Mau Mau claims of British brutality are the reverse of the truth. By a man who was there.

 

1. I thought I read somewhere that Hussein Obama’s grandfather was a member of this fine collection of men.

   Posted by LyndonB       02/08/2010  at  03:53 PM  



2. SHIT of the planet, we wasent even trying to wipe them out. they do that on there own no help needed,

   Posted by bulldog       02/08/2010  at  07:04 PM  



3. Alright, obligatory fact check:

   For the article, virtually everything is in place save for two things: the part regarding Jomo Kenyatta. While it is true that he WAS the leader of the KAU (which was the parent organization of the Mau Mau), it is arguable that he was involved in the rising at all, much less was the mastermind of it. He was certainly a nationalist, but he was comparatively moderate, and indeed that is part of the reason why he was picked by the British for the leadership role in the independent Kenya, because he had enough credibility with the radicals to be fairly popular, but the British trusted him to not blow everything up like some of the psychopaths that were the other options.

   Secondly, the British almost certainly DID torture Mau Mau hardliners who were captured in Kenya. Indeed, the swine you have a picture of (the infamous General China, real name Waruhiu Itote) was given that particular treatment shortly before his trial. And they also implemented some emergency measures in the urban areas that could best be called somewhat Apartheidish. Granted, they had a very good reason for doing so and most understood it (the Mau Mau insurgency was confined to the wilderness,where the British could starve the enemy of supplies, reinforcements, and other material necessary for war and eventually destroy them as they really did. Which meant that they wanted to keep the rebellion out of the urban areas at all costs, because once there the urban underclass could provide a new power base for the enemy (this is why they implemented similar and earlier laws in Malaysia regarding the Straits Chinese, who were the main constituency of the MRLA)). That being said, we’ve done worse in Egypt, Korea, Japan, Germany, and at home, and we’ve DEFINITIVELY seen even worse from our enemies, so it was a price that can be paid.

   As for you, Pieper…

   If the Brits had a failing, it was the failure to exterminate the entire tribe to the last living or near living life form.

   Now THAT was going way, WAY too far. For one, most of the violence from the war came from the bloody civil war being fought in the KIKUYU TRIBE ITSELF between the Mau Mau on one hand and the loyalists/moderates on the other. Indeed, the first victims of the war were the leaders of the Kikuyu anti-Mau Mau movement itself. And this is before I mention that not all the Rebels (though the vast, vast, vast, VAST majority) were Kiyuku.

   I thought I read somewhere that Hussein Obama’s grandfather was a member of this fine collection of men.

   I don’t doubt that you read it, but I myself am not sure. Obama’s family are Luo, and their traditional relationship to the Kikuyu is.... not pleasant, to say the least. Granted, some hot heads probably bucked tradition and joined up, but they were a VERY, VERY small minority. And while I do believe the British imprisoned Obama’s Grandfather in the leadup to the revolt and he probably WAS involved in revolutionary politics on some level, I am not sure that it was on behalf of the Mau Mau or a smaller, less well known group that many equated with the Mau Mau.

   And finally, I must state that as long as this bizarre infatuation with the “noble savage”, excusing any and all acts of savagery he may commit and holding him to a lower standard than the rest of humanity, we can expect tripe like this to continue. It still is. After all, how many people have heard some idiot say that the Islamists are just a “bunch of Arabs with AK-47s who are no threat to us”? This condescending attitude will get us all killed.

   Posted by Turtler       02/09/2010  at  06:27 AM  

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