Nigeria, Nov. 13 -- It all began quietly, almost invisibly. In the early 2000s, a preacher in Maiduguri started drawing crowds with a message that burned hot and fierce. Mohammed Yusuf stood before people and spoke against Western education, against the corruption eating away at society, against a government that had already lost the trust of so many. To the ears of many who listened, he sounded like someone finally speaking truth to power, someone willing to name the rot out loud. But what started as passionate sermons slowly turned into something much darker after his death in police custody in 2009. His followers, filled with anger and now armed with weapons, declared war on the Nigerian state itself. Boko Haram was born in blood, and ...