Hillary has Plenty of Explaining for 2016

As Americans rally for the 250 kidnapped Nigerian girls, State Department Deputy Secretary for African Affairs Robert Jackson told a Senate subcommittee that it was Nigeria’s fault the U.S. never designated Boko Haram as a terrorist organization.

“The government of Nigeria feared that designating these individuals and the organizations would bring them more attention, more publicity and be counter productive,” said Jackson. “For some time we accepted that point of view.”

Tell that to the girls and other victims of Boko Haram, which seems to be enjoying attention now. Jackson called the abductions of the girls a top U.S. priority, according to CNN.

Would such a designation by the State Department have prevented the kidnapping? Maybe not. But it would without dispute have focused greater international attention on this wretched group before this crime.

That’s why it’s perfectly reasonable to hold former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accountable for opting against designating it a terrorist group. As a select House committee prepares to investigate Benghazi, it’s a reminder of how her State Department had ample warnings about the dangers facing the compound.

CNN points out: 

Some in Congress, the Justice Department and others called for the State Department to apply a terror label to Boko Haram in 2012 following a bombing in Abujat and amid growing concerns that it had al Qaeda links. … A letter to Clinton at the time by the 24 academics, including former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell of the Council on Foreign Relations, also said such a move would raise the group's profile and possibly link the United States to abuses by Nigerian forces cracking down on the group.

Most other presidential candidates are – or at least should be – judged for their record. As White House Dossier points out, the five things Hillary is known for are bad. It’s a worthwhile read, but those five are:

1. Benghazi                                                  

2. The Russia Reset

3. Monica Lewinsky

4. Hillarycare

5. Boko Haram

On point 5, Keith Koffler writes: 

Despite urging from serious people within the Obama’s own administration, Hillary’s State Department failed to label Boko Haram a terrorist outfit. There were real reasons for this based in policy, but we may never know the extent to which the political exigency of minimizing the existence of terrorists as Obama sought reelection was the true driving factor. No matter, the decision looks bad today and is irrevocably associated with Hillary.