[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 62 (Friday, April 27, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E684-E685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 LRA, BOKO HARAM, AL-SHABAAB, AQIM AND OTHER SOURCES OF INSTABILITY IN 
                                 AFRICA

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 27, 2012

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, conflict in Africa had been 
winding down in recent years, except in Libya, Mali, Somalia, Sudan and 
the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These conflicts, as well as 
simmering

[[Page E685]]

tensions and sporadic violence in countries like Algeria and Nigeria, 
offered opportunities for al-Qaeda, still the world's leading organizer 
of global terrorist attacks. This jihadist organization has repeatedly 
found allies involved in what started out as local quarrels and is 
attempting to internationalize them.
  Africa, like the rest of the developing world, has been a successful 
recruiting area for al-Qaeda. The so-called ``underwear bomber,'' Umar 
Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria, was recruited by al-Qaeda in the 
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to detonate a bomb on a Northwest Airlines 
flight as it approached Detroit on December 25, 2009. In its effort to 
become the leading al-Qaeda affiliate, AQAP has aligned itself with 
Islamic extremists beyond its native Yemen. Across the Gulf of Aden, 
the longstanding chaos in Somalia created a likely ally in al-Shabaab.
  This designated Foreign Terrorist Organization was created by young 
Islamic jihadists who sought to establish a ``Greater Somalia'' under 
sharia law as a reaction to a transitional government run by former 
warlords, who to this day are believed to be engaged in corrupt 
activity. Despite its alliance with al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab still appears 
to be focused more on attacking the Transitional Federal Government, 
African Union peacekeepers and Somali citizens than foreigners not in 
their country.
  Could that change? Of course it could. Some of the many young Somalis 
who left the United States to fight for what they believed was the 
sovereignty of their homeland are returning to this country, and one 
must wonder to what extent they have adopted a jihadist mentality. They 
could be merely disillusioned young men returning from an idealistic 
adventure, or they could be sleepers ready and willing to strike inside 
our homeland at some future point.
  Boko Haram in Nigeria has gained significant attention recently for 
its well-publicized attacks on Christians. There was the Christmas Eve 
2010 bombing in Jos; the February 15, 2011, shootings at a church in 
Maiduguri, and the April 8, 2012, suicide car bombing at a church in 
Kaduna. However, to say that Boko Haram is strictly an anti-Christian 
terrorist organization would be to mischaracterize this violent 
movement.
  Boko Haram objects to moderate Muslims, as embodied for them by the 
Sultan of Sokoto. The Sultan's religious authority over Nigeria's 
Muslims was established by the British during colonialism, and he is 
now seen as a tool of the central government in Nigeria and by 
extension America and the West--both of which would be considered as 
being under Christian control. Boko Haram has killed Muslim leaders it 
considers insufficiently fundamentalist and still seems focused on 
opposing and embarrassing before the world a central government it 
considers to be worldly and neglectful of development in northern 
Nigeria. There are credible reports that Boko Haram is training with 
al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) in northern Mali along with Tuareg rebel 
groups that have taken over that region.
  Could they pose a threat to the American homeland? Perhaps at some 
future date.
  AQIM itself is a homegrown African terrorist organization. This 
Foreign Terrorist Organization was established as the Salafist Group 
for Preaching and Combat in 1998 when other Islamic extremists laid 
down their arms in their fight against the Government of Algeria. That 
fight stemmed from the 1992 nullification by the Algerian government of 
a second series of parliamentary elections that appeared to be poised 
to empower the Islamic Salvation Front political alliance. Since then, 
the group declared allegiance to al-Qaeda and in 2006 became Al-Qaeda 
in the Maghreb.
  This group has repeatedly declared its intention to attack Algerian, 
Spanish, French and American targets. It has taken advantage of the 
revolt in Libya and the unrest in northern Mali to expand its 
affiliations among African internally-focused terrorists. As an active 
al-Qaeda affiliate, it definitely has international aims beyond its 
original Algeria targets. The Tuareg groups now concentrating on 
declaring a homeland in northern Mali (and perhaps other parts of the 
Sahel) and Boko Haram certainly offer allies who may provide recruits 
for more global attacks.
  As for the Lord's Resistance Army, it is an outlier in this group of 
terrorist organizations. The LRA emerged in northern Uganda in 1987, 
the year after Yoweri Museveni, a rebel leader from southern Uganda, 
seized power and ended nearly a decade of rule by northerners. 
Following Museveni's victory, Alice Lakwena, a spiritual leader from 
the northern Acholi tribe, emerged as a key figure among northern rebel 
factions seeking to overthrow the government. Lakwena's Holy Spirit 
Movement was defeated by the Ugandan military in 1987, and Lakwena fled 
to Kenya. Joseph Kony, a reported relative of Lakwena, emerged and laid 
claim to Lakwena's legacy with the LRA.
  Kony's LRA began to target civilians in northern Uganda and sought 
support and protection from the Government of Sudan. This Ugandan 
member of the State Department's Terrorist Exclusion List killed more 
than 2,400 people and kidnapped more than 3,400 others between 2008 and 
2011 alone. This has included people from not only Uganda, but also 
South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African 
Republic. However, the LRA is not known to be affiliated with any 
element of al-Qaeda, and their cross-border terrorist activities are 
more a function of being chased by regional militaries, and now a U.S. 
advisory group, than any effort to take over territory.
  Whatever their motivations, these terrorist organizations pose a 
great challenge to governance, peace and security in Africa. We must be 
concerned about the possibility of future attacks on U.S. citizens and 
interests abroad and even the U.S. homeland. However, to end the threat 
these terrorist groups pose, we must understand their origins and 
determine what can be done to reduce their base of support in their 
home countries. In doing so, we not only help add to the stability of 
those countries, but also minimize the larger threat to peace and 
security globally.

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