Boko Haram Infiltrates Nigerian Military!

Breitbart News had the exclusive opportunity to sit down with Lt. Col. Rudy Atallah, former head of African counterterrorism for the Pentagon to discuss Boko Haram and Islamist movements in Africa.

Rudolph Atallah is the former Africa Counterterrorism Director for the Department of Defense. He retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel after 21 years of service in the United States Air Force. Atallah is now a Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council & CEO of White Mountain Research.

Breitbart News: Why has it been difficult to counter Boko Haram? 

Rudy Atallah: Boko Haram is split into several factions run by different leaders. Also, Boko Haram has been used as a pawn in Nigerian politics. Three days ago there was a Nigerian internal investigation of nine generals and senior military officers all suspected of aiding and abetting Boko Haram. The officers were suspected of giving them weapons, access to the armories, and information on government tactics and targeting. It is very difficult to counter an organization when internally, within the Nigerian structure, there are political, militarily, and logistical issues. 

Breitbart News: Does the United States have a role to play in the rescue operation?

Rudy Atallah: The United States is trying to gather information and put together a precise picture. There isn't real viable intelligence of what the schoolgirls' exact location is. Nigeria is saying one thing, but AFRICOM (United States Africa Command) doesn’t think the Nigerians have it right. Our guys are running ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) platforms right now and trying to gather intelligence. They are trying to find the actual location of the girls, how they’re broken up, and who's guarding what. When those three objectives are accomplished, we then can put together a plan that can work. A rescue operation must simultaneously free all the girls in each location where they're being held or else Boko Haram may kill many of them. Such an operation is very complex and not advisable unless a favorable situation presents itself to the special operators. 

We can offer up our intelligence to the Nigerians. However, there’s a big issue with that. As I said earlier, the Nigerian internal military structure is infiltrated by Boko Haram. Anything we share with the Nigerians will potentially be compromised and leaked over to Boko Haram, alerting them of a potential rescue operation. The smart thing to do is to focus on the top tier leadership of Boko Haram. We can get back to the girls, but the priority should be to focus on taking away Boko Haram’s leadership. Doing so will weaken the group in the long-run.