So, a bunch of Somalis in a slum not far from here apparently wanted to blow something up, something big if they had it their way, which has happened in this corner of the world before.
You’ll recall what happened in Nairobi right around this time last year.
(And if you’ve forgotten, read this, how a day of shopping turned into a day of terror, all told, 67 dead, this post about the Kenyan terror attack, hell, and sharing with the kids.)
A few years before that — we were in Canada at the time — even closer to home, Ugandans suffered a devastating terror attack at a sports bar where dozens were killed by makeshift explosives for the simple crime of watching a soccer game.
These (alleged) al-Shabab hoods rounded up by Ugandan authorities in Kampala this past weekend don’t appear quite as sophisticated.
Then again, a few guys with box cutters did what they did on 9/11.
Which is all to say that nobody, certainly expatriate families living in East Africa, should fail to see the potential for God-knows-what kind of bang on any quiet sunny day in this new era where terrorism, and certainly talk of it, has become all-too commonplace.
The other side of the coin, though, is that, real-life terror brings with it a sort of counterfeit version and needless handwringing. And, some days, simple hopes for, if nothing else, a day off of school.
This almost happened Monday — the US Embassy had warned of a significant anti-terror operation going down on the weekend and told its people (sorry, Canadians here might as well be Americans) to stay indoors.
I had to call an American buddy Sunday night to double-check if school was on the next day.
It was. And there was security at the school gate as there always is.
And, in this case, most kids, my own included, didn’t even know about any of the action from the previous 48 hours.
If you want to read more about it, here’s a Star link.
And we still worry about all of you………..for what good that will do I cannot imagine but worrying is also a little like the night. Sometimes it just happens. Great column Thom. Thanks.
Susan