An insight into terrorism and the complexity:

C&P

"As everyone keeps wondering and asking "what Al Shabaab want"... We must understand that terrorist groups like Al Shabaab organise in 4 broad levels. So what "they want" depends on what level "they are". The key to destroying them, might accordingly lie in figuring out what level the guys you're dealing with are at.

1. Financiers - aka. The owners. These guys are about the business. They couldn't care less about the fanaticism, as much they care to use it for profit. They trade mostly in reliability & being taken seriously by current & future underworld partners. True crazed fanatics never make it this far.

2. The specialists - These vary in degree of fanaticism. They can be mildly interested to bug-eyed crazy. What doesn't vary is the actual skill-set they bring to the table. Doctors, Imams, Writers, Bomb makers, hackers, drill sergeants, accountants, organisers, passport forgers etc etc. That is why even if their level of fanaticism was high enough for delirium & visions of Janna, they rarely get sent for the suicide missions. They function mostly like consultants and the org prefers to rely on the ones that aren't so crazy because they last longer and are more likely to avoid detection.

3. The Mujahideen - The deadly but expendable pawns. They tend to be 16-26yrs old and naive, removed from desperate situations & brought up on a cocktail of brainwashing, isolation & extreme fundamentalist teachings. They live only for the promise of Janna (Paradise). And its hard to blame them... the promised land has got to be better than where they came from or currently are at. But just in case a crisis of faith were to strike a mujahid, they are kept under close scrutiny & a rigorous training regimen to prevent their thinking too much &/or escape. So as a mujahid if you don't believe in Janna... you're pretty much still going to be sent there.

4. Supporters/ Sympathisers - These tend to be either the least skilled to the most volatile members of the organisation. No one will trust them with anything sensitive because they're more likely to fumble the situation rather than help. They tend to be the most vocal & incompetent. But they might still serve a useful purpose for rhetoric & small jobs now & then. Often asked to do so as "proof" of their allegiance. The truth though, is that from outside they might look like part of it but internally the "owners" see them more of as sympathisers. The organisation will most often tend to use sympathisers as red herrings or bait to muddy the water as various agencies hunt them down."

~ Fauz Noir ~

Kizungu ngumu sana!