Podcast- Declan Hanlon

On January 15, 2019, the Dusset D-2 Luxury Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya was attacked by al-Shabaab militants. Five armed attackers blew up cars outside the hotel, entered the building, and proceeded to attack guests and staff. The attack lasted for 19 hours, resulting in 22 deaths and 25 injuries. Al-Shabaab, an Islamic extremist group based in Somalia, recruited individuals by exploiting grievances and a shared religious identity. Defectors faced threats and fear of being hunted down by the group. Al-Shabaab used recruitment tactics, engaged in criminal activities such as human trafficking and drug trade, and conducted different types of attacks to achieve their goals. The group targeted Kenya due to corruption, easy targets, and media coverage. The US provided assistance to the Somali National Army to counter Al-Shabaab. Corruption in Kenya allowed the group to operate and commit crimes. Kenya can reduce terrorism by addressing corruption and stabilizing Somalia. On the 15th of January, 2019, the Dusset D-2 Luxury Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya was attacked by the al-Shabaab militant group. On the day of the attack, five heavily armed al-Shabaab militants with AK-47s and grenades arrived at the Dusset D-2 Hotel complex. The attackers began by blowing up two cars outside of the building. In the chaos of the explosions, a suicide bomber rushed the front doors. Once the bomb detonated, the terrorists entered the building. They tossed grenades and opened fire on guests and staff. Maile Chapin, an American Google employee, was present during the attack and recalls the events as she hid in her bathroom, waiting for 17 hours for the terrorists to come to her door. She explains that she knew, as a Western, she was a high-priority target for the attackers, and as she hid in her bathroom, she contemplated taking her own life instead of letting the terrorists take it for her. Fortunately, she was rescued by members of the embassy and escorted out of the hotel, but the attack was not over yet. The attack lasted for 19 hours before the Kenyan Special Forces finally managed to neutralize the attackers, with the help from a UK SAS, Christian Craighead, who heard of the attack while grocery shopping nearby and, after arriving, was able to take out the remaining two terrorists left in the attack. In total, 22 people were killed and over 25 were injured. Al-Shabaab, or The Youth in Arabic, is an Islamic group and political organization based in Somalia. This group was founded in 2006 and is a part of Al-Qaeda. Baltha examined the personal backgrounds of Al-Shabaab members to get a better sense of why these individuals joined this extremist group. Baltha stated that, based on shared religious identity that extends beyond geographical boundaries, Al-Shabaab was successful in transferring my grievances to our grievances, while at the same time providing a sense of belonging within the group against a common enemy. After an increase in terrorism in the area, the government retaliated against the Muslim community, mistreating innocent civilians as potential terrorists, which created large grievances from the already marginalized community. This, along with the religious identity that Al-Shabaab was able to merge with an ideology, enticed a lot of individuals to join the group and peer-pressured others to join as well. With this, Al-Shabaab is able to convince these individuals that Islam was under attack and that this group represents the best interests of Muslims. Taylor interviewed 32 former Al-Shabaab members on recruitment, defection, and post-defection to evaluate how and why people joined this group and the dangers of leaving it. Similar to other terrorist groups, they found that defectors faced the challenge of potentially being hunted down and killed by Al-Shabaab for leaving the organization. Many defectors explained that they had joined the group based on religious reasons, but after realizing that Al-Shabaab did not obey the true Islamic faith, they wanted to leave. Despite a large number of members feeling this way, the threat of being hunted for defecting persuaded most members to remain a part of the terrorist group out of fear. Similar to Taylor's research, Tool also interviewed former members of Al-Shabaab to gain information and perspective on the group's behavior and tactics. He found that Al-Shabaab used recruitment tactics of getting disadvantaged individuals in Kenya to supply Somalia camps with new members. The main focus of these interviews, however, was different than the last source as it focuses more on the criminal aspect of the group. He found that interviewers predominantly discussed the group's activity in human trafficking, their connection to the drug trade, and emphasized how the corruption in Kenya allowed for these things to be possible. This illustrates even more how this extremist group recruits individuals and gives other reasons why it is so difficult to leave the group as committing these criminal acts makes an individual at risk of trying to live a civilian life again. Al-Shabaab have been known to conduct different types of attacks in order to force certain results from their attacks. Ibrahim identifies these attack strategies and the reasons behind the types of attacks used by Al-Shabaab in Kenya. He explains how the large-scale attacks, such as the attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in 2013 that left 67 people dead over the four-day siege, were done in retaliation and in efforts to force the withdrawal of Kenyan troops in Somalia, while the smaller attacks were in an attempt to cause an overreaction against Kenya's Somalia and Muslim minority population. Troops did not leave due to the large-scale attacks, but the smaller attacks did result in harsh state repression of the minority population mentioned earlier, which has deepened the already present grievances and have increased the amount of Al-Shabaab recruits. During his 2016 election campaign, Donald Trump vowed to change U.S. priorities and strengthen his administration's relationship with Israel and its government. Kavari states that as president, Mr. Trump carried through his campaign promises. He recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. He recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. He withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal. He cut funding from the Palestinians, took unilateral supportive action at the U.N., and promoted peace negotiations between Israel and Arab countries in the region. This information is extremely important for this attack because the attackers of the Dusset D2 luxury hotel claimed that the reason for the attack was in direct retaliation of President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the moving of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. Al-Shabaab is able to survive and continue to launch terrorist attacks for so many years because of a few key factors. Zachary explains how terrorist organizations like Al-Shabaab have developed information gathering techniques that have allowed them to counter threats. This terrorist group uses an intelligence gathering strategy through the intelligence unit, Omniat, which focuses on counterintelligence, tactical efficiency, and targeting that allows the group to continue to stay one step ahead of their opponents. Levy also touches on this subject, but instead tackles the counterterrorism efforts being done to stop Al-Shabaab. The difficulties that the Somali National Army has faced in fighting against this group include lack of funding, small amounts of personnel, poor training, and others that make it harder to pose a threat to Al-Shabaab. To counter this, the U.S. security forces have given assistance, especially through the Danab Brigade, which was trained by the U.S. which uses aggressive tactics, U.S. training, and U.S. support to pose a more compelling threat. In this way, the Somali National Army is becoming more of a threat to Al-Shabaab despite their tactics. But why do Al-Shabaab choose to launch their attacks in Kenya? Cannon analyzes the reasoning behind Al-Shabaab's attacks and presence in Kenya, and why the terrorist group focuses on Kenya over other front-line states. The focus on Kenya is strategic and highly rational for several reasons. The corruption in Kenya, its large tourist section that provides easy targets, the independent media that frequently publicizes terrorist attacks, and the country's status are all reasons given to explain why this organization chooses to terrorize Kenya. Barlett's source is focused on an attempt to create a border wall to stop terrorist organizations, especially Al-Shabaab, from having easy access to pass through the border. This source is a prime example of the corruption in Kenya mentioned earlier. The result of the quote-unquote border wall that was implemented did not stop the terrorist group. Instead, it put the communities on both sides at a higher risk of danger. This wall was originally supposed to be a 750-kilometer concrete wall, but ended up as a 10-kilometer fence. This drastic change in the plan points to the deep-rooted corruption in the government and misuse of funds. The level of crime committed by Al-Shabaab in Kenya that is highlighted by Toole's work mentioned earlier also adds to the evidence of Kenya's corruption. The terrorist group is able to get away with these criminal acts and continue to do so largely because of the deep-rooted corruption that plagues the country. Border security is known for taking bribes to allow Al-Shabaab members to travel in and out of Kenya with ease. Kenya is ranked 123rd out of 180 countries on corruption, and the Kenyan police are known as the most corrupt institution in Kenya. The Dusset D-2 luxury hotel attack conducted by the five Al-Shabaab terrorists was a true tragedy that took the lives of 22 people, injured 25, and lasted for 19 hours. The assault on the building with grenades and AK-47s was in direct retaliation of America and, more specifically, President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the moving of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. The immediate and long-standing effects of this attack can be seen in the terrorist who actually conducted the attack, as they were not ethnic Somalis as per usual of these attacks, but instead consisted entirely of Kenyan nationalists of non-Somali descent. This indicated Al-Shabaab's long-desired evolution to become a regional organization and transcend their strictly Somali origins, which would make them a much larger threat. But what can Kenya do to reduce the amount of terrorism and crime currently being done in the country? By reducing the amount of corruption that is currently embedded in the state and helping to stabilize Somalia, Kenya can start to reduce the amount of terrorism occurring.