MAY 8, 2014
WASHINGTON — The abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria has led to new scrutiny of the United States’ counterterrorism strategy toward Boko Haram during Hillary Rodham Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.
At the heart of the issue is a debate carried out within the Obama administration on whether it was time to officially designate the group as a “foreign terrorist organization.”
Republican lawmakers assert that the delay in making that designation shows that Mrs. Clinton was not firm enough in dealing with Boko Haram. But some former officials say that the issue is being politicized because of Mrs. Clinton’s status as a likely presidential candidate.
The debate took place in 2011 and 2012 amid mounting concern about the group’s attacks.
The Justice Department, the F.B.I., American intelligence officials and counterterrorism officials in the State Department favored the designation because of Boko Haram’s role in the growing violence in Nigeria and because of intelligence reports that some of its members had links to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Some background on the Islamist group that has been trying to topple Nigeria’s government for years.
CreditSunday Alamba/Associated Press
Such a step would have made it illegal for any individual in the United States to provide “material or resources” to the group and, proponents say, would also have focused international attention on the danger the group posed.
But Johnnie Carson, who was the assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 2009 to 2013, said in an interview on Thursday that he had opposed making the designation “for six or seven different reasons.”
Mr. Carson said he was concerned that the move would generate publicity for the group and help it attract support from other extremists. He said he was also worried that the designation might legitimize a heavy-handed crackdown by Nigeria’s security forces at a time when American officials were urging them to avoid human rights abuses.
“It would have aligned us with a flawed Nigerian security strategy,” Mr. Carson said.
There was concern that the designation might prompt the group to attack American interests in the region. The Nigerian government also strongly opposed the move, fearing it would raise Boko Haram’s standing.
After extensive debate, a compromise was reached: Three leading members of Boko Haram were designated as foreign terrorists, but the group as a whole was not labeled as such.
Mr. Carson declined to comment on Mrs. Clinton’s role, but he said that all Obama administration officials who were “part of the decision-making process” agreed to the compromise.
A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton did not respond to a request for comment.
In November 2013, the Obama administration finally decided to pin the terrorist label on Boko Haram. By that time, Mr. Carson had retired from the State Department and John Kerry was secretary of state.
When the move was announced, a senior administration official told reporters that the designation would discourage volunteers and would “notify the world” that the United States and Nigeria were combating “extremist violence.”
Boko Haram, the official added, is “responsible for thousands of deaths since its conception in 2009, including large-scale attacks against Muslim and Christian religious communities, and women and children.”
Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s counterterrorism official from 2009 to 2012, said the delay had not impeded efforts to work with the Nigerians.
“Designation was one of many tools and not the most urgently needed one in dealing with the Nigerians,” Mr. Benjamin said in a telephone interview. “What was more important was strong engagement in the areas of law enforcement and counterterrorism.”
A version of this article appears in print on May 9, 2014, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Schoolgirl Abductions Put Scrutiny on U.S. Terrorism Strategy.
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