Glenn Greenwald did not say that searching for the Nigerian kidnapped girls is horrifying

[gratuitous]

24. Twitter is a notoriously poor medium for communication

But let's see here. It appears that Greenwald is saying that the history of Western intervention in Africa has had its problems. King Leopold and all that, I would surmise.* As such, given that history, Africans regard any Western intervention with a certain amount of skepticism and fear, even when it is launched with the best intentions and aims in mind. Here, of course, the retrieval of those kidnapped girls in Nigeria. Westerners blundering into Nigeria, without a very good understanding of the situation (as per usual when we go into another country), could lead to any number of unintended consequences, just like it did in Afghanistan. Eliding over this history while thumping the tub for intervention is an exercise in hubris, and for people who remember that history, could easily cause alarm and horror.

Okay, it's a little more than 140 characters, but I think that's what Greenwald was saying in his tweet.

*Also, while it didn't happen in Africa, the CIA's recently-exposed program of fake vaccinations while trying to kill bin Laden, which has led to a resurgence of polio in Pakistan. Which is pretty goddam horrifying.