Bombing of World Cup fans in Uganda

[malaise]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10593771.stm
<snip>

The death toll from twin blasts that hit the Ugandan capital as football fans gathered to watch the World Cup final has risen to 74, officials say.

Another 70 were injured in the explosions at a Kampala rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant.

Police are investigating whether the blasts were suicide bombings, and blamed Somalia's al-Shabab militants.

Ugandan peacekeepers operate in Somalia, and al-Shabab has threatened to hit Kampala in the past.

[jazzelle]

1. Just one more murderous crime in a list of thousands

oh...sorry...they are all isolated events that have nothing to do with anything.






cant use certain words

[jazzelle]

2. .

There were reports that a severed head was found at one of the scenes, leading investigators to suggest that the attacks could have been the work of suicide bombers.

snip


At least three Americans, members of a Church group from Pennsylvania, were wounded at the Ethiopian restaurant.

One, Kris Sledge, 18, said from his hospital bed: "I remember blacking out, hearing people screaming and running."

Mr Sledge, of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, who had a bandaged leg and burns on his face, told AP: "I love the place here, but I'm wondering why this happened and who did this. At this point we're just glad to be alive."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/10593771.stm

[jazzelle]

3. 74 Totally innocent people are murdered in cold blood..

for absolutely no reason, by apparently a group of insane terrorists..


and cant get one response.



is it because they are africans?
are we numb to mass murder and 74 just doesn't cut it?
or terrorism doesnt mean much anymore?

dont know....maybe shouldn't care.


btw....how many in the uk were killed on 7/7?











52

[jazzelle]

4. well, my last kick

anyone reading this outraged?

revolted ?

anguished ?

sad ?

[malaise]

5. Apparently not

Thanks for kicking a horrific story

[jazzelle]

15. Thank you

i promised myself i would thank the first person to respond.

thank you.

[tiny elvis]

8. nobody knows anything about uganda or somalia or al-shabaab

since controversy draws attention, i will give this a boost by playing devil's advocate

The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of the Republic of Somalia is the most recent attempt to restore national institutions to Somalia after the 1991 collapse of the Siad Barre regime and the ensuing Somali Civil War. Established in 2004 and internationally recognized, its support in Somalia was waning until the United States-backed 2006 intervention by the Ethiopian military, which helped drive out the rival Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Mogadishu and solidify the TFG's rule.<9> Following this defeat, the ICU splintered into several different factions. Some of the more radical elements, including Al-Shabaab, regrouped to continue their insurgency against the TFG and oppose the Ethiopian military's presence in Somalia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_Federal_Government

It doesn't help that the United States has made the renewed conflict in Somalia part of its war on terror. American and Ethiopian intelligence agencies allege that the Union of Islamic Courts has connections with al-Qaeda. Many Somalis, however, believe that the Courts had brought stability, peace, and progress to the country after 16 years of war and instability without a legitimate government. Such proponents lament that dissent has been limited to bumper stickers and conversations at coffee shops.

"Somali people are talking about it, but they are depressed," Mohamed says. "They feel helpless due to the fact that the United States is supporting Ethiopia, and that ties anybody's hands behind the back. They feel that if they say anything against the occupation, they will be labeled a terrorist."

http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/153/26334.html

the claim that al-shabaab is connected to america's fanciful al-qaeda construct is a bit thin

Somali Islamist rebel group al-Shabab has confirmed for the first time that its fighters are aligned with al-Qaeda's global militant campaign. The group said in a statement that the "jihad of Horn of Africa must be combined with the international jihad led by the al-Qaeda network".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8491329.stm

that is the extent of the connection

there is a war going on and the conflict was made intractable by the usa, using ethiopia as a proxy
the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was created to protect the transitional government from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU)
the usa and un say that amisom was formed to bring stability (good job!)
peoples subjected to imperial peacekeeping are made desperate and resort to means which empires then claim justify the peacekeeping
americans are high and mighty with pretended concern for the precious individuals killed by our enemies, but we are the ones who have made life cheap in our ostensible war on barbarity

[JCMach1]

6. Just why was it we went to Iraq and Afghanistan?

Did I sleep through something?

And why are we there now?

[Robb]

7. You need to jazz this story up for DU.

DU is not interested in stories of terrorists killing people -- I mean, I http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4461272">tried to include the one American and no one cared. And http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4458243">even when the body count is enormous, it violates a lot of peoples' sensibilities to acknowledge that religious zealots actually do kill people.

Perhaps if you can find some way to implicate US troops in the killing, you might have a story here. :shrug:

[Green_Lantern]

14. but I guess you won't be mentioning the Uganda govt's

Support for armed rebels in Congo killing people there.

These 74 people were innocent but Uganda's govt. contributes this cycle of violence.

[jazzelle]

16. Yes, those 74 people were innocent...

and MORE than were murdered on 7/7....what would be the outraged if this occured in the us or uk?

and as fast as this thread drops is as fast as the world forgets.

[Green_Lantern]

18. well the US and UK are outside of a warzone and Uganda isn't...

This attack in Uganda is part of the ongoing wars in Eastern Africa. The world isn't forgetting that this Uganda attack really isn't part of Al Qaeda's war on the West, it's an act of revenge for Uganda's actions in Somalia.

[SunnySong]

9. Unfortantly Blacks killing blacks isn't news when it happens in America

I'm not sure why you would think it would be news in when it happens in Africa.

While African Americans comprise 13.5% of the U.S. Population, 43% of all murder victims in 2007 were African American, 93.1% of whom were killed were African Americans.


And no one in the media cares.

[tiny elvis]

10. kicking this thread into the 60 mph wind of steinbrenner catharsis

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Another kick

[Brooklyns_Finest]

12. No Americans to Blame

Many here like to give the Islamist cover by blaming the west for their shenanigans. This story doesn't allow for that.

[tiny elvis]

13. i did my best above to assert exactly what you deny

[applegrove]

17. Think of how little money in excess the Ugandans have that will now have to be spend on security

instead of on eradicating poverty.