The New York Times quotes Africa Center Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton on al-Qaeda’s unwillingness to condone the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram:
“The violence most of the African rebel groups practice makes Al Qaeda look like a bunch of schoolgirls,” said Bronwyn Bruton, an Africa scholar at the Atlantic Council in Washington. “And Al Qaeda at this point is a brand — and pretty much only a brand — so you have to ask yourself how they are going to deal with the people who are doing things so hideous even the leaders of Al Qaeda are unwilling to condone them.”
[…]
And Boko Haram became increasingly indiscriminate. Mr. Shekau, the leader who claimed to be in communication with God, said that the sole purpose of its violence was to demonstrate the incapacity of the Nigerian state. “Shekau initiated this brutal killing of innocent people,” Mr. Lubeck said.
Ms. Bruton of the Atlantic Council said: “The guy is unhinged.”