28th September 2013
Last Saturday was one of the worst and tragic days
for Kenyans as well as the East African region, following terrorism
attacks at the Westgate Shopping Mall in downtown Nairobi, where dozens
of innocent civilians were killed, hundreds injured while others are
still missing.
The attacks reminded us that the world isn’t safe even after the killing of Osama Bin Laden, a man believed to be the architect of modern terrorism and mass bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When Al-Qaeda bombed US embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi in August, 1998, one American journalist answering a question on why the terrorists chose East Africa responded it was “because these are poor countries with no strong and effective security measures” to defend themselves against these kinds of attacks.
Three years later, terrorists belonging to Al-Qaeda bombed the mighty and rich United States of America by using civilian aircrafts, which they had hijacked in American airspace. Some years later, the same terrorists bombed London, the capital of the United Kingdom, which is another mighty and rich nation.
What does this mean? It simply means that no one is safe -- whether they are rich or poor. We are all in the same boat, and that’s why we need to have collaborative and well planned preventive measures, if we need to defeat terrorism.
We at The Guardian believe that to defeat terrorism, first of all, there should be comprehensive preventive measures that involve credible intelligence mechanisms. Terrorism is not a sudden move; it is a well planned attack that takes months or even years to plan.
Since it’s a long-term or short term plan, then our security forces, especially those tasked in fighting terrorism, should be ahead of terrorists through well gathered intelligence reports. In a very sophisticated world where there’s advancement in technology, our intelligence and security agencies are capable of beating terrorism.
However, victory could only be achieved if we have the best and dedicated human resources, which focuses on key national security issues at the expense of cheap petty matters. Not only that but also there should be comprehensive collaboration between security agencies and ordinary citizens.
With 68 people dead in the fancy Westgate shopping Mall, at least 175 others nursing bullet injuries and an unknown number being held hostage somewhere in the building, the war has arrived in Nairobi in the most tragic possible way.
For instance, Kenya can’t say it wasn’t warned. Ever since October 2011, when 4,000-odd Kenyan troops were summarily dispatched across to the border into Somalia with a mandate to hunt down and destroy Al-Shabaab, the Islamist militant group has been promising a massive, bloody revenge. But how serious was the warning taken is a billion dollar question. If the warning was seriously taken, then preventive measures would have been taken to stop the bloody attacks.
It should be noted that terrorists don’t live in military barracks, but they do live among us. They even trade and socialize with us. This being the case, we as the citizens should also play a crucial role of providing reliable intelligence information to security agencies.
But, for this to happen, those tasked with our security should also build a trust with the ordinary folks. For these ordinary folks to volunteer information, they need to be assured of confidentiality by those who receive the intelligence tips.
The attacks reminded us that the world isn’t safe even after the killing of Osama Bin Laden, a man believed to be the architect of modern terrorism and mass bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When Al-Qaeda bombed US embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi in August, 1998, one American journalist answering a question on why the terrorists chose East Africa responded it was “because these are poor countries with no strong and effective security measures” to defend themselves against these kinds of attacks.
Three years later, terrorists belonging to Al-Qaeda bombed the mighty and rich United States of America by using civilian aircrafts, which they had hijacked in American airspace. Some years later, the same terrorists bombed London, the capital of the United Kingdom, which is another mighty and rich nation.
What does this mean? It simply means that no one is safe -- whether they are rich or poor. We are all in the same boat, and that’s why we need to have collaborative and well planned preventive measures, if we need to defeat terrorism.
We at The Guardian believe that to defeat terrorism, first of all, there should be comprehensive preventive measures that involve credible intelligence mechanisms. Terrorism is not a sudden move; it is a well planned attack that takes months or even years to plan.
Since it’s a long-term or short term plan, then our security forces, especially those tasked in fighting terrorism, should be ahead of terrorists through well gathered intelligence reports. In a very sophisticated world where there’s advancement in technology, our intelligence and security agencies are capable of beating terrorism.
However, victory could only be achieved if we have the best and dedicated human resources, which focuses on key national security issues at the expense of cheap petty matters. Not only that but also there should be comprehensive collaboration between security agencies and ordinary citizens.
With 68 people dead in the fancy Westgate shopping Mall, at least 175 others nursing bullet injuries and an unknown number being held hostage somewhere in the building, the war has arrived in Nairobi in the most tragic possible way.
For instance, Kenya can’t say it wasn’t warned. Ever since October 2011, when 4,000-odd Kenyan troops were summarily dispatched across to the border into Somalia with a mandate to hunt down and destroy Al-Shabaab, the Islamist militant group has been promising a massive, bloody revenge. But how serious was the warning taken is a billion dollar question. If the warning was seriously taken, then preventive measures would have been taken to stop the bloody attacks.
It should be noted that terrorists don’t live in military barracks, but they do live among us. They even trade and socialize with us. This being the case, we as the citizens should also play a crucial role of providing reliable intelligence information to security agencies.
But, for this to happen, those tasked with our security should also build a trust with the ordinary folks. For these ordinary folks to volunteer information, they need to be assured of confidentiality by those who receive the intelligence tips.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
