21:49:56 UTC

A week sounds good, if a bit too optimistic in Nigeria's context.

RE: Re: Spread a little happiness... yes_justice February 9 2015, 20:36:47 UTC

the jihadist mindset seems difficult to shift, even if some sort of equality of opportunity and good education were in place, or even if political changes gave proper representation to folk

We should try it though. At least once.

RE: Re: Spread a little happiness... johnny9fingers February 9 2015, 21:34:24 UTC

More than once, even. But be prepared to fail, and bear the consequences of failure: which is conflict. Peace at any cost ain't peace, alas.

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