Remember #BringBackOurGirls? This Is What Has Happened In The 5 Months Since

[Hissyspit]

http://www.huffpost.com/us/entry/5791622

Remember #BringBackOurGirls? This Is What Has Happened In The 5 Months Since

- snip -

Not one student has been rescued

In the first days after the abduction, 57 of the girls managed to escape from their captors. But not one has escaped or been rescued since then.

Even though they were reportedly located months ago

In May, a Nigerian military official claimed he knew where the girls were being held. A month later, U.S. surveillance planes also spotted a group that officials believed to be the girls.

Stephen Davis, an Australian cleric and mediator, said in June that a deal to free the girls had fallen apart three different times in one month. He says that powerful people with "vested interests" are working to sabotage a deal, and he has accused Nigerian politicians of funding Boko Haram. Nigeria's government has defended its approach to the crisis and warned that a rescue effort might risk the girls' lives.

Other countries have made little progress

According to the Associated Press, it took more than two weeks for Nigeria to accept offers of international assistance to find the schoolgirls.

When other countries did start to help, they didn't get very far. The U.S. sent 80 troops in late May to coordinate an aerial search from neighboring Chad. Canada, France, Israel and the U.K. also sent special forces to Nigeria. But six weeks later, the Pentagon press secretary announced that the U.S. mission would be scaled back, saying: "We don't have any better idea today than we did before about where these girls are.
- snip -

While the country worries about its image problem

Nigeria's government paid a Washington public relations firm more than $1.2 million to change the media narrative surrounding the schoolgirls' abduction, according to a June report by The Hill. The country's president, Goodluck Jonathan, recently faced severe backlash after a group campaigning for his reelection started using the hashtag #BringBackGoodluck2015, sparking outrage among groups still campaigning for the girls' return

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[Starry Messenger]

1. k&r

[LostInAnomie]

2. Geez, it's almost as if hashtag activism does jack-fucking-shit.

It sure is an easy way to so you're "socially conscious" though.

[Scootaloo]

7. #autofellatingactivism n/t

[Quantess]

16. It gets likes on facebook.

Which is the most important.

[scarletwoman]

3. Thank you for posting this. I've been wondering about those girls.

I did a news search a little while back and couldn't find anything.

I guess without any concerted public attention, the corrupt Nigerian government just ends up off the hook. After all, Nigeria has oil to sell. Disgusting.

[cwydro]

4. A twitter buzz

Our country didn't do a damn thing.

[Tumbulu]

5. so frustrating and sad!

The fact is, for most of the world, women and girls are still property to be bought and sold, or stolen.

I remain so outraged that not much has changed over the past 50 years.

[FrodosPet]

8. Or even 50,000 years, for that matter

The real monsters don't have green skin and bolts on their neck. They look just like us.

[russspeakeasy]

6. Simple answer: There is no money in it.

[BrotherIvan]

9. Or oil or minerals

[Fearless]

10. I believe the social conscience of the nation moved on to the ice bucket challenge

And with the sound bite culture we have, we can't do two things at once and rarely do one well.

[treestar]

14. That's a good point

So many terrible things happen, too.

[FormerOstrich]

11. From time to time I have

sought information because it makes my heart sad how quickly these girls were forgotten.

I hadn't read about the public relations firm. It makes me sick.

[marym625]

12. Yeah but let's go to war against ISIS

Because two grown men, who made the decision to be in a very hostile environment, were murdered.

I do not mean to diminish the bravery of the two reporters brutally murdered at the hands of terrorists. But the insanity of starting a war over it, when that seems to be what ISIS is looking for, well, I just don't understand.

If this group of girls were white, I bet US troops would have been on the ground and rescued them within a day or two. If we are going to fight for something, how is this not it?

[Chathamization]

13. Well, there were plenty who were saying that US troops should be used to rescue the girls; but that

was in May. Back then you were heartless if you thought involving the US military was a bad idea. Now you're heartless if you think using the US military in Iraq is a bad idea, and Nigeria is forgotten.

It seems that there are plenty across the political spectrum who think the US government is a magic wand you wave and it fixes everything, rather than an unwieldily blunt force that should only be used as a last resort since it often creates more problems than it solves. It's also a little frightening when the people who are the most vocal in their support for dropping bombs on a country often express a profound ignorance and disinterest in the actual situation in that country (the tendency to forget about the country once it's out of the media spotlight is just one example).

[marym625]

18. so very true

If you look at the problems around the globe that we have butted into, you'll see that most of the time, we created more problems than were there before our involvement. ISIS for example. Thank you bush and all the idiots that voted for that war.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Until today: Nigerian govt and ICRC in talks with Boko Haram about swap for prisoners

Nigerian government officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross have had talks with Boko Haram about swapping imprisoned members of the Islamist terrorist group for the more than 200 Chibok school girls kidnapped in April, a source involved in the negotiations told CNN.

The officials met four times in mid-August with two senior members of Boko Haram in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

The swap would involve the release of 30 Boko Haram commanders in the custody of the Nigerian government, according to the source, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Boko Haram submitted a list with the names of 30 members who were either convicted or awaiting trial on terror offenses.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/us-world-news/boko-haram-in-talks-over-kidnapped-girls/28166866

Your link doesn't work for me, by the way - this one does for me: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/14/nigeria-girls-kidnapped-5-months_n_5791622.html

[marym625]

19. Thanks for that

I have looked up information about this every week or so. Completely missed this

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

17. K&R. nt

[theHandpuppet]

20. Thanks for this thread

Though I'm just disgusted beyond words.

[rug]

21. #noshitsherlock

Photo ops are replacing acts.