Fallacies of terror that we must face to win the war

The devil is a liar, and his falsehoods were made clear last Tuesday at 14 Riverside Drive. You see terrorism is like colonialism, apartheid, genocide and other atrocities specifically designed to break the spirit of a people.  

The intention of terrorism is to plant crippling fear into the Kenyan sub-conscious. So that no one can walk in a mall, sit in a restaurant or worship in a church without mentally mapping out exit routes in case they come under attack.

So that people will avoid outings with their little children in case they have to quietly hide under furniture for hours. So that businesses will close and industries collapse. But the falsehood that terrorism cowers Kenyans was once gain debunked last Tuesday at 14 Riverside Drive.  In the face of horror Kenyans were heroic, in the face of pointless savagery they were valiant.

People staring death in the face still risked their lives to save their colleagues, even to save strangers. Kenyan soldiers showed breathtaking gallantry, and some brave civilians came to support them, even though they did not have to. Many selfl ess people volunteered their time and resources to help at the site.

And in hospitals, there was an outpouring of Kenyans donating blood. The attack did not induce the kind of mental torture that leads to paralysis. It instead caused Kenyans to spring into action.  Unlike the Westgate attack five years ago, the emergency response by the security agencies was prompt, e? cient and highly organised.

The loss of lives was minimised as much as possible and the criminals were all eliminated. But there are also some truths we have to face as Kenyans.  The fi rst uncomfortable truth is that terrorism itself is not static. The perverted terrorist’s mind dreams up new ways to maim and kill, especially as their old methods get less effective.

The responses from our security and intelligence agencies must therefore also evolve, and their evolution should be at a faster pace than that of the terrorists. We must be one step ahead of them, so that there is no ‘next time.’ And if the next time does happen in a completely di erent way- we can respond with the same effective neutralisation. 

What worked well in the Westgate or 14 Riverside battlefi elds will not necessarily be of much benefi t in cyber warfare for instance. It becomes a war of brain not brawn. We would require sharper Intelligence and highly technical specialised skills more than we would require guns and bullets. How do we counter a syndicate that could disable the national power grid, compromise water sources or derail trains? And what if they can do all this remotely? Scenario building and simulation of alternative futures becomes just as important as close combat maneuvers and active shooter response training. 

The second unfortunate truth is that terrorism is warfare beyond economics, geography and biology. Terrorists are driven by a perverted self-righteous ideology, not money. This self-righteousness drives them to willingly self-destruct. They are backed by networks, resources and intelligence beyond their physical location. Terrorism is therefore almost impossible to contain, di? cult to predict and unlikely to end anytime soon. 

The third unfortunate truth is that as Kenyans, we are in danger of becoming terrorists ourselves. Attributing the sins of a few to a whole ethnic group or a whole religion is utter folly. Muslims are not the enemy. If anything, they pained by those who misrepresent their religion. Somalis are not the enemy. They have never been. They are as much victims of terrorism as any other Kenyan is. If we as Kenyans victimise them, we will be no better than the gun wielding murderous barbarians that prowled the corridors of Westgate, 14 Riverside and Garrissa University. 

- The writer is a PhD candidate in political economy at SMC University. [email protected]