Obama Accused Of Aiding Boko Haram InOrder To Help Pal Axelrod Win Buhari’sPresidential Campaign

Accuracy in Media (AIM), an American based non-profit,
grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques
botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight
on important issues that have received slanted coverage has shed
more light on the possible rationale behind the Obama’s
administration’s attitude to Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram.
In a piece entitled, Obama Accused of Obstructing Battle
against Boko Haram to Promote Axelrod’s Nigerian Muslim Client
and published on its website on the Wednesday, investigative
journalist, James Simpson sheds light on how the close
relationship between Obama and David Axelrod (the head of
AKPD Mesage and Media, and the director of President Barack
Obama’s 2008 Political Campaign may have led to the sabotaging
of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administrations efforts against
the Islamic terror group in order to assist the chances of the
All Progressives Congress (Axelrod’s latest political clients) ahead
of the 2015 general elections.

AIM reports:
When the notorious Islamic
terrorist group, Boko
Haram, kidnapped 278 school
girls from the town of Chibok in
northeastern Nigeria last year,
Michelle Obama began a Twitter
hashtag campaign ,
#BringBackOurGirls. But behind
the scenes, the Obama
administration was undermining
Nigeria’s efforts to take the
battle to the terrorists. Obama
refused to sell Nigeria arms and
supplies critical to the fight, and
stepped in to block other
Western allies from doing so. The
administration also denied Nigeria
intelligence on Boko Haram from
drones operating in the area.
While Boko Haram was kidnapping
school girls, the U.S. cut
petroleum purchases from Nigeria
to zero, plunging the nation’s
economy into turmoil and raising
concerns about its ability to
fund its battle against the
terrorists. Nigeria responded
by cancelling a military training
agreement between the two
countries.
The Nigerian presidential election
is coming up Saturday, March 28,
2015. AKPD, the political
consulting group founded by
Obama confidante David Axelrod,
is assisting Retired Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim
presidential candidate from
Muslim-dominated northern
Nigeria, where Boko Haram was
spawned and wields the most
influence. Buhari is well-known
throughout the country, having
led as “Head-of-State” following
a military coup in 1983. He was
dislodged following another coup
in 1985.
Democracy is a recent
phenomenon in Nigeria. With the
exception of two short periods
from its independence in 1960 to
1966, and the second republic
from 1979 to 1983, the country
was ruled by a string of military
dictatorships between 1966 and
1999.
Under the All Progressives
Congress (APC) banner, Buhari is
putting up a stiff challenge to
the sitting president, Dr. Ebele
Goodluck Jonathan who hails
from Nigeria’s Christian south.
Buhari was also the North’s
presidential candidate in the last
election held in 2011.
Axelrod is credited as the force
behind President Obama’s
election victories in 2008 and
2012. He served as Obama’s
Senior Advisor until 2011. A well-
placed Nigerian interviewed for
this report who asked to remain
unidentified says that influential
Nigerians within and outside the
government believe Obama
deliberately undermined the war
effort and sabotaged the
Nigerian economy to make
President Jonathan appear weak
and ineffectual, and thus bolster
the electoral prospects for
AKPD’s client, Buhari.
The prominent daily Nigerian
Tribune cites an activist group,
Move on Nigeria, complaining that
the U.S. is fueling tension in
Nigeria and has “continued to
publicly magnify every challenge
of the Nigerian government.”
An anti-Buhari Nigerian blogger
writing in the Western Post went
further :
In the
last year,
Nigeria
sought
aid from
the White
House for
many
initiatives,
including
the fight
against
Boko
Haram.
The
Obama
administration
refused
to do
anything
but play
[sic] lip
service to
Nigeria’s
requests.
However,
it used
public and
private
channels
to
internationally
magnify
every
failure
Nigeria’s
government
experienced.
In the
last year,
since the
involvement
of
Axelrod’s
firm,
relations
between
the two
nations
have
significantly
deteriorated,
with the
US
refusing
to sell
arms to
Nigeria, a
significant
reduction
in the
purchase
of
Nigeria’s
oil, and
the
cancellation
of a
military
training
agreement
between
Nigeria
and the
USA.
In turn,
the
Buhari-led
Nigerian
opposition
used the
U.S.
government’s
position
as
validation
for their
claim
that the
Nigerian
government
was a
failure.
Nigerian officials seeking to
purchase weapons, especially
Cobra attack helicopters, were
outraged at Obama’s refusal to
allow these transactions. Nigeria’s
ambassador to the U.S.,
Professor Adebowale
Adefuye, stated publicly that:
The U.S.
government
has up till
today
refused
to grant
Nigeria’s
request
to
purchase
lethal
equipment
that
would
have
brought
down the
terrorists
within a
short
time on
the basis
of the
allegations
that
Nigeria’s
defence
forces
have been
violating
human
rights of
Boko
Haram
suspects
when
captured
or
arrested.
We find it
difficult
to
understand
how and
why, in
spite of
the U.S.
presence
in Nigeria,
with their
sophisticated
military
technology,
Boko
Haram
should be
expanding
and
becoming
more
deadly.
Another official quoted in the
Nigerian
newspaper ThisDay, stated:
The U.S.
government
has
frustrated
Nigeria all
the way
in our war
against
terrorism
despite
its public
statements
in support
of
Nigeria,
as it
fights
the Boko
Haram
insurgents
in the
North-
east…
They
want us
to fight
Boko
Haram
with our
arms tied
to our
backs.
They
have
blocked
us from
procuring
the
helicopters
and would
not
provide
us with
intelligence
despite
the fact
that they
have
several
drones
and
sophisticated
aircraft
overflying
the
North-
east of
Nigeria
from
bases in
Niger and
Chad
where
the Boko
Haram
fighters
and
movements
are
clearly in
their
sights.
Retired Col. Abubakar Umar, a
former military governor,
concluded that the Americans
“have decided to turn a blind
eye to what is happening in
Nigeria.”
Former Head-of-State, Retired
Gen. Yakubu Gowon publicly
stated last November that
America is no friend of Nigeria .
After exhausting all avenues, the
Nigerian government finally
turned to Russia, China and the
black market to obtain needed
arms, and as a result has gone
aggressively on the offensive
against Boko Haram, retaking
some 40 towns occupied by the
group and killing at least 500
terrorists . According to recent
accounts, Boko Haram has gone
to ground in the northeastern
border regions. But whereas the
border states of Niger, Chad ,
Benin and Cameroon formerly
took a hands-off approach,
they have now joined in the
effort to destroy the group,
pledging a total of 8,700
troops . Most recently, Boko
Haram has been cleared of its
northeastern strongholds in
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
U.S. Excuses
The Obama administration has
said it is barred from supplying
weapons by the so-called Leahy
Amendment which forbids foreign
states that have committed
“gross human rights violations”
from receiving military aid.
However this did not stop the
U.S. from sending Special Forces
to Uganda—another country
accused of such violations—to
assist in capturing Lord
Resistance Army leader Joseph
Kony. Nor did it prevent Obama
from supporting al Qaeda-linked
rebel groups in Libya, who later
went on to attack the Benghazi
mission, and have now joined
ISIS. The Syrian “moderates”
the administration claimed to
back are also allegedly joining
with ISIS.
In fact, Obama supported the
Islamic radicals who destabilized
states throughout the Middle
East, including Tunisia, Libya and
Egypt, and did little to prevent
Iranian-backed Shiites from
overthrowing Yemen—a key ally
in the War on Terror. And
despite claims that the U.S.
“does not negotiate with
terrorists,” the administration did
so in secret with the Taliban for
years, most notoriously over the
release of Bowe Bergdahl .
The U.S. State Department is
currently negotiating a deal that
will enable Iran to obtain the
bomb, and it just declared that
Iran and its Lebanese proxy,
Hezbollah, are not terrorists . The
administration even claims Iran
has been an ally in the War on
Terror! Finally, Axelrod’s client,
Buhari, has been accused of
human rights abuses during his
time as chief-of-state.
To top it off, Secretary of
State John Kerry made a
mockery of the administration’s
pretext by hinting in January
meetings with both Jonathan
and Buhari that the Obama
administration might allow weapon
sales after the election . If the
U.S. was so concerned about
human rights violations, how
could a mere election change
that? Given the perception that
Buhari has Obama’s implicit
support, this sends an
unmistakable message.
The administration also
rationalized its decision to cut
purchases of Nigerian oil by
claiming that output from
domestic oil fracking has
reduced America’s dependence on
foreign oil. But that begs the
question: why have U.S. oil
imports from other nations
increased at the same time?
Nigeria was formerly among
America’s top five oil supplying
countries , and America its largest
customer. Nigeria relies on oil
revenues for 70 percent of its
budget . America’s decision to
look elsewhere has been
catastrophic for Nigeria’s
economy.
A Deutsche Bank
analyst noted that the decline in
Nigeria’s oil sales to America
“proceeded much faster than
for the U.S.’ other major
suppliers,” and concluded that
singling Nigeria out this way had
to be driven by politics.
Nigeria is not the only country
where Obama is using oil as a
foreign policy weapon. The
U.S. has not renewed its 35-
year-old agreement with Israel
to provide emergency supplies of
oil, despite booming U.S. oil
production. The agreement
expired in November 2014. At the
time, the State
Department claimed to
be working on renewing the
agreement, but has yet to do so.
U.S. Media AWOL
There is not a single article
mentioning Axelrod’s assistance to
Buhari in any U.S. “mainstream”
media outlet. Only the
Washington Free Beacon ran a
story.
A Google search of “New York
Times, Nigeria, Axelrod,” found
only one Timesarticle
titled Nigerian Soldiers
Noticeably Absent in Town Taken
from Boko Haram . There was no
mention of Axelrod or his
relationship to Nigeria’s Muslim
candidate, Buhari. Rather, it
criticized Nigeria’s participation
in the recent multi-country
effort to remove Boko Haram
from its northeastern Nigerian
holdouts, quoting Chadian
foreign minister, Moussa Faki
Mahamat, who said, “The Nigerian
Army has not succeeded in
facing up to Boko Haram.”
There are however, many
flattering articles about Axelrod,
like the Times review of his
book, Believer.
NBC News reported on the oil
issue, quoting Peter Pham, the
Atlantic Council’s director of its
Africa Program, who
characterized it as “a sea
change in [Nigeria’s] relations
with the United States, a sea
change in its geopolitical position
in the world.”
NBC also noted Nigerian
ambassador Adefuye’s complaint
about U.S. refusal to provide
weapons to Nigeria, and how
both issues impacted Nigeria’s
ability to fight Boko Haram—but
there was no mention of
Axelrod’s assistance to Buhari.
Buhari Connected to Boko
Haram?
Boko Haram is a virulently anti-
Western Islamist movement. Its
name, roughly translated, means
“ fake education is forbidden,”
but in practice the term “fake”
refers to Western education. It
was founded in 2002 by
Mohammed Yusuf, a Salafist
preacher who created a
school to provide an Islamic
alternative to Westernized
schools. Over time it became a
recruiting tool for Boko Haram
fighters. The group envisions
creating an Islamic caliphate
throughout Africa. Yusuf was
killed by police in a 2009
uprising, and was replaced by
Abubakar Shekau, who recently
pledged the group’s alliance with
ISIS . Let’s review just what
kind of monsters these Boko
Haram terrorists are:
Causing at least 9,000
and as many as 17,000
deaths since launching
their insurgency in 2009.
Another 1.5 million have
been displaced;
Burning entire villages to
the ground;
Beheading , torture and
other forms of barbarity
reminiscent of ISIS;
Massacring 2,000
civilian men, women and
children in a single raid;
Deliberately targeting
children for massacre;
Using young girls as
suicide bombers.
A January
bombing wounded 18 and
killed 20, including the
10-year-old female
bomber, who was probably
unaware she carried the
device;
Kidnapping over 500 girls
in the past 5 years,
including 276 in the
notorious Chibok private
school raid. About 90
percent of the Chibok
girls were Christians;
Separating captured
Christian girls from
others, where they are
raped, sold into slavery,
murdered, or forced to
convert; and
Training young children to
be soldiers.
Certain Buhari supporters such as
Ango Abdullahi of the Northern
Elders Forum (NEF), have been
accused of tacitly supporting
Boko Haram, and Jonathan’s
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
has linked Buhari himself with
the terrorists. The alleged
connection however, is an open
question. In 2013, Buhari
protested a government
crackdown on the group. In
2012, Boko Haram nominated
Buhari as one of six mediators in
negotiations with the
government over a proposed
ceasefire. In 2001, Buhari
expressed his desire to see
Nigeria ruled by Sharia
law, saying :
I will
continue
to show
openly
and inside
me the
total
commitment
to the
Sharia
movement
that is
sweeping
all over
Nigeria…
God
willing, we
will not
stop the
agitation
for the
total
implementation
of the
Sharia in
the
country.
However, Boko Haram attempted
to assassinate Buhari last year in
a suicide bomb attack that
killed 82. More recently, the
group called both him and
Jonathan “ Infidels.” For his part,
Buhari called the group “bigots
masquerading as Muslims.” Buhari
also ruthlessly suppressed a similar
group, the Maitatsine, during his
time as military head-of-state.
Buhari’s vice-presidential running
mate is a Pentecostal pastor from
the south. Similarly, Jonathan
picked a Muslim from the north
as his number two.
But much violence has
surrounded Buhari’s past efforts.
Nigeria has a practice of
alternating northern and
southern rule called zoning . In
the 2011 election, Jonathan was
president, having ascended from
the vice presidency in 2010
following the death of President
Umaru Yar’Adau , a northerner.
Some Northern politicians
believed that Buhari should have
assumed the presidency in 2011.
Abdullahi and others, at that
time, threatened violence if
Buhari wasn’t elected. Buhari
himself refused to condemn
violence . This was universally
interpreted as encouragement
from Buhari. Within hours of
Jonathan’s election—what was
believed to be one of
Nigeria’s historically fairest —
Buhari’s Muslim supporters took
to the streets, attacking
Jonathan supporters with
machetes and knives.
Following Jonathan’s
inauguration , Boko Haram
launched a wave of bombings ,
killing and wounding dozens.
An estimated 800 people died in
the post-election violence in the
Muslim north.
A prominent Nigerian deputy
governor, Tele Ikuru, who
recently abandoned the APC to
join Jonathan’s PDP, called the
APC “a party of rebels,
insurgents and anarchists,
clothed in the robes of pretence
and deceit.”
Embarrassed by the kidnapping
and the perceived association
between Buhari’s supporters and
Boko Haram, AKPD claimed that
they discontinued work for
Buhari in early 2014. However,
The Washington Free Beacon
has unearthed emails showing
that they continued to quietly
aid APC into at least January of
this year.
Their campaign appears to have
been successful. While Nigerian
election polls are conflicting, the
most recent one projects
Buhari the winner by a wide
margin. Not surprisingly,
the reasons cited for Jonathan’s
unpopularity include the
perception that he is weak and
ineffectual against Boko Haram,
and that the economy is in a
sorry state. Nigerians have taken
to calling the president “Bad
Luck” Jonathan.
Nigeria’s Critical Role and U.S.
Policy Failures
Most Americans are unaware of
the critical role Nigeria plays in
African politics. In addition to
being Africa’s largest oil
producer, Nigeria is also the
continent’s most populous nation,
with an estimated 162
million people, and is home
toapproximately 12.5 percent of
the world’s total black
population. Additionally, Nigerian
Americans are very productive
and well represented in the fields
of medicine, sports, engineering,
and academics. Annual
remittances are $21 billion , with
America providing the largest
proportion. It is ironic at best
that America’s so-called “first
black president” is alienating
such a nation, especially given its
powerful influence throughout
Africa.
Because of Obama, America is
losing allies the world over.
Despite his so-called outreach to
“the Muslim world,” the few
Muslim allies America has are
calling him out. For example,
observe the unprecedented
spectacle of Arabs cheering
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s speech before the
U.S. Congress. Columnist Dr.
Ahmad Al-Faraj of the Saudi daily
newspaper Al-Jazirah, called
Obama “the worst president in
American history.” The only
Muslims Obama seems to like are
those who hate America, and he
is going out of his way to court
them, come what may.
Culled from AIM.ORG