There's a joke in the form of a question that goes like this: How important do you have to be for your murder to be called . . . an assassination?
I remembered the joke after the bombing the other day in Baidoa, Somalia, which some reports were calling an assassination attempt against the TFG President Abdullahi Yusuf. It was reportedly also Somalia's first suicide bombing ever.
It's debatable whether Yusuf is important enough for the phrase 'assassination attempt' to be used in this case. However, what I do find extremely difficult to believe is that anyone would consider Yusuf important enough, and his farcical TFG consequential enough, to justify killing him at all. Someone equally powerless would simply take his place. And particularly in Somalia, I don't think many adults could be found who believe that Yusuf will ever be more than a figurehead in his lifetime.
And yet, even more ludicrous, we're supposed to believe that somebody carried out a suicide bombing in order to kill him.
So this is another event that I'm very suspicious of. Who is behind it? Clearly, foreign governments would have the greatest interest in arranging the incident. Foreign governments have an interest in making Somalia appear to be less stable than it is, while making the TFG appear to be a force for "restoring order," and its leader important enough for some evildoer to assassinate. The Ethiopian government in particular is in the most immediate danger of collapsing as anarchy threatens to spread. But all the world's regimes see the writing on the wall and would have the same motivation to arrange this kind of violent act, if not the same degree of urgency.
Maybe there was a suicide bomber. But then, maybe the bomb was planted in an unsuspecting victim's vehicle. If it was a suicide bombing, it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out that a foreign government, using drugs, or hypnotism or other psychological methods, induced the bomber to do the deed.
Update: In a new twist to the story, it seems there was a gunbattle after the bombing. So...(holds out left hand, palm up) ..."suicide bombing"...(holds out right hand, palm up) ..."gunbattle"...(holds out left hand, palm up)..."suicide bombing"...(holds out right hand, palm up)..."gunbattle"...
I have a theory as to how the two are logically connected. Perhaps you have one, too.
I remembered the joke after the bombing the other day in Baidoa, Somalia, which some reports were calling an assassination attempt against the TFG President Abdullahi Yusuf. It was reportedly also Somalia's first suicide bombing ever.
It's debatable whether Yusuf is important enough for the phrase 'assassination attempt' to be used in this case. However, what I do find extremely difficult to believe is that anyone would consider Yusuf important enough, and his farcical TFG consequential enough, to justify killing him at all. Someone equally powerless would simply take his place. And particularly in Somalia, I don't think many adults could be found who believe that Yusuf will ever be more than a figurehead in his lifetime.
And yet, even more ludicrous, we're supposed to believe that somebody carried out a suicide bombing in order to kill him.
So this is another event that I'm very suspicious of. Who is behind it? Clearly, foreign governments would have the greatest interest in arranging the incident. Foreign governments have an interest in making Somalia appear to be less stable than it is, while making the TFG appear to be a force for "restoring order," and its leader important enough for some evildoer to assassinate. The Ethiopian government in particular is in the most immediate danger of collapsing as anarchy threatens to spread. But all the world's regimes see the writing on the wall and would have the same motivation to arrange this kind of violent act, if not the same degree of urgency.
Maybe there was a suicide bomber. But then, maybe the bomb was planted in an unsuspecting victim's vehicle. If it was a suicide bombing, it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out that a foreign government, using drugs, or hypnotism or other psychological methods, induced the bomber to do the deed.
Update: In a new twist to the story, it seems there was a gunbattle after the bombing. So...(holds out left hand, palm up) ..."suicide bombing"...(holds out right hand, palm up) ..."gunbattle"...(holds out left hand, palm up)..."suicide bombing"...(holds out right hand, palm up)..."gunbattle"...
I have a theory as to how the two are logically connected. Perhaps you have one, too.
posted by Steve | 12:57 PM
6 Comments:
I had the same questions about the suicide bombing followed by a gun battle at the American Embassy in Syria recently. Something didn't seem quite right about that one either.
That's interesting. I missed that little detail.
Unfortunatly I believe that you are mistaken. ccording to my neighbours who are somalis the following is happening.
The UIC has gained control over Somalia with the exception of Puntland and Somaliland and Baidoa.
Obviously they want to control Baidoa as well and that is the reason behind all this.
I will see what more I can find out, but according to them some parts of the territory controlled by the UIC is under strict sharia.
I will tell you more once I know more.
"The UIC has gained control over Somalia with the exception of Puntland and Somaliland and Baidoa."
The main theme of the latest report on Somalia at pinr.com is political fragmentation, not consolidation as your Somali neighbors are saying.
"Obviously they want to control Baidoa as well and that is the reason behind all this."
I think it's far from obvious. There are plenty of examples in history of groups orchestrating terrorist attacks in order to blame them on their enemies. Of course, we'll probably never know for sure.
That reminds me, I should add links to infowars.com and whatreallyhappened.com.
I agree that sharia law and Islam don't allow much social freedom, but I'm hoping that at least the high level of economic freedom in most of Somalia will give a boost to the cause of freedom outside the Islamic world.
I wonder if your Somali neighbors have information about taxation in various parts of Somalia and how they are levied.
I do not know and I hope that you are right. I will try to find out more from my neighbours later, but usually I talk to them on Saturdays when their nephew is here and today I did not see him. This week I am traveling to Romania and I will return home in about one month.
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