Obama |
SHOWBIZPLUSng learnt that in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid, President Obama said the U.S. unit “will remain in Chad until its
support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required.” The group
will provide support for “the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
aircraft” flying over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area, the letter
said.
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires that the president tell
Congress any time U.S. troops are deployed to a foreign land.
Separately, Pentagon officials said the additional troops will operate
and maintain the unarmed Predator drone that has been searching for the girls,
as well as provide security.
The decision to send the troops marked an escalation in the U.S.
military’s involvement in the search for the girls, who were kidnapped from
their school April 14. Two weeks ago, the U.S. sent about two dozen people to
help with the hunt, including intelligence and law-enforcement officers. Of those,
fewer than 10 were from the military.
U.S. officials believe the militants have divided the girls into smaller
groups and hidden them in the deep forests.
For the last five years, Boko Haram has increased its grip on Nigeria,
particularly in the north, where kidnappings and attacks have become common.
On Wednesday, Boko Haram militants attacked three villages with car
bombs, killing at least 40, near the site where the girls were snatched. A day
earlier, Boko Haram supporters killed at least 118 people in a double bombing
in the central city of Jos.
Since 2010, Boko Haram, which loosely translates as “Western education
is forbidden,” is believed to have killed at least 300 students. The group has
said it kidnapped the girls because they needed to be married rather than
schooled.
The girls’ kidnapping sparked international outrage and a Twitter
hashtag campaign, #bringbackourgirls.
U.S. involvement in the search has put officials in a difficult position
regarding how it deals with Nigeria’s military, which has been accused of
human-rights violations and which has been infiltrated by Boko Haram.
While the troops will not be in Nigeria, the additional U.S. effort
likely will draw the ire of some Nigerians who’ve voiced suspicion about the
motive for U.S. military expansion in Africa through the creation of the
African Command, or AFRICOM.
U.S. officials have suggested the Nigerians must conduct the rescue in
the event U.S. technology spots them.
“We’re not talking about U.S. military operations in Nigeria to go find
these girls,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said at a briefing
earlier this month.
The last time the United States sought to
intervene militarily in Africa was in 2011, when the Obama administration,
responding to a mandate from Congress, deployed a small group of troops to
central Africa to help hunt down Joseph Kony, the elusive leader of the Lord’s
Resistance Army who was not found.
No comments:
Post a Comment