From Jake Tapper, in an interview for South African television today, President Obama addressed the Uganda bombings:
"What you've seen in some of the statements that have been made by these terrorist organizations is that they do not regard African life as valuable in and of itself. They see it as a potential place where you can carry out ideological battles that kill innocents without regard to long-term consequences for their short-term tactical gains."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/...
A White House official later reinforced Obama's remarks:
"[Mr. Obama] references the fact that both U.S. intelligence and past al Qaeda actions make clear that al Qaeda -- and the groups like al Shabaab that they inspire -- do not value African life. The actions of al Qaeda and the groups that it has inspired show a willingness to sacrifice innocent African life to reach their targets.
. . .
Additionally, U.S. intelligence has indicated that al Qaeda leadership specifically targets and recruits black Africans to become suicide bombers because they believe that poor economic and social conditions make them more susceptible to recruitment than Arabs. Al Qaeda recruits have said that al Qaeda is racist against black members from West Africa because they are only used in lower level operations.
In short, al Qaeda is a racist organization that treats black Africans like cannon fodder and does not value human life.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/...
The history of Arab anti-black racism actually goes much deeper than al Qaeda -- from the recent situation in Darfur all the way back to the Arab slave trade.
Malik Zulu Shabazz of the New Black Panther Party, shown in this 2002 video heaping praise on Osama bin Laden, may want to consider studying a bit of this history before he spouts off about the virtues of al Qaeda next time.
My Nigerian in-laws can also tell some of the horrors that extremist Arab/Muslims have inflicted upon black Africans in that country.
On the other hand, al Qaeda has not shown any hesitation whatsoever at killing Arabs for their cause.
But I think President Obama is right to shine a light on this under-appreciated aspect of Arab-Muslim extremist violence.