Three Years Later, A Country In Need

By Sora Song

Douglas Sidialo, 31, lost his eyesight on Aug. 7, 1998, when terrorists bombed the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. A simultaneous bombing at the embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, resulted in a total of 224 people dead and thousands injured. The U.S. responded quickly with $50 million in humanitarian aid. But, says Sidialo, who heads Nairobi's largest survivors' group, "It's our hope that Americans could help us even more."

There is growing discontent among Kenyans--for whom U.S.-sponsored health and education programs will expire next year--as they hear how Americans are taking care of their own by funneling more than $850 million to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Two months ago, Walter Gombe, 37, lost his job as a data-control officer. Despite five back operations since the bombing, the lower part of his body is still numb, and he needs a costly kidney operation. "When the drugs run out," he asks, "what do I do?" Some 3,000 of his countrymen with similar sentiments have sued the U.S. government, for $250,000 to $1.5 million each, claiming that the State Department negligently ignored warnings about the embassy assaults and failed to protect its buildings. "This thing happened to us," says Gombe, "but it was directed at America, not at us."

Last week in New York, four terrorists who colluded with Osama bin Laden to carry out the 1998 bombings were sentenced to life in prison without parole. The judge also ordered them to pay $33 million in restitution to the bomb victims, which is unlikely to occur, as the men are not believed to have sufficient assets. Compensation from America is equally remote; the lawsuit--which, ironically, includes double-dipping plaintiffs already receiving aid--has in effect no defendant, as the U.S. takes no responsibility for the results of terrorism.

--Reported by Simon Robinson/Nairobi

With reporting by Simon Robinson/Nairobi