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Africa Ripe for More Terrorism
Tuesday, October 30, 2001
(3:20 AM ET)
By DeWayne Wickham / USA Today Opinion

"We need training," Ugandan Ambassador Edith Ssempala said. "We need equipment. We need intelligence to fight terrorism in Africa."

The same day that terrorists aligned with Osama bin Laden bombed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, security forces in Uganda stopped a group of attackers from doing the same thing in that East African country.

"The plan was in progress when our security forces foiled it," Ugandan Ambassador Edith Ssempala said, repeating the disclosure Ugandan officials had made several weeks after terrorists struck the two embassies on Aug. 7, 1998. The attacks, which federal prosecutors say were orchestrated by bin Laden, exposed Africa as one of the prime locations for terrorist attacks against American targets overseas.

As U.S. forces pursue bin Laden and leaders of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan -- and federal law enforcement officials gain new powers to fight terrorists at home -- Africa is the Achilles' heel in our war against terrorism. The attacks on the U.S. embassies in Africa killed 224 people and wounded more than 4,000.

In the past 3 years, the threat of new attacks against U.S. targets in Africa has caused numerous alerts and temporary embassy closings there. The pro-bin Laden demonstrations that erupted in Nigeria and Kenya after U.S. airstrikes were launched against Afghanistan demonstrate the continuing ability of the Saudi expatriate to generate anti-American fervor in Africa.
(More: USA Today News Source)
2001 © USA Today.

Dan