Nigeria: Jihad against Christians

by Uzay Bulut • April 21, 2019 at 5:00 am

The current violence, which has been getting worse since early 2017, "is slightly different, in that it is a series of targeted attacks on Christian communities attempting to displace farmers and take land for herders." — Nathan Johnson, International Christian Concern, Regional Manager for Africa.
"Christians in Nigeria are treated as second-class citizens in the twelve northern states, where sharia law is implemented. They are victimized in many ways. Christian girls are kidnapped and forced into marriage to Muslim men. Pastors are abducted for ransom. Churches are vandalized or completely destroyed." — Nathan Johnson.
"The Nigerian government and the international community... have from the start done little to address the situation. This lack of participation is not surprising: they cannot even acknowledge its roots, namely, the intolerant ideology of jihad. As a result, the death toll of Christians has only risen -- and will likely continue to grow exponentially -- until such time that this reality is not only acknowledged but addressed." — Raymond Ibrahim, author and Middle East expert.

Christians are being massacred in Nigeria by Fulani and Boko Haram jihadists -- and no one gives a damn. Pictured: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, from a November 2018 Boko Haram propaganda video.

Christians are being massacred in Nigeria by Fulani and Boko Haram jihadists -- and no one gives a damn.

The most severe persecution of these defenseless Christians -- who make up half of Nigeria's total population -- has been taking place mostly in the Muslim north of the country, which is governed by sharia law, and in the states known as the "Middle Belt," which are a transition zone between the northern and southern states.

According to the human rights organization International Christian Concern (ICC):

"Fulani militants continued to carry out violent attacks throughout Nigeria's Middle Belt region in March. The brutal attacks perpetrated by these hardline Islamic militants persistently spark fear among Christians living in the Middle Belt, as death tolls continue to rise... Last month [February], at least 150 people were killed.

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When the Ayatollah Plays His Joker

by Amir Taheri • April 21, 2019 at 4:00 am

The summoning of Iraqi mercenaries showed that Khamenei isn't quite sure of the regime's military and security apparatus and, when the chips are down, relies on his foreign legion.
Soon, however, it became clear that "Islam's bravest soldier since Imam Ali," Major-General Qassem Soleimani, owed part of his reputation to bluffing and his talent for self-aggrandizement.
Western gullibility has contributed to overrating a brutal regime and a mediocre leader, thus helping spread the fear that such regimes and leaders rely upon for their survival.

The first week of recent floods in Iran, with chaos and confusion, showed that, despite boasts by its commanders, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was unable to organize a credible rescue operation. Pictured: Flooding in Shiraz, Iran on March 25, 2019. (Image source: Fars News/Wikimedia Commons)

For years, "Iran experts" in the West have regarded the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as the "deep government" in the Islamic Republic. However, the events of the past weeks, marked by floods that wreaked havoc in 22 of Iran's 31 provinces, may warrant a second look at that theory. The floods showed that, in real terms, Iran has no government and that the IRGC is more of a business-cum-security conglomerate than a government, deep or shallow.

The first week of chaos and confusion showed that, despite boasts by its commanders, the IRGC was unable to organize a credible rescue operation. IRGC chief Gen. Muhammad-Ali Aziz-Jaafari was even unable to travel to the affected provinces. Then came small but ominous protests by flood-stricken people against the IRGC, blaming it, rightly or wrongly, for causing the floods by jerry-building dams and railway lines.

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