Obama: 80 US Troops in Chad Seeking Abducted Girls

[Hissyspit]

Last edited Wed May 21, 2014, 04:17 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Associated Press

@Reuters: The White House says U.S. deployed 80 armed forces personnel to Chad in search for missing Nigerian girls. #breaking

#BREAKING 80 US Marines deploy to Chad in hunt for Nigerian girls
3:19pm - 21 May 14

OBAMA: 80 US TROOPS IN CHAD SEEKING ABDUCTED GIRLS
May. 21, 2014 3:45 PM EDT
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has deployed 80 military personnel to Chad to help locate the nearly 300 girls kidnapped in Nigeria last month, President Barack Obama said Wednesday.

Obama, in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and the Senate, notified lawmakers about the latest steps underway to assist in the return of the abducted girls.

Obama said the service members will help with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria. He says the force will stay in Chad until its support is no longer necessary.

Chad shares a portion of its western border with northeastern Nigeria.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/obama-80-us-troops-chad-seeking-abducted-girls

[RufusTFirefly]

1. While they're at it, perhaps they can rescue Evangelina Cisneros as well.

Dog bless AFRICOM!

After more than a century of American empire, you'd think that our citizens would be a little bit more savvy about our true motivations.

[Renew Deal]

8. What are the true motivations?

[RufusTFirefly]

11. Increased military presence in Africa with increased access to African resources

AFRICOM was established in 2006 and activated in 2008.

Do you honestly believe that we established a presence in this resource-rich continent so we'd be available to aid kidnapped schoolgirls?

Meanwhile, do you know who else is interested in Africa as a staging ground?

The following is from the International Business times from a week ago:

When Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Africa earlier this month, he stopped in four countries. Oil-rich Angola and Nigeria were first on the list, which makes sense as that’s where China has some of its biggest holdings. But he also stopped in Kenya and Ethiopia, countries not known for massive crude deposits, but appealing to China nonetheless as it switches investment focus from natural resources to manufacturing and services.

...

"Between 2003 and 2010, over half of China's foreign direct investment in Africa was in the oil sector," according to a 2013 report from the United States International Trade Organization. The biggest investors were Sinopec, China National Petroleum Group, China State Construction Engineering Corporation and China Metallurgical Group Corporation, which formed partnerships with state oil companies in Nigeria, Angola, Sudan, Egypt, Chad and Niger.

Sad to say, this has very little -- perhaps nothing -- to do with the fate of those poor girls.

Also, for those binary thinkers, are there other ways to aid the rescue of the girls without introducing the U.S. military? U.N. peacekeepers perhaps? African Union troops?

[Plucketeer]

13. Putting our foot in the door

anytime the opportunity presents itself. That's why we have over a thousand military installations outside of the USA.

[geek tragedy]

9. Who's your inside source at the White House that allows you

to state the real goal behind this massive deployment of 80 troops?

[RufusTFirefly]

12. Do you honestly believe Africa is incapable of addressing this issue without the U.S. military?

Sigh.

You're thinking with your heart -- and I completely sympathize. But you are being manipulated. It happens to us again and again.
Americans can be good, caring people, but history has shown us to be remarkably gullible and ignorant of our own checkered past.

[geek tragedy]

14. I appreciate your empty condescension, but you really don't know

anything that the rest of us don't.

In terms of reconaissance and intelligence capabilities, why yes the US has technology and savoir faire that Nigeria and Chad lack.

Again, if you have a source (besides your own hind quarters) that establishes the purpose of these 6 2/3 dozen troops is to conquer Africa and exploit its resources, rather than assist in the location of these girls (which would have tremendous PR potential for the US, if one must be crass), please share it with the rest of us, lest we entertain the prospect that you are one of those people who engage in ostentatious cynicism in order to feel more intelligent than the unwashed masses around them.

So, please, provide some evidentiary support rather than vague platitudes and references to stuff "everyone knows."

[Cha]

19. ..

Boom!

[AAO]

23. buh dum dum!

[Cha]

24. Boom!

[okaawhatever]

17. It is you who is being manipulated. You clearly have zero understanding of the situation in Nigeria

specifically and the African continent generally. You ask "Do you honestly believe Africa is incapable..." Such willful ignorance on your part. Do you think the entire African continent works for Nigeria? Do you have any idea the resources and technology the countries involved have? I do. I've spent hours reading up on it and watch the Nigerian newspapers for comments from actual Nigerians. It is both sad and pathetic that you are willing to insult an entire country (the US) when you know zero about the situation.

Short answer: No they don't have some of the equipment the US, UK and France has and they don't have the experts on the situation.

[undeterred]

28. Nigeria is unable to stop Boko Haram

Analysis by Will Ross, BBC News, Abuja
The big question is where is Nigeria heading? The ferocity, frequency and geographical spread of the attacks is alarming. The military continues to fail to protect civilians in the north-east despite endless promises from the government that additional help is being sent there.

Boko Haram has in the past said it wanted to create an Islamic state. The current bombing campaign is indiscriminate, killing Christians and Muslims. Following most of the devastating attacks in the remote north-east this year, the government has been silent.

These days the president and government officials take less time to condemn, but there is no real sign that the military has the capacity to turn the tide against this brutal campaign of violence. That is terrifying.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27498598

[Hissyspit]

34. There own military is guilty of crimes against the populace.

Everyone wants to see white hats and black hats, of course.

[gcomeau]

10. Yes... clearly this overwhelming force of several dozen troops...

...is really there to establish a beachead by which the US government can impose it's imperialist control over the continent.

[okaawhatever]

16. +100 for clarity nt

[countryjake]

2. Obama: U.S. Military In Chad To Aid Search For Missing Schoolgirls

Obama: U.S. Military In Chad To Aid Search For Missing Schoolgirls
by Scott Neuman May 21, 2014 3:39 PM ET

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/21/314602646/obama-u-s-military-in-chad-to-aid-search-for-missing-schoolgirls

President Obama on Wednesday informed House Speaker John Boehner that 80 U.S. military personnel had been sent to the central African nation of Chad as part of efforts to help locate nearly 300 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist militants in Nigeria last month.

Chad borders Nigeria, where members of Boko Haram abducted the girls in April.

"These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area," the president said in the letter to Boehner.

"The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required," he said.

U.S. deploys 80 military personnel to Chad
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-deploys-80-military-personnel-to-chad/2014/05/21/edd7d21a-e11d-11e3-810f-764fe508b82d_story.html

[onehandle]

3. Why? Do they have oil?...

...is what I would have said under the last guy.

[jakeXT]

5. They have, but Qaddafi isn't paying anymore to help with their economy

The main threat from the Libyan revolution to its southern neighbours is the economic impact. Idriss Déby, Chad's president, owed his strongman role in part to Qaddafi's largesse. He is not trusted by Libya's new rulers, who are unlikely to continue the colonel's open-purse policy. Chadian oil revenues are also in decline.

http://www.economist.com/node/21538199

Chad's Deby says regional powers ready for 'total war' on Boko Haram

PARIS (Reuters) - Chad's President Idriss Deby said on Saturday countries neighboring Nigeria were ready to wage war against Islamist militant group Boko Haram as fears mount the group will spread beyond its borders and destabilize the wider region.

"There is determination to tackle this situation head on ... to launch a war, a total war on Boko Haram," he said after a meeting in Paris to define a common strategy to fight the Islamist group.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-05-17/news/sns-rt-us-nigeria-violence-summit-chad-20140517_1_islamist-group-war-president-idriss-deby

[Renew Deal]

7. And yet you said it now

That's sick

[BlancheSplanchnik]

4. rec and kick for action

Thank you!!

[Renew Deal]

6. Why announce this?

[big_dog]

18. last chance for Boko to surrender before the el crappo hits the fan-o (w/seal team six-o)

[happyslug]

15. 80 Marines into CHAD for an organization based in Nigeria????

http://www.operationworld.org/country/chad/owtext.html

As you can see Chad has a short border with Nigeria, they are seperated by Lake Chad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Chad

Now, Lake Chad is a shadow lake, subject to massive shrinkage. Most of the lake is better described as swamp. Still difficult to walk through and harder to travel by vehicle (the perferred means of transport of Boko Haram).

More on Boko Haram

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram

Boko Haram has made attacks in Chad, but its main thrust of attacks have always been in Nigeria. It has launched attacks in Niger (which is NORTH of Nigeria and West of Northern Chad), Benin which borders WESTERN Nigeria and Cameron (Which is between EASTERN Nigeria and SOUTHERN Chad).

Just a comment that Chad is not the first place you send troops looking for someone operating primarily in Nigeria, on the other hand it can be a safe haven for them and like most safe havens, terrorists minimize local attacks so to minimize their presence.

[undeterred]

26. The kidnapped girls have been sighted in Chad

Do you really think President Obama is that uninformed?

[happyslug]

31. "Sighted" is a broad term....

Anyway, my comments was that Chad was NOT the normal area for this group, not that they were NOT in Chad. Lake Chad is difficult to traverse by truck, the prefer means to move people in most of the world. If they girls were moved on foot, Lake Chad would NOT be much of a barrier, difficult by doable on foot. On the other hand the best you can move on foot on a constant basis is about 20 miles a day (you can move a lot further in a single day, but the next day you are much weaker, thus people do 20 miles a day on average, either quickly one day and almost nothing the next day, or 20 miles constantly.

Thus it is possible for the girls to have cross Lake Chad, but if I was make a bet, it would be some place in Nigeria itself, for then he girls could have been transported by truck. In the drier area in the North, trucks can go most places (this is also the area where the terrorist operate). In the wetter south, you have something called "Trees" which restrict where you can drive. Furthermore the South is Christian/Animist and NOT the area where this group operates (Also the oil that is in Nigeria is in the South).

One of the problem Obama is facing is this group is allied with the ruling elites of Nigeria. Thus Obama may have moved these Marines into Chad, for Nigeria would NOT leave them in Nigeria, but Chad is close enough for them to move into and out of Northern Nigeria and Niger (Both areas where this group is known to operate).



http://www.fragilestates.org/2012/05/02/west-africa-ethnic-divisions-state-fragility-and-regional-solutions/

This group seems to avoid the Tuareg area of West Africa (Western Niger, Southern an Eastern Mali, South Algeria and South East Libya).



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuareg_people

Here is an Ethnic Map of Africa:

http://worldmap.harvard.edu/africamap/

This group seems to operate out of Custic Ethnic areas, and those areas do NOT extend to Chad.

http://peterslarson.com/2011/01/19/african-conflict-and-ethnic-distribution/

More on Ethnic Groups in Africa and how they relate to modern conflicts in Africa:
http://dev3.cepr.org/meets/wkcn/7/784/papers/PapaioannouFinal.pdf

[undeterred]

32. Thank you. They have been sighted.

Better late than never. Nigeria’s special forces from the Army’s 7th Division have sighted and narrowed search for the over 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls to three camps operated by the wicked Boko Haram sect north of Kukawa at the western corridors of the Lake Chad, senior military and government officials said.

That claim was supported by another senior commander from the Army’s 7th Division, the military formation created to deal with the insurgency in the Northeast. The 7th Division is headquartered in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The breakthrough comes at a critical moment for the Nigerian military that has faced cutting criticism over its handling of the kidnapping of the girls more than a month ago.

“Our team first sighted the girls on April 26 and we have been following their movement with the terrorists ever since. That’s why we just shake our heads when people insinuate that the military is lethargic in the search for the girls,” one of the sources said.

“It has been a most difficult but heroic breakthrough,” a senior military official said in Abuja.

http://www.nairaland.com/1749546/soldiers-sighted-abducted-girls-boko

[Cha]

20. Thank you, President Obama.. Good fortune to those who are going over there to

assist in Nigeria and Chad to find our missing Girls.

[DCBob]

21. A good use of our military.

[Purveyor]

27. Indeed!

[byronius]

30. Yes.

[Kingofalldems]

22. When will the GOP investigation start?

They might as well put together their committee right now.


Nigeria!

[byronius]

29. If he hadn't taken this step, an investigation of the lack of action.

I'm starting to come to the conclusion that the primary issue is the high percentage of insufficiently complex thinkers in the US. The conservative cult attracts a small array of intelligent sociopaths, but their primary power rests in concentrations of gullible dullards. Otherwise, none of this would ever work for them. None of it. Apparently we're mostly kinda stupid.

Too many hard-wires. It's all about whipping up fear, turning it into hatred, and focusing it. Not a decent idea left. This is all they got.

Meanwhile, my horror at this abduction brings out my own primate bloodthirstiness. I hope they do whatever they can to find and rescue those children, and after or failing that, end these fuckers. Ahem.

[undeterred]

25. 80 U.S. troops in Chad will aid search for abducted Nigerian girls

This is a good move by Obama. Its likely they have specific intelligence on the location of the girls - who have been sighted in other countries. Nigeria does not have the capability to do this.

Boko Haram has killed 1500 people this year and the violence is escalating. Civilians are being killed every day.

Its a judgment call on Obama's part. I think this is a good move.

Thank you, President Obama.

[davidpdx]

33. OMG THE US IMPERIALISTS ARE INVADING!

It's just like Iraq I tell you, just like Iraq! Obama lied!

[Hissyspit]

35. No, it's not.

Doesn't mean it won't turn into a mess of its own kind. Hopefully not, but the Nigerian military has committed its own atrocities against the Nigerian people.

[davidpdx]

36. I guess you missed the sarcasm tag

We aren't there for the Nigerian military, we are there to help find the girls who were taken. The mouth-breathers on DU want to push everything Obama does out of proportion was though it is a military escalation when it isn't. Don't like it, tough.

[Hissyspit]

37. No, I didn't.

[warrant46]

38. The World's Policeman begins to flex its muscles

Africa is a pest hole of religious and entitled dictators.

If you an industrialist of the MI complex "liked" Viet-Nam and Iraq you are going to "Love" supplying material for this never ending conflict in this 10th century pest hole.

[Sunlei]

40. Africa is a pesthole and massively exploited by the entire world for centuries.

Doesn't mean we can't help, along with France get some of those girls out of that situation. I want our President to help.

[Sunlei]

39. good. The French have 3k plus troops there too and they did a good job in Mali.

just hurts your soul to see those families suffering and to know the girls were sitting their final exams for physics and science and math.

And now are kidnapped to some hidden spot being forced by mens 'main wives' to recite stupid Koran verses for some jerk with a cell phone.