Globe Trot: Talk of rescuing Nigerian schoolgirls is simply political posturing

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NIGERIA: Some of the Nigerian schoolgirls who escaped in the early days of their captivity describe their kidnapping by Boko Haram. The terror group that took them has now joined the media circus with the rest of the world, putting out a video showing the girls who remain in captivity dressed in burqas and praying to Allah. By our count, 164 young women are Christians and 16 are Muslims. The video suggests the terrorists may release the girls if jailed militants are freed.

Boko Haram has never bargained with authorities and isn’t likely to begin now. The hint of negotiation is one of many falsities being put forward by the group, the media, and U.S. and Nigerian leaders to cover their belated flurry of activity on behalf of the young women. Others illusions and errors include:

A “rescue plan” will work at this point, four weeks after the girls’ abduction and after other failed attempts. Unless the United States is sending in SEAL Team Six—highly unlikely—talks of rescue are political posturing. Boko Haram captured these girls because the group opposes Western education. The group opposes any religion in Nigeria except radical Islam, and its kidnappings and other terror attacks are designed to force the country into Islamicization. International media focus will change the course of history, when already Boko Haram has killed thousands this year alone, and perhaps about 400 in northern Nigeria since the abduction took place.

GLOBAL LGBT: Compare this chart showing a sampling of global attitudes on homosexuality with this one, which shows a much wider representation of the world, and you see how Pew Research and others skew the presentation of such results. Much of the world, including some of the fastest growing regions (and places where the church is growing most), persists in finding sex with members of the same sex unacceptable.

UKRAINE: Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine endorsed two referendums over the weekend—no surprise—a scenario that sets in motion a timeline for Russian annexation similar to what was used in Crimea. But Russia may instead negotiate autonomy for the region, a move reflective perhaps of Vladiir Putin “using foreign policy to solve problems inside Russia.”

Mindy Belz

Mindy, a former senior editor for WORLD Magazine, wrote the publication’s first cover story in 1986. She has covered wars in Syria, Afghanistan, Africa, and the Balkans and is author of They Say We Are Infidels: On the Run From ISIS With Persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Mindy resides in Asheville, N.C.

@MindyBelz