State Dep’t Not to Designate Boko Haram a Terrorist Organization - Then Calls it ‘Terrorist Organization’.

State Dep’t Not to Designate Boko Haram a Terrorist Organization - Then Calls it ‘Terrorist Organization’.(CNSNews).Testifying on Capitol Hill this week, the State Department’s top official for Africa defended the decision not to designate Boko Haram as a “foreign terrorist organization” (FTO) – but then used the term “terrorist organization” in reference to the Nigerian Islamist group.
A Nigerian Christian leader criticized the move, saying failure to designate Boko Haram as an FTO emboldened the group and signaled that its targeting of Christians was acceptable.
The administration on June 21 listed three Boko Haram leaders as “specially designated global terrorists” (SDGTs) but stopped short to designating the group as an FTO under U.S. law, a step some Republican lawmakers have long been urging.
Individuals and entities listed as SDGTs have any assets they may hold in the U.S. frozen, and Americans are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
Appearing before the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights on Tuesday, Johnnie Carson, assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of African Affairs, spoke about the decision.
“Before we prescribe actions, it is important that we understand what Boko Haram is and what it is not,” he said in his prepared remarks. “The truth is that our understanding is limited at best.
“Boko Haram is composed of at least two organizations, a larger organization focused primarily on discrediting the Nigerian government, and a smaller more dangerous group that is increasingly sophisticated and increasingly lethal.”

Then Carson called the group a “terrorist organization.”
“Boko Haram’s emergence as a terrorist organization in Nigeria predates the current government, and irrespective whether there is a Christian leader or a Muslim leader in the country, as long as the social, economic problems exist in the North to the extent that they do, there will be a reaction which may in fact – as this one does – take on political consequences,” he said.
Smith disagreed with Carson’s assessment, saying that Boko Haram had “at its core a radical Islamic position.”“I believe that at its core this is an attempt to impose shari’a law and to promote a radicalized version,” he said.
Another witness at the hearing, Christian Association of Nigeria president Ayo Oritsejafor, made it clear that he views Boko Haram as a terrorist organization with a clear mission.
“To an outside observer it may appear as though Boko Haram is not a monolithic group, that it is fragmented and disorganized, but I am here today to give you the Nigerian perspective,” Oritsejafor said. “Since its creation, the Boko Haram network has never hidden its agenda or intentions.
“Boko Haram has openly stated that they reject the Nigerian state and its constitution and seek to imposeshari’a law,” he continued. “To this end, Boko Haram has waged a systematic campaign of terror and violence.”“They seek an end to Western influence and a removal of the Christian presence in Nigeria,” he added.
Oritsejafor, a Pentecostal pastor, said by not designating Boko Haram as an FTO, the U.S. was sending “a very clear message” to the Nigerian government and the rest of the world that the killing of innocent Christians as well as Muslims who reject the group’s ideology is acceptable.
“It is hypocritical for the United States and the international community to say that they believe in freedom and equality, when their actions do not support those who are being persecuted,” Oritsejafor said.Hmmmm........Obama: "“We will hold sacred the beliefs held sacred by others.”Read the full story here.


Related Yesterday's post: Christians “will not know peace again” if they do not accept Islam, said a statement from the Boko Haram sect.