HARLAN RICHARDS
February 1, 2015

Not All Victims Are Created Equal

Western media had a feeding frenzy when a dozen people were killed in Paris when the Charlie Hebdo offices were attacked by terrorists. There was an outcry heard around the world as millions of people stood up for the freedom of the press in defiance of the killings.

Meanwhile, Boko Haram continues its reign of terror in Nigeria. Last year, they kidnapped over 200 girls from a school, ostensibly for wives for their fighters. Nobody knows the whereabouts of these girls or what has happened to them since they were kidnapped. It boggles my mind that a country can allow a terrorist organization to operate openly without fear or reprisals or government intervention when it commits atrocities.

But it turns out that kidnapping of the girls was nothing compared to what they did next. In Baga and Doron Baga, as many as 2,000 citizens have been killed. Satellite photos show over 3,7000 buildings which have been damaged or destroyed. Boko Haram entered these towns and literally killed everyone they could find. When the survivors returned to see what was left of their towns, Boko Haram returned to kill them as well.

Belive me, if Nigeria had as much oil as Saudi Arabia or if the victims were white, Boko Haram would not be running around unchallenged. The US and its allies would be giving Nigeria all the help it needed to wipe out this blight.

Instead, Nigerians face an enemy as terrible as the Lord's Resistance Army with no one to help them and no means to defend themselves. If we as a nation feel it is our duty to fight terrorism around the world to keep our country safe, then we should fight all terrorism wherever it is. Terrorists should be subjected to the same treatment they give their victims: extermination. When you are fighting an enemy who has already decided to kill or be killed and in the process to take as many of us as possible, then it only makes sense to eliminate them as quickly and efficiently as possible.

However, in the long run, this strategy is bound to fail. It is in the schools and villages of backward nations that the fight will be won. By bringing in moderate imams to teach the jihadists should not be permitted to indoctrinate naive villagers into their crazed ideology.