A LOT OF PEOPLE have noted a cheering quote from this story on the attacks in Kenya: “Kenyans in the village this evening said the carnage would deliver a devastating blow to their already weak economy. It is unfair, they complained, that innocent Kenyans would again have to die for causes they had nothing to do with. Then they started shouting against Arabs, some of whom have settled here and own stores in the city: ‘We love America,’ they yelled. ‘Go away al Qaeda.’“

But they might check out this less-cheering opinion piece on How Mombasa Got Hot: “I grew up surrounded by mosques full of imams and scholars who oozed wisdom and dignity. Their discourse was love-based and God-centred. Today, the sermons echo a message of anger, frustration and hate. As president of the Muslim Students Union at the University of Nairobi, I was obsessed with so many local concerns that Palestine never made it to the top five. Today, Israel and the plight of the Palestinian people is on the tongue of every Kenyan Muslim you speak to. Then it was only us young people who admired the Islamic revolution and the Ayatollah Khomeini: today, young and old, men and women, they all adore Osama bin Laden.”

And there are notes from the wrong kind of globalization: “Perhaps western tourists by themselves could be tolerated, up to a point. But US soldiers visiting town, most seeking ‘entertainment’, have become particularly unacceptable. They are associated with gambling, prostitution and excessive alcohol. Especially detested is the Americans’ attitude towards the local population.

“…Mombasa has always had strong links with the rest of the Muslim world, particularly the Arabian peninsula. But the arrival of satellite technology, combined with the impact of migrant workers returning from the Middle East, has helped spawn a new world view.

“Most households in Mombasa — where substantial numbers are of Arab ancestry and understand Arabic — are keen followers of events through the al-Jazeera satellite channel. The effect has been to focus discussion on the Palestinian issue above most others.

“The activities of the American intelligence services following the Nairobi bombing in August 1998 and September 11 have also greatly contributed towards the pervasive anti-American and anti-western feelings. People have been infuriated by the habit of CIA and FBI agents, accompanied by Kenyan intelligence officers, of barging into people’s homes and searching them. To date, the whereabouts of at least 20 people arrested by the intelligence services remain a mystery.”

Both these reports may well be true. Kenyans may be rallying behind America and against Al Qaeda in the aftermath of brutal attacks, even if they were willing to express big-talk-no-action pro-Osama sentiments when he wasn’t all up in their faces. But the grievances discussed in the Guardian piece are long-term, simmering resentments. Those resentments will sap any pro-US sentiment if helping us requires sacrifice (or even, as the memory of these attacks fade, work). US companies and military leaders might think about what they can do to turn down the heat.