The Kenyan Factor in Al Shabaab

[jakaswanga]

Otish and Kamalet are now moving away, and they are loosing me, so I will have my say, and listen to them tomorrow when they are sober! ----BTW, Njakip is Moonki?

I was thinking first there is the ideology –-and a major aspect of the ideology, is to articulate a collective grievance. For instance, Osama bin Laden's key complaint, was the stationing of infidel soldiers in the Holy Land, housing the Kabaa and the twins Medina and Mecca.
For Wahabism, Saudi Arabia is holy. For Oil companies too, for a long tie Saudi Arabia was holy --(now you have fracking and other alternatives). For Christians, it is the birthland of Jesus. And I think for Catholics, the Vatican is the holy city, not Jerusalem. For Shiite, it should be Qom. Don't really know.
But the argument is Religions do have their Holy artefacts, and the believers can be called to defend them, just like secularists would be called in general mobilisation to repel an invader and die under the flag of patriotism.



Modern Islamic terrorism –-let me just use that word, is ideologically very articulate. Just like the wave of terrorist organisations which spearheaded decolonisation. And that in this case Islamic Jihadist articulation, is not the work of fools. Al-Qaida's pope was of course Ayman Al-Zawahiri al Masri. And he is a theological offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, a respectable historical think-tank in Islamic scholarship: a canon. One can visit Ayman's progressions in his battles with the Mubarak regime from a popular peoples' doctor into jailbird trouble-maker for the Sadat/Mubarak regime.

Also, one of the most often cited theorists of modern Jihad –-they do not call themselves terrorists, is the American of Yemeni origins Anwar-Al-Awlaki, whose career Obama put paid to with a drone hit.



But all wars, whatever their names, needs foot soldiers. And one must not confuse a rectruitment strategy with the ideals of an organisation. The ideal soldier is highly ideologically motivated. But reality provides an interesting choice. The best soldiers will be brave and daring men or women. And war will be a pragmatic affair in the main.

For Al-Qaida operations like the 9/11, they of course need ideologically motivated, highly sophisticated people, and the profile of the 9/11 hijackers is far from riff-raff. These are spectacular propaganda stuff. Otherwise for the daily grind of war –--like the guerrilla operations of Al-Shabaab in Somalia, ordinary fellows who can function in any organisation will do. And that is just about most men. And motives can range from adventure to occupation/trade, to religion and revenge. Anything human.

Who joins the Kenya army and why, at the gunnery levels? Patriotism? Career? Way out of unemployment? –--You name it, you apply the same for terrorist organisations. (what do you think pschological tests of many Multinational CEO's revealed? same typology Pablo Escobar famed of the Medellin Cartel, same typology Yassir Arafat!

These things are human activities. And honestly, that can not be anything mysterious!

NB: Agonisingly, the British establishment has been pretending not to understand how a London computer scientist can turn ISIS beheader, Jihadi John.

Ask the former IRA bombers. Most have been released from Prison following the settlement of the ''troubles''. And they are not apologetic. –--Catholic Irish Nationalism demanding breathing room, with bombs! A caliphate in the land of the two streams looks a grand enough ideal to make a man committed to its cause.

I think these things are that easy to explain.

What is Hamas? –-Palestinian nationalism wedded to Islamic religion (theological) as opposed to the secular (Al-Fatah) founded by Yassir Arafat. So okay, Hamas –--- quoting Bibi Netanyahu who has offered his help to Uhuru kenyatta- over Garissa--- is an insidious terrorist organisation. But there you are, Palestinian nationhood looking for its state and freedom: what options facing atomic power Israel supported 100% by nuclear super power America?
Accept the slavery statelessness and suffer without bitterness? move on? –-There is a Greek definition of man as freedom in motion. The Romans paraphrased that to man is a political animal. He finds reason to rebel. And puts his heart to it.

And that is really why he can become a terrorist. Rebelling against stuff he does not like, and upping the ante to maximum stakes. And so a would-be intern at Ahmednassir's lawyer firm took a different choice.

you know guys, a man can decided he does not want to sit at the JSC because it is rotten even if it earns ksh. 1m per month. That success as defined by Shollei --tender scams; Ojienda (Mumias looting); etc etc .. is despicable, and radicalise to hell!

[OtishOtish]

Apr 9, 2015 17:46:20 GMT 3 kamalet said:

Being no longer Kenyan and only appearing to be interested in news of how ODM is being cheated, it is highly unlikely that you will ever hear of what I am talking about! Do try and scour the newspapers this week you will find stories of missing young person. It is a real pity you think yourself as the world!

Yours is unhelpful, confused, and misplaced emotion. Let us try and sober you up a bit:

(1) I have noted, in your comments, a general and ongoing excitement regarding my citizenship.

It is certainly true that I gave up my Kenyan citizenship when people who committed crimes against humanity were elected to "lead" the country. But my lack of Kenyan citizenship has nothing to do with being Kenyan, which I am. Indeed, Kenyan law itself says that if I later wish to, I can reclaim citizenship, on the basis that I am .... Kenyan!

(If you need further clarification on that point, please send me p.m.)

On the basis that I am Kenyan and concerned about Kenya, I will continue to comment on Kenyan matters. So if I were you, I'd give up on that ultimately-futile line of citizenship. Accept and move on, as one might say.

(2) I have no doubt that there are stories I Kenya of missing young people. Nor do I have any doubts that worried parents of young people have gone to the "authorities" and expressed concern. It might come as a surprise to you, but that happens all over the world, even in Kenya, and at all times. What's more, the mere fact that even the parents think their missing progeny might be up to no good does not necessarily make it so. Try and absorb that; it might help reduce the unnecessary stress and anguish you appear to be suffering over missing young Kenyans who are allegedly now working to be terrorists.

(3) Much of what I write about Kenya has nothing to do with CORD and elections.

I would encourage you to get beyond the notion that everything is about CORD--Jubilee elections. On the 2013 elections and cheating: I have never said or written anything to suggest that I believe CORD was cheated in those elections; so I don't know where you get your funny ideas. Whatever I have written about CORD is clear enough as it is, but if you have difficulties with any part, please send me p.m., and I shall be happy to clarify.

The 2013 elections are over and done with. If you must get worked up over elections, I'd suggest that you focus on the 2017 ones. But please leave me out of that, as I have, from history, already determined how it will go: "from our village!", "our man!", "our tribe!", etc.

Please try and stay off the keyboard for a little while, do some thinking and get some clarity on such matters, then return for a proper discussion. Calm down! Kenya is faced with numerous challenges, and what those require is a calm and objective consideration of the facts; mindless, emotion-laced, and erratic jumping up-and-down simply won't do.

[nok]

Apr 8, 2015 13:21:40 GMT 3 nok said:

Being the idiot I am ; Ethnic cleansing of non-Muslims -> through 'jihad extremism = terrorism / pseudo Al shabaab -> in NEP and via extension coastal region = > part of longterm strategy -> Secession


www.africanstudies.northwestern.edu/docs/publications-research/working-papers/ndzovu-2010.pdf

Abstract
Within Kenya’s political scene, racial and ethnic identities play a crucial role in creating division
in Muslims’ political engagement. ... It is this perceived marginalization
which Kenyan Muslims are presently striving to overcome. insert quote here

www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000157931/detectives-pursue-secret-local-terror-networks

The security chiefs in Nairobi and Garissa are also pursuing some of the attackers suspected to have been trained by Kenya to help Somalia’s government, but they had turned around and ended up as tribal militia for a clandestine secessionist movement in northern Kenya.

and further

Besides, the Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro also confirmed to The Standard on Saturday that there was an active investigation into the clandestine secessionist movement in northern Kenya. The authorities believe the movement wants to hive off parts of Garissa, Isiolo, Mandera, Wajir and Marsabit to create an independent movement. “We are aware of the issues surrounding the so called Gharre nation. It is a matter we are handling very keenly. We have indeed gone deep in terms of investigating that matter. I do not wish to comment further,” Muhoro said.

anyway let me remain the idiot i am !

[b6k]

Interesting take on psycho-social causes of radicalization from Rasnah Wara...

We must address psyco-social causes of radicalisation to fight terrorism

What prompted Mohammed Abdirahim Abdullahi, a law student with a bright future, to massacre fellow university students in Garissa? This is the million-dollar question everyone is asking.

The theory that Al-Shabaab recruits are mostly poor, uneducated youth was shattered by the slick and smart 27-year-old terrorist, who is believed to be the ringleader of the attack.

It is often assumed that Al-Shabaab recruits come from underprivileged backgrounds. However, more recent studies indicate that it is not so much poverty that determines who will become a jihadist but social and psychological factors.

When author James Fergusson tracked down families of Somalis in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who had lost a relative to Al-Shabaab, he found that many of the recruits came from single-parent homes where a father-figure was missing, either because of death, divorce, or abandonment.

Local radical imams often replaced these absentee fathers and helped to initiate young recruits into the Al-Shabaab fold.

Trauma and dislocation caused by the civil war in Somalia exacerbate feelings of alienation and powerlessness among young American Somalis. This void is often filled by either joining a street gang or signing up with Al-Shabaab.

Broken families and lack of a male parental figure seem to come up again and again as conditions for radicalisation. When researcher Anneli Botha of the Institute of Security Studies interviewed radicalised youths in Kenya who were associated with Al-Shabaab, she found that nearly one-fifth of them had grown up without a father figure.

LOST THEIR FATHERS

Among these, the majority had lost their fathers before they reached the age of 20, though some were also orphans who had lost both parents before reaching adulthood.

Those who grew up with a father reported that he was autocratic and made all the rules, with mothers having little say in how to raise their own children.

This raises another issue that was recently brought to my attention by a woman at a workshop discussing gender-based violence in Mogadishu. She told me that when a Somali woman marries into another clan, her children are not considered part of her clan, but that of her husband.

She said that if women had more say in Somali society, there would be no conflict and no Al-Shabaab in Somalia because women are in effect “clanless” and generally not part of polarised clan-based politics. This makes them natural peacemakers.

Although prolonged conflict and displacement have shifted gender roles, with an increasing number of women becoming the main breadwinners for their families, the basic values attached to gender identity among Somalis remain unchanged, according to a study by CISP and International Alert.

Women are still considered inferior even with their status as breadwinners and men still control and dominate the political sphere.

CONSIDERED INFERIOR

Women from minority clans who live in refugee camps or camps for internally displaced people are particularly vulnerable to violence, including rape, as they are considered inferior on two counts — their gender and their clan.

Thus, rape of such women is not considered rape and goes largely unreported and unpunished, say the study’s authors.

The lack of a political voice extends also to minority clans and clans that have been deliberately excluded from the political process. This has been cited as a reason for the continuation of the conflict in Somalia as large powerful clans compete with each other for a bigger share of the political and economic pie, leaving weaker or less influential clans out of the equation.

Some believe that politically excluded clans in Jubaland, who oppose interim president Ahmed Madobe, an Ogaden who is allied to the Kenyan Somali political elite and who is the comrade-in-arms of the Kenyan forces in southern Somalia, are joining Al-Shabaab in, as one Somali put it, “an asymmetric warfare that remains the only option for ignored voices”.

It is rumoured that aggrieved clans are linking with terrorist militia to assert their respective clan’s authority in Jubaland.

Unfortunately, by allying itself with just one clan — the Ogaden — Kenya became a partisan player in Somalia’s divisive clan politics and, therefore, lost credibility as a neutral party in the eyes of most Somali people.

[e-mail]

mobile.nation.co.ke/blogs/-/1949942/2683606/-/format/xhtml/-/bduiej/-/index.html

OO I totally agree with Botha on the lack of a constant & stable father figure in the home as part of the problem...

[jakaswanga]

Apr 13, 2015 6:16:14 GMT 3 b6k said:

Interesting take on psycho-social causes of radicalization from Rasnah Wara...

We must address psyco-social causes of radicalisation to fight terrorism

What prompted Mohammed Abdirahim Abdullahi, a law student with a bright future, to massacre fellow university students in Garissa? This is the million-dollar question everyone is asking.

The theory that Al-Shabaab recruits are mostly poor, uneducated youth was shattered by the slick and smart 27-year-old terrorist, who is believed to be the ringleader of the attack.

It is often assumed that Al-Shabaab recruits come from underprivileged backgrounds. However, more recent studies indicate that it is not so much poverty that determines who will become a jihadist but social and psychological factors.

When author James Fergusson tracked down families of Somalis in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who had lost a relative to Al-Shabaab, he found that many of the recruits came from single-parent homes where a father-figure was missing, either because of death, divorce, or abandonment.

Local radical imams often replaced these absentee fathers and helped to initiate young recruits into the Al-Shabaab fold.

Trauma and dislocation caused by the civil war in Somalia exacerbate feelings of alienation and powerlessness among young American Somalis. This void is often filled by either joining a street gang or signing up with Al-Shabaab.

Broken families and lack of a male parental figure seem to come up again and again as conditions for radicalisation. When researcher Anneli Botha of the Institute of Security Studies interviewed radicalised youths in Kenya who were associated with Al-Shabaab, she found that nearly one-fifth of them had grown up without a father figure.

LOST THEIR FATHERS

Among these, the majority had lost their fathers before they reached the age of 20, though some were also orphans who had lost both parents before reaching adulthood.

Those who grew up with a father reported that he was autocratic and made all the rules, with mothers having little say in how to raise their own children.

This raises another issue that was recently brought to my attention by a woman at a workshop discussing gender-based violence in Mogadishu. She told me that when a Somali woman marries into another clan, her children are not considered part of her clan, but that of her husband.

She said that if women had more say in Somali society, there would be no conflict and no Al-Shabaab in Somalia because women are in effect “clanless” and generally not part of polarised clan-based politics. This makes them natural peacemakers.

Although prolonged conflict and displacement have shifted gender roles, with an increasing number of women becoming the main breadwinners for their families, the basic values attached to gender identity among Somalis remain unchanged, according to a study by CISP and International Alert.

Women are still considered inferior even with their status as breadwinners and men still control and dominate the political sphere.

CONSIDERED INFERIOR

Women from minority clans who live in refugee camps or camps for internally displaced people are particularly vulnerable to violence, including rape, as they are considered inferior on two counts — their gender and their clan.

Thus, rape of such women is not considered rape and goes largely unreported and unpunished, say the study’s authors.

The lack of a political voice extends also to minority clans and clans that have been deliberately excluded from the political process. This has been cited as a reason for the continuation of the conflict in Somalia as large powerful clans compete with each other for a bigger share of the political and economic pie, leaving weaker or less influential clans out of the equation.

Some believe that politically excluded clans in Jubaland, who oppose interim president Ahmed Madobe, an Ogaden who is allied to the Kenyan Somali political elite and who is the comrade-in-arms of the Kenyan forces in southern Somalia, are joining Al-Shabaab in, as one Somali put it, “an asymmetric warfare that remains the only option for ignored voices”.

It is rumoured that aggrieved clans are linking with terrorist militia to assert their respective clan’s authority in Jubaland.

Unfortunately, by allying itself with just one clan — the Ogaden — Kenya became a partisan player in Somalia’s divisive clan politics and, therefore, lost credibility as a neutral party in the eyes of most Somali people.

[e-mail]

mobile.nation.co.ke/blogs/-/1949942/2683606/-/format/xhtml/-/bduiej/-/index.html

OO I totally agree with Botha on the lack of a constant & stable father figure in the home as part of the problem...

B6k

The way the question to be answered is framed worries me. Significant details are missing which, if inserted, change the parameters of the answer.

The man was Muslim. Ethnicity: Somali. During the mass murder, he and his accomplices took care to ascertain the faiths of their choice victims. It was not random.

Without these details Warah makes it a random affair, without the obvious political motive.

Nb. Broken homes! The world is full of them. What a future we face.

How are Scandinavian figures on single Parent homes? And social deviance statistics?

[b6k]

Jakaswanga, kindly note that Rasnah Warah borrows from two different sources. James Fergusson's Minneapolis study of the Somali population therein and OO's Anneli Botha. Both seem to hint at lack of father figures in a young lad's life leading to a potential for radicalization. Note Fergusson has two possible outcomes. 1) They join a street gang which would lead to petty or even serious crime in the US or 2) they link up with some Imam type individual who leads them down the path of Islamic radicalisation AFTER he has filled in the father figure role that they lack in their lives (methinks there's a third outcome, young men who just go on leading normal lives who are the majority). It's this latter group that Rasnah Warah says is of interest to Al Shabaab.

Obviously not everyone without a father figure in their life turns to crime or radicalisation just as not everyone with one leads a crime free life. If it were so then KE would have a serious problem on its hands since we have amongst the highest rates of single parent families in Africa. Back to the experts, I think they mean coming from a community that has the avenue to ventilate its real or imagined frustrations through groups such as Al Shabaab the red flag is those without father figures. To them then add the local or homegrown disgruntled elements (who also may or may not be lacking a father figure in their life) who find Al Shabaab "cool" & "ballsy" for its daring attacks against the establishment and you have the makings of the psycho-social conditions that feed the group with fresh recruits.

Listening to the BBC Radio over the weekend I caught the tail end of a segment that was discussing the Fergusson study. They had a Somali speaker on air who said that many if these youths have "romantic" beliefs of what it means to be an Al Shabaab fighter. When they actually land on the ground somewhere in a dusty village in Somalia the reality is so far removed from what they imagined they end up disappointed. I'd posit such an individual who has already cut ties with his family back home finding himself in a desperate situation wouldn't really wouldn't mind a suicide mission. Some may just be plain nutters...

[jakaswanga]

Apr 14, 2015 8:26:31 GMT 3 b6k said:

Jakaswanga, kindly note that Rasnah Warah borrows from two different sources. James Fergusson's Minneapolis study of the Somali population therein and OO's Anneli Botha. Both seem to hint at lack of father figures in a young lad's life leading to a potential for radicalization. Note Fergusson has two possible outcomes. 1) They join a street gang which would lead to petty or even serious crime in the US or 2) they link up with some Imam type individual who leads them down the path of Islamic radicalisation AFTER he has filled in the father figure role that they lack in their lives (methinks there's a third outcome, young men who just go on leading normal lives who are the majority). It's this latter group that Rasnah Warah says is of interest to Al Shabaab.

Obviously not everyone without a father figure in their life turns to crime or radicalisation just as not everyone with one leads a crime free life. If it were so then KE would have a serious problem on its hands since we have amongst the highest rates of single parent families in Africa. Back to the experts, I think they mean coming from a community that has the avenue to ventilate its real or imagined frustrations through groups such as Al Shabaab the red flag is those without father figures. To them then add the local or homegrown disgruntled elements (who also may or may not be lacking a father figure in their life) who find Al Shabaab "cool" & "ballsy" for its daring attacks against the establishment and you have the makings of the psycho-social conditions that feed the group with fresh recruits.

Listening to the BBC Radio over the weekend I caught the tail end of a segment that was discussing the Fergusson study. They had a Somali speaker on air who said that many if these youths have "romantic" beliefs of what it means to be an Al Shabaab fighter. When they actually land on the ground somewhere in a dusty village in Somalia the reality is so far removed from what they imagined they end up disappointed. I'd posit such an individual who has already cut ties with his family back home finding himself in a desperate situation wouldn't really wouldn't mind a suicide mission. Some may just be plain nutters...

I take your points sir!

But let me warn you thus: it is okay for the elite to psychologise deviant youths from minorities or so-called broken homes. But when the same science is turned to explain elite behaviour, what do you get!

DISCLAIMER: like I said when Miguna Miguna was being psychoanalysed during his memoirs serialisation, psychology is more of an entertainment to me than a serious science.

Take a look: 1. George Bush ''Dubya'': locked in a rivalry with his father (whose names only differ from his in one abbreviation jnr.) for his mother Barbara, he sought to ''kill him'' and inherit his mother by doing what the dad had failed to do: get rid of the baddest guy in the world, Saddam Hussein! (No oil business, no geopolitical aims, no USA hegemony bullsh!t, nay, all just for mum's love!)

2. use 1. to ponder your own his excellency, also a dynast.

3. Barrack Obama and his absent further: the rage that informs the ferocious drone campaigns?

4. Jeff Bush for president: sibling rivalry with Dubya, to erase both George's from Barbara's affections, and be the King of her heart?

5. Hilary Clinton: pathological penile envy at Bill who, though her lesser in her mind, has always gone first and achieved limelight because of that longer thing between his knees. And so in revenge and parity, President she will be! and god, will she not unleash the rages of ''hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'' on foreign leaders who will annoy her!

You catch pyschology, when the same theories selling broken homes lower down the social ladder are turned upward to read the elite!?

Sounds good for the bar, when you and I, sitting across from the other and with women not our wives, the table more than generous, the glases copious, are discussing Balotelli (italian or African talent?) while at the same time sizing up the chances of a lay swap some day!)

[b6k]

Jakaswanga, you were very brief when it came to the psychoanalysis of subject 2. Why is that?

Many do say psychology is humbug. It's difficult to pigeon-hole people and when you think about it there are myriad motivators that get people to do what they do...or not to do what they don't. Young impressionable males can be conditioned to do that which they ordinarily wouldn't. Little wonder the world's armies take in recruits in their late teens when their full mental faculties remain malleable. If you lack a drill seargent father figure at home, the world will provide you one, for better or for worse.

But let me ponder your missive above, steeped in the classics as it is. I'll drink to the last paragraph next time I'm at my local wateringhole...