Birth of a scandal blaming Hillary Clinton for Ni­ger­ian kidnappings

[DonViejo]

By Dana Milbank

Conservatives have reached the firm conclusion that Hillary Clinton is to blame for those Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram, 14 months after she left office.

All they have to do now is fill in the details.

On Fox News last week, Elisabeth Hasselbeck attributed the attack to Clinton’s failure to put the group on a list of foreign terrorist organizations when she was secretary of state. That “perhaps could have saved these girls earlier,” Hasselbeck declared.

Rush Limbaugh, on his radio show, suggested that Clinton didn’t designate the group as terrorist because its members are black.

Fox’s Megyn Kelly floated the idea that Clinton didn’t put the group on the list because doing so would have “angered them,” and a guest on her show said Clinton gave Boko Haram a “green light.”

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-birth-of-a-scandal-blaming-hillary-clinton-for-nigerian-kidnappings/2014/05/13/ac522bd2-dade-11e3-bda1-9b46b2066796_story.html

[gordianot]

1. It must be an amazing experience to wake up every morning if you are a Republican pundit.

Just think you go to work and get paid for the most vile lie or false equivalency that pops into your head. So if your talent is distortion and political over reach there is a job for you and your talent. Short of talent all you have to do is listen to fellow Republicans, Fox News or follow the talking points memo provided from various right wing organizations. No real work is involved, no real repercussions, no need to ever apologize, if someone is actually hurt you will never be blamed.

[GeorgeGist]

2. We seem to be in the midst of an epidemic of sociopathy.

[okaawhatever]

3. Media Matters addressed this in full, but here are a couple of excerpts:

From this article:
What Media Is Missing In Its Rush To Tie Hillary Clinton To Kidnapped Nigerian Girls

State Department Under Hillary Clinton Put Top Boko Haram Leaders On Terrorist List. In June 2012, the U.S. State Department under Hillary Clinton identified three leaders of Boko Haram as "foreign terrorists," as Reuters reported at the time, noting that it constituted the "first time [State] has blacklisted members of the Islamist group":

The United States on Thursday named three alleged leaders of the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram as "foreign terrorists," the first time it has blacklisted members of the Islamist group blamed for attacks across Africa's most populous nation.

The State Department identified the three as Abubakar Shekau, calling him the "most visible" leader of the group, and Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid al-Barnawi, who it said were tied both to Boko Haram and to al Qaeda's north African wing.

"These designations demonstrate the United States' resolve in diminishing the capacity of Boko Haram to execute violent attacks," it said, saying that Boko Haram or associated militants were responsible for more than 1,000 deaths in the past 18 months. [Reuters, 6/21/12]

State Dept. Blacklisted Leaders, Not Boko Haram As A Group, So As Not To Empower The Terrorist Group. Reuters went on to report that the State and Treasury departments listed individuals on the terrorist list, rather than Boko Haram as a group, so as not to "elevate the group's profile":

U.S. officials say the decision to list individual Boko Haram members, rather than apply the more sweeping "Foreign Terrorist Organization" label to the group as a whole as some U.S. lawmakers have demanded, reflected a desire not to elevate the group's profile.

[...]

In January, Lisa Monaco, the Justice Department's top national security official, sent a letter to the State Department arguing the Nigerian group met the criteria for a "foreign terrorist" listing because it either engaged in terrorism that threatens the United States or had a capability or intent to do so.

But a group of academic experts on Africa sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month urging her not to take the step, saying it could backfire by enhancing the group's reputation among potential recruits and other militants. [Reuters, 6/21/12]

Even a Bush appointee debunked the claim:
Responding to Wallace, Campbell further demolished the claim:

WALLACE: Secretary Clinton has come under fire this week, because of the fact that back in 2011 she rejected calls by the FBI and the intelligence community to designate Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. As a Bush-appointee to be ambassador, do you think that's fair, the criticism of Secretary Clinton?

CAMPBELL: No I don't think that's fair, and along with a good many other Nigerian experts, at the time, we all opposed designation.