From: Kuria-Mwangi

Good observations MK. Those conspiracy theorists only help the terrorists as they read and watch us turns ourselves into the fools. Remember those who denied that the Holocaust never happened? May be it made the neo Nazis happy the way those spinning these conspiracy theories make the terrorists happy as they read them.

What we need is a sober approach to this menace, so I join Omollo and Wams is stating that yours is a sober piece.

On Fri, Sep 27, 2013 at 1:48 PM, Geoffrey Omollo wrote:

A sober take.

“Never be guilty of sacrificing any portion of TRUTH on the altar of PEACE.”J. C. Ryle.

Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 12:40:08 -0400
Subject: westgate.Mkawasi’s take / FB
From: wams2006@ . . .

Mkawasi Mcharo Hall

Options for this story

It’s easy in the midst of a storm to grab onto all that is sensational, all that is devoid of truth, all that trashes and negates real experiences both traumatic and heroic, and spread it like a virus. Be careful what you lend credence to in the name of “sharing.”

Desist from being willing transmitters of clips and writings authored by those who love and thrive in the darker arts of weaving propaganda and conspiracies that block the path to truth and justice.

Yes, question, be very critical, be open-minded. But do not be the consummate undertaker who excitedly keeps burying the truth on behalf of creative self-serving liars. They love you for your free services, but mostly, they laugh at your gullibility. Be smart.

Mkawasi Mcharo Hall Wams, thanks for the question. Glad to answer it.

*moving back to podium.

1. Deniers: Those who deny it ever happened. A video clip getting thousands of hits internationally is already out “proving” that Nairobi’s Westgate attack never happened. Denying tragedies of great magnitude is common, e.g., Holocaust deniers. With time, it becomes a school of thought that helps bury truth, deny justice to those who seek it and invalidating the suffering of others. Unfortunately, I’ve seen this Westgate-never-happened clip by an American make its rounds among Kenyans, some who are actually entertaining the thought that someone cooked it all up for some selfish gains. The only person benefitting is the creator of the clip. It takes but one minute to research and see that this is someone who loves and thrives in this trade. If no disaster happens, he could arrange a public massacre of his own family just to create a denial. Cold.

2. Conspiracy theorists: Those who are spending hours building intricate plots “shockingly” revealing who really masterminded the whole macabre thing, usually some politician who stood to gain from such a disaster, and if such a politician lost loved ones, it was all part of the calculated collateral damage. The Kenyan conspiracy theorist are not the kind that watch too many Who-killed-JFK movies, they are the kind who are too sickeningly partisan, intent on grabbing any opportunity to destroy a political enemy. The worst thing about conspiracy theories, intriguing as they are, drawing us in with breathtaking what-ifs and who-done-it, is that they stop us from actually knowing the truth.

3. Propagandists: We could spend a semester on this one. In brief, they are on both sides, the good and the bad. I’m concerned about the bad. Right now, while we know the general truth of great loss and suffering, we don’t know the complete “inside story” of what exactly happened, the who-knew-what-and-when. It’s in the search for the inside story that we are coming undone. All we have is the spin from journalists and bloggers who claim they have the real scoop, some planted, some just cheap speculation. It’s good to engage in vibrant debate and questioning in the absence of the whole truth. But unfortunately a number of Kenyans are already using cheap propaganda to escalate partisan CORD-Jubilee wars, which in Kenyanese comes translates to a reignition of ethnic strife. So much for WeAreOne.

All the above hinder us from seeking and knowing the real truth at a time when there are so many unanswered questions. Those who hold the truth are happy about the sensational spread of denials, conspiracies and propaganda