Please rewrite these papers for (Catherine Owens Only)

“2015 Baga Massacre”

In 2015 the jihadist group Boko Haram committed on if the worst terroristic attacks that the group every carried out. The Baga Massacre began on January 3rd 2015, the exact amount of dead still remain unclear but some estimate is ranged from 100 to 2000+ people dead. To understand this attack we must first understand the terrorist group behind it. Boko Haram came in to the terroristic scene around 2003. When the group started it was a small band of like-minded people who followed a man by the name of Mohammed Yusuf who was a young charismatic preacher.

However small the group was in the beginning it grew to now be one of the worst terroristic groups in all of Africa. They are Muslim extremist who follow a strict, fundamentalist interpretation of the Qur’an and believe that the creation of Nigeria by British colonialists had imposed a Western and un-Islamic way of life on Muslims (Smith, M.). There recruiting is much like any others they recruit young like-minded individuals who can be easily radicalized. They are primarily funded by robberies, and other acts of crime such as kidnaping, ransoms, and things of that nature. Their demands vary, but they often focus on two main areas: the release of Boko Haram prisoners and the creation of an Islamic state. While Shekau has pledged solidarity with jihadists globally, Boko Haram’s demands have largely remained local and the insurgency has fed on poverty, hopelessness and unemployment in northern Nigeria (Smith M).  

So back to the attack on January 3rd 2015, many people speculate that this attack was committed to put a stop to the current presidential election that was taking place during that time. The President “Goodluck Johnathan” comes from one of the southernmost richest oil countries in Nigeria and at the time was doing his best to emphasize his electoral record and do his best to ignore all the problems that were occurring in the northeast part of the country. However it was stated that Boko Haram never really played in to politics that the attack that ensued on January 3rd was a political statement. They wanted to show that the security forces in the country where weak and they succeeded in displaying this. They over ran the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), an international force of soldiers from Nigeria, Niger and Chad that was formed in 1994 to deal with cross-border security issues and, more recently, combating the Boko Haram insurgency.

They set out to prove a point that they were able to over throw an elite military base but based on the accounts of the local people, the base was under manned, not very well staffed. They wanted political attention and they got it. Boko Haram now acquired the perfect breathing room for supplies and territory. The north has become a breeding for this terrorist group, because of the actions taken by Boko Haram many new human rights movements have begun for the people in the Northern part of Nigeria.

So the timeline of the events that took place between January 3rd to the 7th were as follows. It was 5:45 local time when many of the locals from Baga were in prayer when gunshots rang out. The terrorist group Boko Haram rushed the west side of the village this is when scores of young men started in on the streets with machetes and any weapon they could in order to combat the terrorists. As this was going on many of the Boko Haram insurgents retreated into the bush but it would not be long before they returned with vehicles and many more men and weapons. It was not long after that the Nigeria army retreated as there where simply to many if the insurgents surrounding the town. As the armed group progressed through the town, witnesses described pandemonium. People fled in all directions; many thinking that they could seek refuge in the nearby fishing town of Doron Baga, on the shore of Lake Chad (Fessy, T)

The sad truth of these events is that the death toll is still not really known by any of the Nigeria officials. As far it is known the president had made no comments in regards to the massacre. What can be learned from this is that no matter what kind of announce a group may cause they should never be ignored. Military bases such as the one located in Baga should always be well kept, with supplies and never under manned. The people of a country should always be a priority to any leader. In this case none of these things seemed to matter the Nigeria president.

“The Charlie Hebdo shooting vs The San Bernardino Shooting”

The attacks at “Charlie Hebdo” took place on January 7th 2015, two brother of French decent shot and killed more than 11 people and injured 11 more. They walked into a French weekly newspaper by the name of Charlie Hebdo and opened fire. The motive behind this attack were the controversial depictions of the Prophet Muhammad that had been released by the paper a few days before the attack. The depictions of the Prophet Muhammad was a clear sign of disrespect. The newspaper was well known for its anti-establishment stance and courted additional controversy.  According to the CIA the motive for the attack was perfectly clear.  Saïd and Chérif Kouachi where the two brothers who carried out this gruesome attack.

So who where Saïd and Chérif Kouachi? Two brother both in their mid-twenties, trying to find their way in the northern part of Paris. They were orphans and truly they type of people that could be easily radicalized. Their mother died in the early nineties, and in 1994 both brother and their sister were sent to an orphanage. By all accounts from the staff at the orphanage the brother were shy and loved to play football. Said became a leader as time passed, and at one point was elected president of his class at the orphanage.  In 2000 the boys were released from the orphanage, and the life on the streets began. The work a variety of odd jobs and turned to petty crime. Then an Islamist network which sent recruits to fight in Iraq. Three or four years after that they left France secretly and were trained as fighters by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular in Yemen (Lichfield, J.).

From the outside the two brothers seemed to be like any other young men in their mid-twenties. The brothers went to the park for sports training and exercise, but it is there in the Buttes-Chaumont where they also met with more than a dozen other similar young men, who would all eventually be known to police for a terrorism plot to fight as jihadis in Iraq. One of the Kouachi brothers would be jailed for his involvement in that plot (Bronstein, S.).

The transformation for these two brothers would span over a decade, and over time the terrorist attacks that they committed along with their fellow cohorts would be some of the worst in world history. Some people felt that they were just amateur Islamic activist who weren’t very organized. They at one point where heavily armed.  These young men where strong believer of their faith and all it took was something as simple as a cartoon depiction to set off their rage.

On December 2nd 2015, 14 people were killed and as many as 22 other were injured during a Christmas party located at the “Inland Regional Center” in San Bernardino California. The motive for this attack was unclear. FBI Director David Bowditch of the Los Angeles County regional office had this to say “We do not yet know the motive, we cannot rule anything else at this point”. It was not clear if the intended target was in fact the employees at the center but one thing was clear the attacks were carried out by an employee and spouse. Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were the couple that opened fire on the unsuspecting party goers. According to the FBI the attackers were considered to be “homegrown jihadist terrorists” who gained their inspiration from foreign terrorist cells. Apparently the shooter spent over a year planning this attack. Again motive was unclear but based on what was found in their apartment, an act of terror is what they had been planning to commit all along.

The investigation done by the local law enforcement as well as on the federal level involved at of the couples digital communication. It was stated that Farook reached out to people in regards to committing terroristic attacks but those claims where never substantiated.    The little that is known about the attack was the something happened at the Christmas party that set Farook off. So how did two homegrown jihadist fiancé their attack? Farook worked for the county as a health inspector, and many of the details of the couple’s finances are not yet known. But in the weeks before the San Bernardino massacre, the husband-and-wife assailants got a $28,500 loan, which authorities believe may have helped them acquire last-minute firearms, ammunition and components to build explosives.

The couple received the loan from San Francisco online lender Prosper Marketplace, according to Fortune and Bloomberg News (latimes.com). The question a lot of people ask themselves is how did these two people become radicalized and how did their plans of attack go unnoticed? Malik was suspected of becoming radicalized back in her home country of Palestine while she attend secondary school there, as the investigation proceeds her friends and family have also been questioned. As for Farook, his influence might have come from Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, a former Minneapolis resident known as "Mujahid Miski" who became a recruiter for Islamic State and is alleged to have encouraged the attempted attack on a cartoon contest in Garland, Texas, earlier this year. Federal investigators are trying to determine if Farook was influenced by him (latimes.com).

So how these two events are related and how are they different? Well the motive was clear in the Charlie Hebdo attack. Two radicalized jihadist took their faith very seriously and got very offended at the drawing posted in the newspaper in regards to the Prophet Muhammad. In the other the motive is still not clear as the investigation is still underway. However with the little information that law enforcement officials have in California it was clearly a terrorist attack. In one case the attackers had planned for month without being suspected of any wrong doings, while in the other case the bothers where considered to be amateurs and very disorganized. 

Farook and Malik, where wise and where not suspected of anything until the day of the attack. They were not on any law enforcement radar. In the case of the bothers in Paris, they had already been suspect of terroristic activity and had been in and out of trouble since they were in their early twenties.  So how did this relate to western civilization? Well it is known all over the world that most jihadist extremist do not support the ways of the United States. They have a completely different way of thinking. They follow a strict form of the Quran some of which maybe to extreme. Western civilization is frowned upon, women are too liberal and men are too soft is what I have been told. Attacks like these and all over there world make it clear that there are many people no matter how messed up their thinking might be will do just about anything in order to prove their point even if that means hurting/killing innocent people.

Work Cited

Nicola Bartlett, "26 Key Facts About The Charlie Hebdo And Paris Shootings", Mirror, last modified 2015, accessed February 26, 2016, http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/charlie-hebdo-attack-paris-shootings-4949621.

Scott Bronstein, "Cherif And Said Kouachi: Their Path To Terror", CNN, last modified 2016, accessed February 26, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/13/world/kouachi-brothers-radicalization/.

Farouk Chothia, "Who Are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists? - BBC News", BBC News, last modified 2016, accessed February 25, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13809501.

Thomas Fessy, "Boko Haram Attack: What Happened In Baga?", BBC News, last modified 2015, accessed February 25, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30987043.

latimes.com, "Everything We Know About The San Bernardino Terror Attack Investigation So Far", last modified 2015, accessed February 27, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-san-bernardino-shooting-terror-investigation-htmlstory.html.

John Lichfield, "The Kouachi Brothers Behind The Charlie Hebdo Massacre Made An Unlikely Terror Cell", The Independent, last modified 2015, accessed February 26, 2016, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/paris-attacks-why-the-charlie-hebdo-gunmen-sa-d-and-ch-rif-kouachi-made-an-unlikely-terror-cell-9986391.html.

Armin Rosen, "Boko Haram May Have Just Pulled Off One Of The Worst Terrorist Attacks Ever", Business Insider, last modified 2016, accessed February 25, 2016, http://www.businessinsider.com/possible-reasons-for-the-boko-haram-attack-2015-1.

Mike Smith, "FACTSHEET: Explaining Nigeria’S Boko Haram And Its Violent Insurgency - Africa Check", Africa Check, last modified 2014, accessed February 26, 2016, https://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-explaining-nigerias-boko-haram-and-its-violent-insurgency/.

Trackingterrorism.org, "Islamic State West Africa (IS, ISWA, ISWAP, ISISWA) -- Boko Haram / Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) | Terrorist Groups | TRAC", last modified 2016, accessed February 26, 2016, http://www.trackingterrorism.org/group/boko-haram.