Why don't we care about these girls?

[HairOfTheDog]

So what's the difference? Is it because we've come to expect it in that part of the world and it's not newsworthy anymore? Do we really believe Oh, that would never happen here..? I really don't think it's because we value one life less than another, well most of the world anyway, but I think apathy is growing.

I think it is more expected in some parts of the world because it is more common there. For years, Boko Haram has murdered large groups of people to create fear, then taken hostages to use in trades for the release of its members in prison (plus demanded large ransoms for the hostages to be traded)...and they've succeeded in doing so many times. They keep upping the ante because they keep getting what they want, IMO. And, they invest the profits from their crimes in recruiting others to join in militantly demanding sharia law for Nigeria. Boko Haram abhors all things western and schools are among their favored hostage-taking grounds.

Anyway, "we don't negotiate with terrorists" doesn't seem like a philosophy of the Nigerian government and the leadership admits that they do not wish to have the details of these incidents made public, especially internationally. They haven't wanted or welcomed outside assistance in the past either. Well, they don't have a choice at this point -- the cat's out. As a result of the global exposure and international presence now in Nigeria, I think a trade of prisoners for the school girls may be out of the question and hope like hell the girls can be rescued without caving into the terrorists.

In regards to your question about believing that "it can't happen here", I, for one, believe that it would be very difficult to pull off a 300-person abduction here (the US, for me). LE would be all over it in a heartbeat with military assistance -- kidnapping and transporting hundreds of hostages by truck in this country, without detection or at least confrontation, would be a very difficult tactical maneuver requiring an enormous level of sophistication and planning. We've a much different culture and geography than Nigeria's.

However, innocent people get killed in the US every day in all kinds of circumstances. Children and adults get abducted too often, but not typically en-mass except for the rare hijacking. Schools and malls and movie theaters however are sometimes target grounds for indiscriminate killers who murder and wound multiple victims in very short time spans.

So, while I don't think Boko Haram's methods could be carried out successfully in my back yard, I do know that the US is far from immune to senseless crimes against way too many innocent victims.

It doesn't bother me if people from other countries are ignorant about the specific types of crimes and criminals in the US. But, big US crime stories usually make global news pretty quickly due to the government's lesser power over the press/media here. As much as the media gets bashed here (often rightfully so, IMO), I'm glad they're free to report, inform, and expose news -- even if we have to sift through opinion to get to the facts sometimes. It also doesn't bother me if people who are aware and informed about US crime are apathetic about it for whatever reason.