Obama administration: We’re all over al-Shabab
Now that the al-Shabab terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the deaths of dozens of people in Uganda, the White House wants to make sure everybody knows it is well aware of the threat the group poses and has been on top of the situation. According to the National Counterterrorism Center, al-Shabab is "the militant ...
Now that the al-Shabab terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the deaths of dozens of people in Uganda, the White House wants to make sure everybody knows it is well aware of the threat the group poses and has been on top of the situation.
Now that the al-Shabab terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the deaths of dozens of people in Uganda, the White House wants to make sure everybody knows it is well aware of the threat the group poses and has been on top of the situation.
According to the National Counterterrorism Center, al-Shabab is "the militant wing of the Somalia Council of Islamic Courts that took over most of southern Somalia in the second half of 2006."
The State Department designated al-Shabab as a terrorist organization in February 2008. The group is compiled from different clans, is mostly focused on attacking the transitional government of Somalia and its allies, such as African Union peacekeepers, but has ties to al Qaeda and a growing interest in global jihad, the NCTC said.
A senior administration official told reporters Tuesday "there are indications that al-Shabab was indeed responsible for [the Uganda attack] and that its claim of responsibility is real." The U.S. government has focused on the group for some time, the official said. Al-Shabab has threatened attacks against the United States, but the Uganda bombing was the group’s first foray outside Somalia.
The official said that al-Shabab’s ties to al Qaeda are longstanding and deep. There are also a number of U.S. citizens who have traveled to Somalia to join up with the group.
"Its agenda is very similar to al Qaeda’s agenda. It advances a distorted and perverted version of Islamic goals and agenda. It has engaged in terrorist tactics inside of Somalia extensively. It is responsible for the assassination of a number of Somali peace activists, international aid workers, numerous civil society figures, as well as journalists," the official explained.
The Obama administration has taken several small but specific steps against al-Shabab. In April, Obama signed Executive Order 13536, which seeks to block finances for the group’s leaders and others who are actively interfering with peace in Somalia.
The U.S. is also supporting the African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) with money and supplies, and providing assistance to refugees as well. The White House is coordinating its actions against the group with other regional actors.
As for which part of al Qaeda this group is linked up with, the administration says it’s probably more than one.
"The al-Shabab organization and individuals within al-Shabab have contacts and associations with both al Qaeda in East Africa as well as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula." The latter group is based in Yemen and reportedly trained "underwear bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blow up a Chicago-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009.
The official took issue with a recent analysis of Somalia by Bronwyn E. Bruton of the Council of Foreign Relations, which suggested that increased U.S. focus on the group and the presence of U.S.-supported Ethiopian troops in Somalia is feeding al-Shabab’s popularity.
"The council sort of suggests that the right answer is some kind of I think they call it ‘constructive disengagement’ and sort of a pulling back from the problem. And I think that what we’ve seen in Kampala is a good example of why that’s not a viable way forward," the official said.
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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