For the jihadists, respecting territorial integrity is a one-way street. Al-Shabaab's kidnapping of aid workers on Kenyan territory has provoked a major military response, so much so that the group may have overreached this time. But where they lose control of territory, they can fall back on what they do best: not fighting like men, but targeting civilians in asymmetrical warfare. That is exactly what they are threatening to do here.
An update on this story. "Somali militants threaten suicide attacks in Kenya," by Abdi Gouled and Katharine Houreld for the Associated Press, October 17:
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia's most dangerous militant group threatened Kenya with suicide attacks on Monday, saying Nairobi's skyscrapers would be destroyed and its tourism industry ruined in an ominous warning one day after Kenyan troops poured into Somalia.
And now, a word from Sheikh Rage, as he is also known. Sheikh Happy remains on indefinite unpaid leave, while Sheikh Lust, Sheikh Pride, Sheikh Envy, and Sheikh Greed are in line to receive bonuses.
Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage told a news conference in Mogadishu on Monday that Kenya must pull its troops out of Somalia. "Otherwise remember what happened in Uganda's capital," he said.
Al-Shabab unleashed near simultaneous suicide bombings at public venues in Kampala in July 2010 as crowds gathered to watch the World Cup final on TV, killing 76 people. The militant group said the attack was in retaliation for Uganda's deployment of troops to Mogadishu as part of the African Union peacekeeping force there.
Hundreds of Kenyan troops poured into Somalia over the weekend following the kidnappings of four Europeans inside Kenya near the Somali border. Kenyan officials say the country has the right to defend itself from Somalia's most powerful militant group, though Rage denied the group had anything to do with the kidnappings.
"We say to Kenya: Did you consider the consequences of the invasion? We know fighting more than you and defeated other invaders before," Rage said.
"Your attack to us means your skyscrapers will be destroyed, your tourism will disappear. We shall inflict on you the same damage you inflicted on us. You have to see what happened to the other aggressors, like (Uganda President Yoweri) Museveni and his country when they invaded us. We hit them in their country," Rage said....
"The same damage?" Kenya didn't make your "skyscrapers and tourism" disappear. Kenya didn't destroy your cities and make them uninhabitable. You did that all by yourselves.
What about Sheikh Sloth and Sheikh Gluttony? They're pretty active in the Muslim World also. Give 'em their props!
Sheikh Sloth has been demoted for his failed concept of Nap Jihad. When reached for comment, Sheikh Gluttony responded:
Classic Marisol.
some people quit while they're ahead, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to do that. One keeps going if one is ahead, and if one stumbles, one carries on to go ever further. Quitting when one is ahead is crazy. Even the Muslims get that. They keep winning, and they aren't stupid, so they carry on winning. Why would they ever stop?
We in the Modern world seem to think that because we have won, as it were, if only because our families worked for a few hundred years to create this Modernity, that we should stop while we're ahead and give to others what others have given us, share it all, stop getting ahead and take time to smell the roses and smoke pot and goof off. I'm sure there is much to recommend that, though I'm not so smart and I can't think of anything. In fact, I think I'd love to put a stop to the bad guys winning so the good guys can continue. That might require that I go out and make the bad guys stop. It would be akin to work. We would actually get further ahead in doing some of that.
If the jihadis threaten to destroy and kill, the work we need to do to get ahead is to stop them. If we quit while we're ahead, we're finished. They ain't stopping.
Kenya has ca. four times the population of Somalia, and over ten times the GDP. They ought to respond to these threats with a threat of their own, along the lines of: "the first terrorist act by Somalis against Kenya will result in Somalia's being wiped off the map."
Quite right ebonystone. .I spent the first three years of my life in Kenya, even more than BHO, so has a tight connection to my heart.
Brownsville Girl.
Somali jihadists threaten suicide attacks in Kenya
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The usual threat: "If you fight back against Jihad, we will wage Jihad against you".