Kosovo Albanian Man Kills U.S. Airmen Due to Radical Propaganda?
Arid Uka, a 21-year-old man from Kosovo, has admitted to killing two U.S. airmen at Germany’s Frankfort airport.
The killings, which took place this past March killed Senior Airman Nicholas J. Alden and Airman 1st Class Zachary R. Cuddeback.
Uka now faces two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder for the wounding of two others at the airport during the attack.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Uka, who was born in Kosovo but raised in Frankfort, argues that he carried out the attack due to radical Islamic propaganda he was viewing online.
In his emotional confession to the court, Uka admitted that he wanted to “wage war” on the United States for its intervention in Afghanistan and argued that he became increasingly radicalized after watching Jihadist videos over the internet.
One video in particular enraged the young man.
The video portrayed American soldiers raping a Muslim girl, however, the film that prompted Uka to act was in fact a scene from the anti-war Hollywood film “Redacted.”
After seeing the film via a link posted on Facebook, Uka decided to carry out an attack against American servicemen and went the next day to the Frankfort airport on March 2 with a 9mm pistol and two knives.
Uka followed U.S. soldiers that landed in the airport out to a waiting army bus and began to shoot shouting “Allah Akbar.”
Uka told the court, “To this day I try to understand what happened and why I did it… but I don’t understand.”
He also added, "On the one hand I wanted to do something to help the women, and on the other hand I hoped I would not see any soldiers."
He also used his opportunity to speak to the court to urge other Muslims not be carried away by radical "lying" propaganda.
The fact that a terrorist attack was carried out on U.S. airmen by a Kosovar Albanian is quite unique.
Many in Kosovo perceive the United States as instrumental in driving Serbian troops out of the country in 1999.
In fact, a bronze statue of former U.S. president Bill Clinton was unveiled in 2009 in Pristina, on the capital's Bill Clinton Boulevard.
The statue portrays Clinton holding documents that bear the date when NATO started its air campaign that forced Milosevic and his troops to retreat; opening up the opportunity for Kosovo to declare its independence from Belgrade.
Uka’s trial is expected to last 10 days and a verdict, that may require Uka spend the rest of his life behind bars, is expected to be handed down in early 2012.
