Kenya Mall Attack

[Walsingham]

It's a good question, Bruce. I think the entire concept of intimidating/terrifying large groups of people for any strategic duration is completely bat**** mental.

 

I mean when has it EVER worked*?

 

It's not working for AlQ. It didn't work for the Allies bombing Nazi Germany. What's more baffling is that we thought it would work when we'd completely resisted the moral effects of the Blitz! If anything the Blitz only made Britain pull together more effectively.

 

*NB I know it occasionally works against merchants/cliques of merchants. Viz the Anglo-Dutch wars. And arguably the jerries against the Low Countries.

[Augusta Corvina]

It's a good question, Bruce. I think the entire concept of intimidating/terrifying large groups of people for any strategic duration is completely bat**** mental.

 

I mean when has it EVER worked*?

 

It's not working for AlQ. It didn't work for the Allies bombing Nazi Germany. What's more baffling is that we thought it would work when we'd completely resisted the moral effects of the Blitz! If anything the Blitz only made Britain pull together more effectively.

 

*NB I know it occasionally works against merchants/cliques of merchants. Viz the Anglo-Dutch wars. And arguably the jerries against the Low Countries.

It seems it never works as intended if the ones hit by it has something or someone(or both) they can rally behind. Especially if said something/someone is within their field of concern(such as their homes being bombed and invaded). I'm just guessing though.

[Malcador]

We are shocked because we find the very act of deliberately targeting unexpected civilians repugnant.

People are still shocked about that, at this point ?

[Hiro Protagonist]

Four-day siege or four-day shopping spree?

http://www.smh.com.au/world/kenyan-mall-looting-blamed-on-soldiers-20131004-2uymp.html

 

More and more Kenyans believe those soldiers methodically cleaned out the mall, and that the barrages of gunfire ringing out for days were being directed not at the last of the militants but at safes and padlocks to blast them open. Some business leaders even question whether the Kenyan army deliberately prolonged the crisis by saying shooters were still in the building when they were actually dead, to give themselves extra time to steal.
 

Laptops, smart phones, Swiss watches, cameras, underwear, perfume and stereo speakers were all carried out of the mall, which was supposed to be tightly guarded by the military
 

A clean-up crew at one restaurant said that when the soldiers allowed them back in on Monday, the crew found hundreds of bottles of gin, brandy, rum, vodka and beer sitting on the bar. It looked like the scene of a fraternity party
 

Parking machines and cash registers were pried open and emptied. A huge, mounted flat-screen television had been lifted off the wall. Doors were wrenched open, and in several stores that showed no obvious signs of having been caught up in the fighting, display cases were ransacked.

Witness accounts have not suggested that the attackers broke into safes or stole anything of value.

 

The mall’s surveillance cameras may have captured some of the looting, but Kenyan intelligence agents have taken the footage.

 

[licketysplit]

Once the Kenyan soldiers went in, everything went to ****. That's what you get for employing low paid mercenaries for a highly specialized job.

[BruceVC]

Four-day siege or four-day shopping spree?

http://www.smh.com.au/world/kenyan-mall-looting-blamed-on-soldiers-20131004-2uymp.html

 

More and more Kenyans believe those soldiers methodically cleaned out the mall, and that the barrages of gunfire ringing out for days were being directed not at the last of the militants but at safes and padlocks to blast them open. Some business leaders even question whether the Kenyan army deliberately prolonged the crisis by saying shooters were still in the building when they were actually dead, to give themselves extra time to steal.

 

Laptops, smart phones, Swiss watches, cameras, underwear, perfume and stereo speakers were all carried out of the mall, which was supposed to be tightly guarded by the military

 

A clean-up crew at one restaurant said that when the soldiers allowed them back in on Monday, the crew found hundreds of bottles of gin, brandy, rum, vodka and beer sitting on the bar. It looked like the scene of a fraternity party

 

Parking machines and cash registers were pried open and emptied. A huge, mounted flat-screen television had been lifted off the wall. Doors were wrenched open, and in several stores that showed no obvious signs of having been caught up in the fighting, display cases were ransacked.

Witness accounts have not suggested that the attackers broke into safes or stole anything of value.

 

The mall’s surveillance cameras may have captured some of the looting, but Kenyan intelligence agents have taken the footage.

 

What a disgrace if its true, I can believe it is very possible. Especially if you consider the fact that the intention of Al-Shabaab is not to rob stores  but to cause maximum carnage for political reasons

[Nepenthe]

Reminds me of the time the Israeli army targeted the terror cell of the Palestinian SAT test, forcing students to resit.

[HoonDing]

We have a saying. One person's death is another person's bread.

[Walsingham]

We have a saying. One person's death is another person's bread.

 

Who's "we"? The Ankh-Morpork guild of assassins?

[BruceVC]

 

We have a saying. One person's death is another person's bread.

 

Who's "we"? The Ankh-Morpork guild of assassins?

 

  "The Ankh-Morpork guild of assassins"

[Rostere]

Well, I know that saying from Swedish. "Den enes död är den andres bröd".

[HoonDing]

I think all Germanic languages may share that saying.

[Walsingham]

**** it. I'm becoming a mercenary.

[licketysplit]

So the U.S Navy Seals are conducting a raid on AL-Shabaab. I wouldn't want that heat coming my way.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/05/world/africa/somalia-us-shabaab-raid/

Edited October 6, 2013 by licketysplit

[BruceVC]

So the U.S Navy Seals are conducting a raid on AL-Shabaab. I wouldn't want that heat coming my way.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/05/world/africa/somalia-us-shabaab-raid/

 

Good article, the more I see the usage of special forces the more it makes sense.

 

No announcements, no wrangling in the UN security council and no public  over-analysis of the objective. Just a quick raid and quiet success or failure. Of course there will still be times for conventional "boots on the ground"  but the current special force military strategy is effective.

[licketysplit]

I was practically applauding the move. No BS, just get the job done and let people whine about it afterwards. If the attack was a multi-national offense, which seems to be the case, then this counter offensive makes perfect sense. Teach the bastards a lesson.

[BruceVC]

I was practically applauding the move. No BS, just get the job done and let people whine about it afterwards. If the attack was a multi-national offense, which seems to be the case, then this counter offensive makes perfect sense. Teach the bastards a lesson.

 

Yeah I hear you. In most cases you'll find the USA still gets permission from the government of the country that they send the special forces into but this way there is no need for UN security council involvement. It definitely makes sense in many scenarios. Especially in the African context

[Walsingham]

I suspect that small scale actions like this are tacitly accepted by the Security Council members. I've heard a lot of scuttle about the Chinese in this area.

[Nepenthe]

I suspect that small scale actions like this are tacitly accepted by the Security Council members. I've heard a lot of scuttle about the Chinese in this area.

Somalia and the pirates are an annoyance to everybody.

[Walsingham]

 

I suspect that small scale actions like this are tacitly accepted by the Security Council members. I've heard a lot of scuttle about the Chinese in this area.

Somalia and the pirates are an annoyance to everybody.

 

 

A multi-billion dollar, environmentally serious (due to extra emissions on transport) hazard.

[Nepenthe]

 

 

I suspect that small scale actions like this are tacitly accepted by the Security Council members. I've heard a lot of scuttle about the Chinese in this area.

 

Somalia and the pirates are an annoyance to everybody.

 

A multi-billion dollar, environmentally serious (due to extra emissions on transport) hazard.

That's what I just said.

[Walsingham]

Well, there's obyknven annoyance, and there's the kind of annoyance that moves Industry.