The Nairobi and Dar es Salaam Attacks
“Superstition is the surest means of controlling the
masses. Under the banner of religion, it would be
easy sometimes to make men adore their kings as
gods, and sometimes to make them hate them and
curse them as permanent plagues of the human spe-
cies.”Spinoza
Nairobi, Friday August 7, 1998.
It was 10:35 when a violent explosion ripped through the business district of the Kenyan capital, between the city hall and the railway station. Black smoke engulfed the entire downtown area and the great Uhuru park.
At the intersection of Haile-Selassi and Moï avenues, it was war! Silhouettes staggered about, or stood petrified at the edge of pools of blood; others fled, uttering shrieks and undecipherable cries. The rear wall of the tower housing the United States embassy was demolished and a small adjoining building was reduced to a smoking heap of concrete.
The shock was so great that every window within a radius of 1000 feet was shattered. In the embassy parking lot, the hulks of cars continued burning. Around an enormous crater blasted into the pavement, stupefied witnesses were repeating, “car bomb, car bomb …”
The Kenyan Red Cross arrived immediately. The howls of sirens blended with the metallic rotations of the army helicopters that followed one after another. Apocalypse!
Mrs. Prudence Bushnell, the Ambassador of the United States, exited the building, supported by two young men, her suit spattered with blood. Marines armed with machine guns deployed themselves around the embassy. Some survivors were extracted from the debris
-17-
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: Dollars for Terror: The United States and Islam.
Contributors: Richard Labévière - Author, Martin Demers - Translator.
Publisher: Algora.
Place of publication: New York.
Publication year: 2000.
Page number: 17.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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