Monday, September 10, 2012

Al-Shabaab harming itself by displaying slain soldiers



  SHARE BOOKMARKPRINTEMAILRATING
Militants of al-Shabaab train with weapons on a street in the outskirts of Mogadishu. Photo/REUTERS
Militants of al-Shabaab train with weapons on a street in the outskirts of Mogadishu. Photo/FILE 
By WAGA ODONGO
Posted  Monday, September 10  2012 at  01:00
IN SUMMARY
  • Displaying dead soldiers in the manner that they did short-circuits the higher thinking process and stirs something primal in anyone who sees them
The idea of dying for your country or a cause you believe in is a double-edged sword. Those who die for our cause, unfortunate as they are, deserve the highest military or civilian honour.
But when the zeal, especially when it is in those against us, becomes more than is acceptable, we view it as a bad thing. Indeed cults that promise a carnal afterlife for those ready to die first and ask questions later have arisen.
Self-preservation is the strongest instinct any species possesses to enable it to propagate itself. However, both social and operant conditioning can be used to override the save-yourself circuits. It is difficult, but possible.
Which is why we must commend the bravery of our military personnel.
Amisom and KDF recently lost a number of soldiers during their campaign in Somalia. The bodies of the soldiers, some suspected to be Kenyans, were displayed by Al-Shabaab in the streets of Kismayu.
The photographs of the dead soldiers were also uploaded to various social media outlets for propaganda purposes. KDF on Thursday said two bodies were still missing.
During the first battle for Mogadishu in 1993, Saudi soldiers with the UN drove up to a group of Somali militants who had displayed dead American soldiers on the streets.
The Saudis pointed out that what they were doing was wrong and that Islam has always called for the reverential treatment of the dead.
It also calls for the immediate burial of the dead, they said, but the Saudis were threatened with violence and left the scene. It is telling that Al-Shabaab, which claims to adhere to religious law, is ready to discard these precepts for propaganda purposes.
Share This Story
  
The handling of enemy combatants is a signifier of the professionalism, empathy, indoctrination, and level of social distance between fighters. During the last days of its regime, the Third Reich was willing to surrender to the Western powers but not the Russians because they were afraid of their treatment under the Red Army.
Photos of the type shown by Al-Shabaab are bound to be an emotive issue. Displaying war trophies in the manner that they did short-circuits the higher thinking process and stirs something primal in anyone who sees them. Any young man would not think twice about enlisting after being shown a clip of dead countrymen on display.
The photographs show an enemy who has been systematically desensitised through indoctrination against those he fights. Such grotesque displays are an attempt to deny the humanity of their victims. War is ugly, but the regaling in it, the wallowing in its atrocity, is particularly depraved.
Also wrong, if you asked me, is the releasing of the body count from battles by Amisom. It reduces the enemy fighters into statistics and also depersonalises them.
In his book, On Killing, Dave Grossman points out that racial and ethnic tension leads to far worse atrocities than imagined religious tensions.
The decision to post the pictures so callously on a public site will obviously be interpreted by some sections engaging in the war in ethnic and racial terms by claiming that their actions are rooted in either culture or ethnicity.
Displaying bodies like that will only work against the Al-Shabaab. It will steel the resolve of those involved instead of making it wane. They will fight harder for their fallen brothers.
This move has given enemy soldiers a cause to rally around. The battle cry during the Texan war was “Remember the Alamo”. This referred to a massacre that occurred in the Alamo by the Mexicans.
In World War I, the Americans fought to revenge the sinking of the Lusitania. World War II was all about the attack on Pearl Harbour. In Korea, it was the unprovoked killing of American servicemen.
Vietnam? It was the Gulf of Tonkin incident. The actions by Al-Shabaab are an affirmation of the moral guilt of their enemies, which will have to be punished and threaten to turn the battle into a mission to avenge “what they did to our brothers”.
Furthermore, it will serve as an affirmation and will legalise the war against the Al-Shabaab and reinforce all negative perceptions about them. Nations remember the battles that are their costliest, especially the ones they lost, to spur them onwards.
Al-Shabaab’s latest actions reduces it to the level of common criminals and wins them no support. When the moral distance is effectively established due to past atrocities committed, Grossman writes, killing the enemy becomes an act of justice.
It simply cauterises their enemies against pitying them. It does not help Al-Shabaab’s cause to photograph enemy soldiers like that.
---------------------------
How independent is this communications commission?
THE PRESIDENT, through his private secretary, issued a directive recently to CCK asking them not to implement the planned agreement on the Mobile termination rate until a new study is conducted.
The interconnection costs were meant to go down to Sh1.60 from the present Sh2.21 on July 1, and it seems thoughtful and apropos by the President. Except that CCK is meant to be independent.
This is the second time President Kibaki has swooped in to give directives to the telecoms industry. The cost of making a call was originally supposed to go down to Sh1.44 before a presidential directive put a one-year moratorium on talk of lowering the MTR rate.
Share This Story
  
After expiry of the time frame and an agreement to lower the cost to Sh1.60, again, the president asks them to conduct a study.
The decision by the President to ask that a study be conducted is the same position that Safaricom was pushing for in January, but they were overruled by CCK. Safaricom has said that it did not lobby the President to do so.
As a regulatory body, CCK is independent. That is the theory. But, in practice, it seems to be pliant, biddable, and open to suggestion when higher-ups come calling. Even more perplexing is why the President should feel the need to intercede personally.
The fact that the President deems it fit to intervene repeatedly and directly on the workings of a board should raise eyebrows.
The only surprise is that no one has decided to take this matter to court to challenge this presidential directive. By instituting a delay in a previously agreed plan, the government is raising the hand of some service provider before the fight and curtailing competition.
In January, speaking on NTV’s PM Live, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore termed a move by Airtel to lower its tariffs as “morally reprehensible”. Here we have an instance where the sacredness of protecting profitability is acting as a licence to occupy the moral high ground.
How dare they lower their tariffs on innocent, well-meaning Kenyans trying to get by with their peculiar calling habits? In the interview, Collymore said Safaricom had always been a profitable company .
The CEO of Kenya’s most successful company claimed that their competitors were using the Kenyan market as a lab, and that Airtel would like other service providers to pack up and leave behind “their toxic waste”.
It is nice to see that our captains of industry are using such colourful language, normally reserved for politicians.
While the government dithers on the MTR, the market is being canibalised. In a letter last month to the two principals, Airtel, the second largest service provider, pointed out that the change in government policy had led to losses since they could not anticipate the cost remaining high.
In January this year, yu showed interest in acquiring and using Safaricom’s M-Pesa at a fee. The ultimate climb-down is endorsing your opponent’s flagships brand.
Telkom Kenya has gone with a begging bowl to the government, asking for yet another loan to add to a debt write-off. Already, competitors are willing to abandon competition and settle into their role as also-rans.
Safaricom, however, still keeps posting profits in the billions.
If the government does not tilt the scales in favour of the consumer, there will not be much of a telecommunication industry left. What is good for Safaricom is good for Kenya.
This is true. But if the government wants to maintain a plurality of service providers, it must intervene. CCK has done a study that found that the whole economy would benefit if the MTR was lowered.
Safaricom should not worry about the bottom falling out of the voice market; they still are leagues ahead in the data market, the handset retailing business, and their golden goose — M-Pesa.
They also out-innovate their competitors and have come up with novel products like Cloud computing. These and many other factors should ensure that their balance sheets are in the black.

No comments:

Post a Comment