Over the past week, Hillary Clinton has raised awareness for the more than 270 girls that were kidnapped in Nigeria by Boko Haram. #BringBackOurGirls has been a rallying cry on Twitter for human rights activists and the global community as a whole. However, when she had the opportunity to brand the group a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) and help US law enforcement agencies cope with the growing threat Boko Haram posed, Clinton dropped the ball. A former senior US official called it “gross hypocrisy.”
Last night, The Daily Beast’s Josh Rogin published a story detailing how Hillary Clinton’s State Department ignored pleas by the US Justice Department, FBI, CIA and numerous lawmakers to designate Boko Haram as a FTO. There wasn’t a partisan divide either. Lisa Monaco, currently at the White House, said that Boko Haram met the criteria for a foreign terrorist listing because the group carried out violent attacks against “police, politicians, public institutions and [the] civilian population.” General Carter Ham, the chief of US Africa Command, said that Boko Haram provided a “safe haven” for Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and was likely sharing explosives and funds with the group.
Unfortunately, Hillary’s inaction could have serious consequences. Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA) told The Daily Beast that US law enforcement agencies might be in a better position to help search for the girls had Clinton not dropped the ball.
Of course we haven’t heard her side of the story. As Rogin noted in his article, representatives for Clinton did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
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