The “nonbelievers” were killed on the spot.
April 3, 2015 11:28 AM Subscribe
Somali Militants Kill 147 at Kenyan University [New York Times]
Previously.
Related:
Shabab Lured Kenya Students to Deaths With Promise of Life [New York Times]
Kenya attack: 'There were screams and nobody knew if we would survive' [The Guardian].
Kenya al-Shabab attack: Victims' bodies sent to Nairobi [BBC.co.uk]
Somali militants burst into a university in eastern Kenya on Thursday and killed nearly 150 students in the worst terrorist attack since the 1998 bombing of the United States Embassy here, laying bare the nation’s continuing vulnerability after years of battling Islamist extremism. A small group of militants, most likely between four and 10, roved from dorm to dorm, separating Christian from Muslim students and killing the Christians, the authorities said. Students described being awakened before dawn by the sound of gunfire and fleeing for their lives as masked attackers closed in.
Previously.
Related:
Shabab Lured Kenya Students to Deaths With Promise of Life [New York Times]
Kenya attack: 'There were screams and nobody knew if we would survive' [The Guardian].
Kenya al-Shabab attack: Victims' bodies sent to Nairobi [BBC.co.uk]
Two years after the Nairobi mall incident. I cannot imagine how local residents are feeling. I hope something can be done to make the day to day peace of mine more bearable.
posted by Fizz at 11:44 AM on April 3, 2015
posted by Fizz at 11:44 AM on April 3, 2015
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posted by Smart Dalek at 11:44 AM on April 3, 2015
posted by Smart Dalek at 11:44 AM on April 3, 2015
It might not be enough for an FPP on its own, but there was a very interesting episode of the Diane Rehm Show a few days ago on "Islam, Extremism, and The Role of Women" in which Rehm, Ayaan Hirsi Ali (of the AHA Foundation) and Linda Sarsour (of The Campaign To Take On Hate) have a good -if spicy- back & forth about some topics related to this.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:46 AM on April 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 11:46 AM on April 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
I heard one of the survivors being interviewed on the BBC this morning. Her account was absolutely gut-wrenching. How do you move on from that?
posted by pointless_incessant_barking at 11:47 AM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by pointless_incessant_barking at 11:47 AM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
How do you move on from that?
You have to. You can't let these fucks shut down a university.
posted by ocschwar at 11:49 AM on April 3, 2015 [10 favorites]
You have to. You can't let these fucks shut down a university.
posted by ocschwar at 11:49 AM on April 3, 2015 [10 favorites]
I can't even begin to imagine a mindset which believes indiscriminate killing of students is some kind of strategic coup. Don't they realize that the rest of the world will hate them for this?
posted by Avenger at 11:53 AM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Avenger at 11:53 AM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Don't they realize that the rest of the world will hate them for this?
Being seen as heroes by the rest of the world isn't a big part of El Shabab's strategy.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:59 AM on April 3, 2015 [16 favorites]
Being seen as heroes by the rest of the world isn't a big part of El Shabab's strategy.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:59 AM on April 3, 2015 [16 favorites]
Don't they realize that the rest of the world will hate them for this?
"Let them hate. So long as they fear."
posted by ocschwar at 12:00 PM on April 3, 2015 [5 favorites]
"Let them hate. So long as they fear."
posted by ocschwar at 12:00 PM on April 3, 2015 [5 favorites]
It is not an easy watch but the HBO Documentary 'Terror at the Mall' is worth finding. I linked to it some while back here.
The British filmmaker Dan Reed assembled thousands of hours of footage gleaned from more than 100 security cameras inside the mall, video from television crews and modest cellphones, as well as still photographs.posted by Fizz at 12:06 PM on April 3, 2015 [8 favorites]
indiscriminate killing
They were very discriminating in whom they killed.
separating Christian from Muslim students and killing the Christians,
There's talk of building a wall on the border between Kenya and Somalia. It's so sad, but Kenyans must be absolutely terrified.
posted by Thing at 12:07 PM on April 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
They were very discriminating in whom they killed.
separating Christian from Muslim students and killing the Christians,
There's talk of building a wall on the border between Kenya and Somalia. It's so sad, but Kenyans must be absolutely terrified.
posted by Thing at 12:07 PM on April 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
The rest of the world hating them and then doing something about that hatred is the long-term strategy.
Get the outside world to invade, which then makes it a quest to kick out yet another set of foreign colonialist interlopers.
Chaos and misery are tactics that lead to the larger strategy of discrediting whatever form of peace or normalcy the current government can supply to the population at large. If you destroy that normalcy, you prove that whatever the alternative is, it must be better than the status quo.
This is not an act of barbarity for the sake of barbarity. It is absolutely in service to a proven long-term strategy.
posted by turntraitor at 12:09 PM on April 3, 2015 [18 favorites]
Get the outside world to invade, which then makes it a quest to kick out yet another set of foreign colonialist interlopers.
Chaos and misery are tactics that lead to the larger strategy of discrediting whatever form of peace or normalcy the current government can supply to the population at large. If you destroy that normalcy, you prove that whatever the alternative is, it must be better than the status quo.
This is not an act of barbarity for the sake of barbarity. It is absolutely in service to a proven long-term strategy.
posted by turntraitor at 12:09 PM on April 3, 2015 [18 favorites]
Given that these are cross-border attacks, and that Kenya is an open society, there is no easy way to defend against this kind of tactic. Moreover, the attackers are trying to polarize Kenyan society by forcing people to "pick a side." Ugly.
posted by wuwei at 12:12 PM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by wuwei at 12:12 PM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Are people really having difficulty picking a side between psychopathic terrorists and not psychopathic terrorists?
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:14 PM on April 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:14 PM on April 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yes, because if you pick the non-psychopathic-terrorist side, you can get shot.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:16 PM on April 3, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:16 PM on April 3, 2015 [6 favorites]
Are people really having difficulty picking a side between psychopathic terrorists and not psychopathic terrorists?
There's a rainbow of evil to choose from.
posted by Fizz at 12:21 PM on April 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
There's a rainbow of evil to choose from.
posted by Fizz at 12:21 PM on April 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
I want to second the recommendation for Terror at the Mall, but it is, be warned, seriously hard to watch. It is an amazingly detailed, well-made look inside a sadly similar previous atrocity.
posted by RogerB at 12:23 PM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by RogerB at 12:23 PM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
What a grotesque belief.
So sad to see the waste of human lives, on both ends of those guns.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:25 PM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
So sad to see the waste of human lives, on both ends of those guns.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:25 PM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
How do you move on from that?
You have to. You can't let these fucks shut down a university.
From the looks of it that's exactly what they did - I see many students and teachers saying they will never set foot on the university terrain again.
posted by DreamerFi at 12:25 PM on April 3, 2015
You have to. You can't let these fucks shut down a university.
From the looks of it that's exactly what they did - I see many students and teachers saying they will never set foot on the university terrain again.
posted by DreamerFi at 12:25 PM on April 3, 2015
.
What a tragedy. I am reminded of a Joan Baez song that I heard as a kid, but at the time I could not really believe that men could be such monsters, intentionally.
And the students at the university
Asleep at night quite peacefully
The soldiers came and shot them in their beds
And terror took the dorm awakening shrieks of dread
And silent frozen forms and pillows drenched in red
In Bangladesh, yes, they were soldiers. In Kenya, the Western media call them "terrorists" or "militants", but within Al Shabab I would imagine they use a word similar to "soldier".
How can one stop this evil?
posted by brambleboy at 12:30 PM on April 3, 2015
What a tragedy. I am reminded of a Joan Baez song that I heard as a kid, but at the time I could not really believe that men could be such monsters, intentionally.
And the students at the university
Asleep at night quite peacefully
The soldiers came and shot them in their beds
And terror took the dorm awakening shrieks of dread
And silent frozen forms and pillows drenched in red
In Bangladesh, yes, they were soldiers. In Kenya, the Western media call them "terrorists" or "militants", but within Al Shabab I would imagine they use a word similar to "soldier".
How can one stop this evil?
posted by brambleboy at 12:30 PM on April 3, 2015
.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:38 PM on April 3, 2015
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:38 PM on April 3, 2015
.
posted by dialetheia at 12:48 PM on April 3, 2015
posted by dialetheia at 12:48 PM on April 3, 2015
NPR had a story this morning and they referenced that about a year ago students received a warning/flyer that indicated that Shabab was targeting a large institution like the university. More on that warning here.
Terror Threat Alert Flyer Image
posted by Fizz at 12:58 PM on April 3, 2015
Terror Threat Alert Flyer Image
posted by Fizz at 12:58 PM on April 3, 2015
I can't even begin to imagine a mindset which believes indiscriminate killing of students is some kind of strategic coup. Don't they realize that the rest of the world will hate them for this?
I was listening to an interview about this and they said that Muslims are less likely to go to university in Garissa. If you want to target the Christians/non-Muslims who are only in Garissa to go to school... you go to the school.
Rukmini Callimachi's two part interview on the Longform podcast shed a lot of light on this type of event for me. Disturbingly, this is the way to get international headlines and it is an effective recruiting tool.
posted by heatherann at 1:18 PM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
I was listening to an interview about this and they said that Muslims are less likely to go to university in Garissa. If you want to target the Christians/non-Muslims who are only in Garissa to go to school... you go to the school.
Rukmini Callimachi's two part interview on the Longform podcast shed a lot of light on this type of event for me. Disturbingly, this is the way to get international headlines and it is an effective recruiting tool.
posted by heatherann at 1:18 PM on April 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
I was listening to an interview about this and they said that Muslims are less likely to go to university in Garissa. If you want to target the Christians/non-Muslims who are only in Garissa to go to school... you go to the school.
The NPR story I was listening to [can't find it online otherwise I'd link to it] did mention that Muslims are being killed as well. Though, Shabab is targeting Christians and non Muslims for the most part. The reporter mentioned that back in the day Osama Bin Laden had come out against Shabab for targeting Muslims and Mosques.
Its fucked up when you're even too extreme for OBL.
posted by Fizz at 1:32 PM on April 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
The NPR story I was listening to [can't find it online otherwise I'd link to it] did mention that Muslims are being killed as well. Though, Shabab is targeting Christians and non Muslims for the most part. The reporter mentioned that back in the day Osama Bin Laden had come out against Shabab for targeting Muslims and Mosques.
Its fucked up when you're even too extreme for OBL.
posted by Fizz at 1:32 PM on April 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
.
posted by limeonaire at 1:48 PM on April 3, 2015
posted by limeonaire at 1:48 PM on April 3, 2015
It's referred to in counter-insurgency as a 'strategy of tension', and as a conscious tactic, it goes back at least to the Algerian war of independence.
Greater tensions between Christian Kenyans and Muslim Kenyans is the goal of this action... the purpose of this attack is to sow hatred, distrust, and animosity. They want to provoke collective punishment, harsher security...so that they can recruit more disaffected Somalis and Kenyans.
It's being done because it's a technique that almost always works, historically. You kill the moderates first and then the escalators, the extremists are the ones dictating the policy.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 2:10 PM on April 3, 2015 [6 favorites]
Greater tensions between Christian Kenyans and Muslim Kenyans is the goal of this action... the purpose of this attack is to sow hatred, distrust, and animosity. They want to provoke collective punishment, harsher security...so that they can recruit more disaffected Somalis and Kenyans.
It's being done because it's a technique that almost always works, historically. You kill the moderates first and then the escalators, the extremists are the ones dictating the policy.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 2:10 PM on April 3, 2015 [6 favorites]
ugh I just yesterday had a very nice chat with a Kenyan man (while waiting on the deli line) and mentioned I'd like to go to Kenya and he said yeah its totally safe! lots of corruption but no violence.
sigh...
.
posted by supermedusa at 2:14 PM on April 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
sigh...
.
posted by supermedusa at 2:14 PM on April 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
lots of corruption but no violence.
The corruption is the reason why nothing good can come from this. The West is not going to throw money at Kenya to solve this. They already gave lots of money to them a while back to combat corruption only to see it pockets by corrupt officials at all levels. It may be the status quo, but the resultant widespread loss of potential economic revenue severely hinders their ability to implement costly reforms of any description. Which means that any efforts by the Kenyan government to prevent this sort of violence will almost certainly come at the cost of severely compromised services in other areas. If the terrorists' goal was to increase the number of disaffected Kenyan's, I predict that it will work depressingly well.
posted by kisch mokusch at 2:34 PM on April 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
The corruption is the reason why nothing good can come from this. The West is not going to throw money at Kenya to solve this. They already gave lots of money to them a while back to combat corruption only to see it pockets by corrupt officials at all levels. It may be the status quo, but the resultant widespread loss of potential economic revenue severely hinders their ability to implement costly reforms of any description. Which means that any efforts by the Kenyan government to prevent this sort of violence will almost certainly come at the cost of severely compromised services in other areas. If the terrorists' goal was to increase the number of disaffected Kenyan's, I predict that it will work depressingly well.
posted by kisch mokusch at 2:34 PM on April 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
“The point is,” [Ford] said, “that people like you and me, Slartibartfast, and Arthur — particularly and especially Arthur — are just dilletantes, eccentrics, layabouts, fartarounds if you like.”posted by scruss at 3:07 PM on April 3, 2015 [7 favorites]
Slartibartfast frowned, partly in puzzlement and partly in umbrage. He started to speak.
“— …” is as far as he got.
“We're not obsessed by anything, you see,” insisted Ford.
“…”
“And that's the deciding factor. We can't win against obsession. They care, we don't. They win.”
“I care about lots of things,” said Slartibartfast, his voice trembling partly with annoyance, but partly also with uncertainty.
“Such as?”
“Well,” said the old man, “life, the Universe. Everything, really. Fjords.”
“Would you die for them?”
“Fjords?” blinked Slartibartfast in surprise. “No.”
…
“The point is,” [Ford] hissed, “that we are not obsessive people, and we don't stand a chance …”
If folks are interested in understanding these dynamics, I highly recommend Robert Asprey's classic study, War in the Shadows: The Guerrilla in History. It's not a feel good book by any means, but once you start to see the patterns of conflict, incidents like the Kenyan University massacre start to make more sense.
posted by wuwei at 3:17 PM on April 3, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by wuwei at 3:17 PM on April 3, 2015 [7 favorites]
.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 5:05 PM on April 3, 2015
posted by c'mon sea legs at 5:05 PM on April 3, 2015
From witchen's Atlantic article link summarizing what ISIS is about:
We can gather that their state rejects peace as a matter of principle; that it hungers for genocide; that its religious views make it constitutionally incapable of certain types of change, even if that change might ensure its survival; and that it considers itself a harbinger of—and headline player in—the imminent end of the world.
Also:
To ISIS, the state has an obligation to terrorize its enemies—a holy order to scare the shit out of them with beheadings and crucifixions and enslavement of women and children, because doing so hastens victory and avoids prolonged conflict.
We cannot make peace: in ISIS' view, Islamic law permits only temporary peace treaties, lasting no longer than a decade. Similarly, accepting any border is anathema, as stated by the Prophet and echoed in the Islamic State’s propaganda videos. If the caliph consents to a longer-term peace or permanent border, he will be in error. Temporary peace treaties are renewable, but may not be applied to all enemies at once: the caliph must wage jihad at least once a year. He may not rest, or he will fall into a state of sin.
So, ISIS longs to entice a full scale battle with "Rome," apparently these days meaning the US, and usher in the end of days.
Graeme Wood, author of the linked Atlantic article, thinks we have to let ISIS burn out on its own, but I am increasingly feeling it is a hydra, which will keep spawning attacks like this one by Al Shabab, until the caliphate it has established with its territory in Syria and Iraq is destroyed. That won't end terrorism, but it will end ISIS' claim to be a caliphate, which is the heart of its ability to get support and recruits.
Meanwhile, my heart breaks for both the dead and the survivors at this university.
.
posted by bearwife at 5:23 PM on April 3, 2015
We can gather that their state rejects peace as a matter of principle; that it hungers for genocide; that its religious views make it constitutionally incapable of certain types of change, even if that change might ensure its survival; and that it considers itself a harbinger of—and headline player in—the imminent end of the world.
Also:
To ISIS, the state has an obligation to terrorize its enemies—a holy order to scare the shit out of them with beheadings and crucifixions and enslavement of women and children, because doing so hastens victory and avoids prolonged conflict.
We cannot make peace: in ISIS' view, Islamic law permits only temporary peace treaties, lasting no longer than a decade. Similarly, accepting any border is anathema, as stated by the Prophet and echoed in the Islamic State’s propaganda videos. If the caliph consents to a longer-term peace or permanent border, he will be in error. Temporary peace treaties are renewable, but may not be applied to all enemies at once: the caliph must wage jihad at least once a year. He may not rest, or he will fall into a state of sin.
So, ISIS longs to entice a full scale battle with "Rome," apparently these days meaning the US, and usher in the end of days.
Graeme Wood, author of the linked Atlantic article, thinks we have to let ISIS burn out on its own, but I am increasingly feeling it is a hydra, which will keep spawning attacks like this one by Al Shabab, until the caliphate it has established with its territory in Syria and Iraq is destroyed. That won't end terrorism, but it will end ISIS' claim to be a caliphate, which is the heart of its ability to get support and recruits.
Meanwhile, my heart breaks for both the dead and the survivors at this university.
.
posted by bearwife at 5:23 PM on April 3, 2015
I took "Rome" to mean Christianity in general.
posted by merelyglib at 6:09 PM on April 3, 2015
posted by merelyglib at 6:09 PM on April 3, 2015
War is Boring - Al Shabab’s Strategy Is Wanton Murder: Attacking civilians is one of the few things still holding the terror group together
posted by rosswald at 6:46 PM on April 3, 2015
posted by rosswald at 6:46 PM on April 3, 2015
I fear this will prompt another invasion of Somalia by Kenya, and even more discrimination and violence for the large population of ethnic Somali Kenyans.
posted by smoke at 7:21 PM on April 3, 2015
posted by smoke at 7:21 PM on April 3, 2015
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been its leader since May 2010 … a stay in U.S. captivity at Camp Bucca during the occupation of Iraq. Then, on July 5 of last year, he stepped into the pulpit of the Great Mosque …commander of all Muslims
Introduced to the Christian Dominionist end-timers that permeate the US military at Camp Bucca, no doubt.
posted by five fresh fish at 12:19 AM on April 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
Introduced to the Christian Dominionist end-timers that permeate the US military at Camp Bucca, no doubt.
posted by five fresh fish at 12:19 AM on April 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
Please note: “Some people may not be strong in these situations,” a Red Cross worker shouted over a bullhorn. “Hold the one next to you.”
posted by jammy at 5:35 AM on April 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by jammy at 5:35 AM on April 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
Rukmini Callimachi is excellent. That is a very weird job description where she looks at all the gory ISIS et al promotional videos from start to finish that most people click away from the second it (for that small fraction of the videos that succeed in getting world coverage) gets disturbing. We see a quarter of one video a month at most. She sees all of multiple videos daily. I agree with her take that they are mostly like the mafia. I disagree that Western Powers-that-Be much care to stop it. I think they are cynical enough to consider it's just business. Which is kind of like the mafia too.
posted by bukvich at 6:44 AM on April 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by bukvich at 6:44 AM on April 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by Ms. Moonlight at 2:35 AM on April 5, 2015
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 2:35 AM on April 5, 2015
Africa is a Country has put together a really good set of articles contextualizing the attack.
posted by ChuraChura at 7:37 AM on April 5, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 7:37 AM on April 5, 2015 [4 favorites]
These are the families left to reclaim Garissa's Dead.
African Lives Matter - why do they not mourn along with us?
The Young Hopes of Kenya, Laid in the Grave
posted by ChuraChura at 5:47 PM on April 11, 2015
African Lives Matter - why do they not mourn along with us?
The Young Hopes of Kenya, Laid in the Grave
posted by ChuraChura at 5:47 PM on April 11, 2015
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posted by Bee'sWing at 11:43 AM on April 3, 2015 [8 favorites]