Reasons why the two United States Embassies in Africa in 1998 were so Essay

Reasons why the two United States Embassies in Africa in 1998 were so vulnerable to terrorists. What went into the planning of those attacks - Essay Example The department of state gathered intelligence on this attacks prior to them occurring but were dismissed as too vague to be useful. (The washington Post, 1999) The second reason is that state agencies such as the FBI and CIA failed to predict the consequences of their pressure on the bin Laden network. In 1997 and 1998 the state agencies put a lot of pressure on the network plus other affiliated groups such as the Al-Haramain thinking that such pressure will make the network to stop its activities. They did not think past the consequences of this which led to the bin laden declaration of war on America especially on embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. (IPP Media, 2011) The third reason is that the two countries Kenya and Tanzania were chosen by the bin laden network because they were convenient for the terrorist organization. A look at both countries shows as that they lacked adequate security during this time especially in Tanzania. The two countries have also a sizeable number of Muslims and people of Arab origin and therefore it was easy to blend in to accomplish their mission. The two nations especially Kenya are known to have close ties with America and therefore bombing such nations meant successful bombing on US territory. The above mentioned factors contributed largely to the vulnerability of the US embassies to Terrorist attacks. (James M. Lutz, 2004) The two bombing attacks in Nairobi and Dar es salaam are believed by many to be a revenge mission for the bin laden network on America for its involvement in the extradition and alleged torture of some members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad that are said to have been arrested in Albania two months before the attacks. The four men were said to be involved in the assassination of Rifaat el-Mahgoub and a plot against the Khan el-Khalili market in Cairo. There was a communiquà © prepared by the bin