Sunday, January 05, 2020

Perceptions

Statement from US military Africa Command --

During an attack by al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida group in East Africa, earlier today, one (1) U.S. service member and two (2) Department of Defense contractors were killed at a Kenya Defense Force Military Base in Manda Bay, Kenya. In addition, two (2) Department of Defense members were wounded. The wounded Americans are currently in stable condition and being evacuated.

So with one attack, Al Shabaab killed more Americans than during the entire end-of-year crisis in US-Iran relations, which began with a militia rocket attack on a Kirkuk base 27 December.

But one phase of the Iran / Iraq crisis was the stunt outside the American Embassy in Baghdad on New Year's Day which (1) had a bad resonance for the Trump Administration in terms of Tehran and Benghazi precedents, and (2) caught everyone bored in front of their screens on a holiday -- it became a massive international crisis.

Al Shabaab made the mistake of striking late on a Saturday night in a fairly remote part of Kenya ... and no-one's narrative can handle it. Even with dead Americans. 

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