Last month, I wrote a post about Nigeria and how Al Qaeda may be looking to extend its reach to that part of Africa. Just today, Hillary Clinton visited Nigeria and warned about the very same thing: Nigeria may be within Al Qaeda’s sights. Like I said before, the conditions in Nigeria are all favorable for Al Qaeda, especially since there are already terrorist groups with sufficient organization that have been launching attacks for some time now. Recently, a group named Boko Haram (meaning “western education is forbidden") was involved in clashes that killed hundreds in their fight to establish an Islamic State. The most important factors that Al Qaeda looks for in potential host nations is the presence of local militant groups in line with their ideology and a government that is willing to negotiate with them; the Nigerian government has shown a willingness to negotiate with the already-present terrorist groups there, making this country a suitable place to set up shop. This admission by the State Department shows that while Americans look inward at the government’s efforts to insert itself into health care, Al Qaeda and terrorist organizations are still not resting.

Boko Haram militants

The Obama administration has been overly focused on domestic issues while Al Qaeda has been running rampant. Other than the drone strike that supposedly killed Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan that was blamed for killing Benazir Bhutto and that has been threatening to strike at the United States(as I wrote abou t before), Al Qaeda has not been greatly hindered nor has it slowed its activities. Since our semi-withdrawal from Iraqi cities, Al Qaeda has upped the ante, launching terrorist attacks in their signature style: multiple simultaneous bombings, mainly in Shiite areas. In Kuwait, Al Qaeda terrorists were stopped from bombing and American base. Even more seriously, a leading British expert on Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal reported that Al Qaeda has attacked Pakistan’s nuclear facilities three times in the last two years. Al Qaeda is not resting… we mustn’t either.

The threat from Islamo-fascism is as important as the threat from creeping socialism. We would do well in remembering back in the nineties that we were so focused on domestic and internal affairs that Osama Bin Laden was given the breathing room necessary to build up Al Qaeda right under our noses and plan the tragic events of 9-11. We cannot make this same mistake. Recent Al Qaeda bombings and video messages haven’t caught our attention as a nation… we are distracted and that is exactly what Al Qaeda wants.

-AG