When reading this I was immediately angry and upset. What really got to
me were the articles about some of the first hand experiences. I honestly do
not understand how people could do this. One of the shooters told all the women
and children to stand up saying that he only shot men and went on a rampage
killing lots of the women and children who stood up, killing children who have
no true opinion on religion. Some first
hand account quotes that really resonated in and stayed in my mind were:
“These people are insane. They are not human beings. They must have been
brainwashed since childhood.”
“They don’t think like you and me. They have a warped, twisted
reasoning. They are not Muslims. They are dangerous criminals who use religion
to create divisions"
"They attacked innocent people and they should be punished. I’m a Muslim
and this has nothing to do with Islam. The Quran says you shouldn't even kill a
fly."
"The air was heavy with death and evil. You could smell it."
"They spray bullets on innocent children who don’t know good or bad. They
are less than animals. I have anger inside and it makes me feel negatively
about the Islamic religion. I hope they suffer in hell."
These quotes were very vivid and described the Al-Shaabab in a way that no one else accurately could. A common
theme in what the survivors were saying was that the shooters were brainwashed, evil, less than animals, and they mentioned lots of religious ties. These attacked
were said to be rooted from Islam and the Al-Shaabab has ties to Al Qaeda. First off, how can somebody even do this and secondly how can they relate this to a religion. You cannot justify murder especially not by quoting a religion in this case muslim. When
I hear about shootings, or other terrorist attacks I immediately wonder how
humans could do this to people just like you and me. I can only wonder what would could be done to prevent future attacks. I do believe that the United States should not get involved as they have already done enough damage by basically giving the Al-Shaabab power. Kenya is a extreme situation that does not follow the traditional guidelines of everyday society. What many people fail to realize is the power of extreme situations to transform attitudes. However, these attitudes are reckless and show no compassion or regard for human life.
Reini, James. "Mall Siege Survivors Recount Harrowing Ordeal." - Features. N.p., 27 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. <http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/09/mall-siege-survivors-recount-harrowing-ordeal-2013927102037658462.html>.
Also, I do not think the counterpunch article is an accurate scholarly source. I think it is biased against US foreign policy and if used in a formal paper this bias would need to be addressed.
ReplyDeleteAnymore Michala I'm not sure why this is seen as surprising. It's almost as if less attention should be given to events like this just because they're done to incite fear in the victims of the terrorist acts and those who were like the ones affected. If I had it my way, I would think the best way to handle the situation is alert the population to stay away from the area and send in any aid or armed personnel to contain the violence. Not to dishonor the victims, but wouldn't it be interesting to see what terrorists would do if people stopped caring about them? Simplistic as it sounds, It would be just like ignoring a bully in high school or middle school until they got bored with bullying.
ReplyDeleteI also think it was very shocking how all of the people interviewed described the shooters as brainwashed. It must have been very clear from the actions of the shooters that they showed no remorse and intended to inflict as much damage as possible. Additionally, I also agree the U.S. must stay uninvolved or the violence could escalate even further.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on how the articles of the people who were involved explained the cold faces of the Somalian shooters. It is crazy how these Somalian shooters could pull off this massacre with such precise action and achieve so many verified kills. They must have been trained and like Tim said, most definitely brainwashed. The one account of the victim who explained how the Somalian shooters asked women and children to stand so that they wouldn't be shot but instead layer fire upon them, really got to me too Michala. Great blog and I liked the way you used the quotes from the victims.
ReplyDeleteThe Counterpunch sources is indeed more of a blog post or opinion piece, and website itself is indeed critical of US foreign policy. It seems that you share a distrust of that foreign policy, though. Would you critique US foreign policy from the perspective of the Counterpunch article, or from some other perspective? What is the difference in terms of the perspectives of your critiques?
ReplyDelete