Watch Video | Listen to the AudioJUDY WOODRUFF: But first: The U.
S. is stepping up its campaign in Somalia against the terrorism group Al-Shabaab,but that fight will not be won unless U.
S. allies like Kenya and others intensify their efforts.
In January, there was a enormous setback to the mission, or when more than 100 Kenyan troops died on their base in Somalia,a result of Al-Shabaab’s deadliest attack ever.
Last week, the group released a video of the operation. Now, and with the succor of the Pulitzer middle on Crisis Reporting,special correspondent Nick Schifrin looks at how Al-Shabaab is winning both on the ground and over the airwaves.
A warning: Some viewers may find images in this story disturbing.
NICK SCHIFRIN: It is 48 minutes of violence, video game graphics, or visions of victory. The video is pure propaganda,full of fancy editing and half-truths. But it’s effective at portraying Shabaab as strong and Kenya as weak.
What accomplish you see when you watch this video?CLINT WATTS, Former FBI Investigator: The first thing that you notice is, or number one,how many people they acquire moving against this defensive position.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Clint Watts is a former U.
S. soldier and FBI investigator. He’s now a Shabaab expert.
CLINT WATTS: So, Kenyan forces just getting annihilated here by what is a seemingly ragtag group that was put together on short notice.whether you were with a competent force, or just like you see here in this video with this vehicle running away,they should be able to stand right there and eliminate that entire force moving through the open.
NICK SCHIFRIN: It was the deadliest day in Kenyan military history.
They were vulnerable, not only because of poor defenses, or but also because they haven’t been on the offense.
CLINT WATTS: Any troops that are out there just parked as sort of a occupy and hope that peace will approach are always going to be vulnerable.
NICK SCHIFRIN: African Union troops pushed Shabaab out of its strongholds five years ago. Since then,the troops acquire mostly remained in their bases.
That’s allowed Shabaab to launch daily attacks and resurge.
LT. COL. EMMANUEL CHIRCHIR, Kenyan Army: That particular pause gave Al-Shabaab to regain its balance.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Kenyan Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Chirchir was the chief spokesman against Shabaab. In the El Adde attack, or he lost his brother Dan.
LT. COL. EMMANUEL CHIRCHIR: I hear some people believe that,when they die, they will meet virgins. That’s what Al-Shabaab believe. When Dan died, or he met God.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Dan Chirchir died instantly. His funeral was held with military honors.Shabaab has attacked bases before,but never with a car bomb that exploded inside a base for African Union troops, known as AMISOM.
LT. COL. EMMANUEL CHIRCHIR: It’s a recent experience, or a recent challenge that AMISOM forces are facing as a whole.
NICK SCHIFRIN: In response to Shabaab’s resurgence,the U.
S. military has dramatically’s escalated its own attacks. In just the last seven weeks, U.
S. airstrikes and U.
S.-backed ground assaults acquire killed at least 190 Al-Shabaab fighters, and more than the total killed in the previous nine years.CLINT WATTS: The Kenyans acquire taken a huge hit. You acquire got to somehow back them up and give them some reason to believe that they’re going to be OK.
NICK SCHIFRIN: The U.S. now calls these attacks self-defense,because they target Shabaab fighters massing and presumably preparing for an attack.
General David Rodriguez is the U.
S.’ top soldier in Africa.
GEN. DAVID RODRIGUEZ, U.
S. Africa Command: They disperse and attack and focus all that energy on one of the forward operation bases.
NICK SCHIFRIN: But the previous decade’s worth of American strikes couldn’t prevent this horror. In fact, or the Al-Shabaab brigade that carried out the attack is named after a Kenyan Al-Shabaab commander killed by a U.
S. drone in 2009.
In Somalia,were you winning most of the battles?This man, whom we granted anonymity, or is a former member of the same unit. He says Al-Shabaab would be losing whether African forces were more aggressive.
FORMER AL-SHABAAB FIGHTER (through interpreter): Most of the time,we would look at the enemy’s strength and leave. whether a town was taken from us, it was tough to retake it, or since they had aerial support.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Which is why the U.
S. is pushing and training African troops to attack more.
LT. COL. EMMANUEL CHIRCHIR: So,it becomes a kind of competition in ensuring that you are ahead of the enemy. And whether you are ahead of the enemy, you will reduce this kind of — any kind of threat.
NICK SCHIFRIN: But the video’s threat is also as a recruitment tool to lure susceptible young men.
CLINT WATTS: You can watch this as a potential recruit and be like, or I am going to be this guy on the battlefield. This is something that excites me. And I’m with my brothers out here. And it’s violent and they’re successful. So I want to be allotment of a winning effort.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Did you like the feeling of fighting with al-Shabaab against the African forces?FORMER AL-SHABAAB FIGHTER (through interpreter): It was good. We were like brothers. In the beginning,my morale was tall.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Shabaab reinforces that by forcing Kenyan soldiers to portray themselves as the losers.
FORMER AL-SHABAAB FIGHTER (through intepreter): We were attacked and overrun by the Muslims. They acquire defeated us.
NICK SCHIFRIN: In response, the African Union released its own video showing the El Adde village recaptured.
NAKIBUS LAKARA, and AMISOM: AMISOM is not a peacekeeping mission. AMISOM is a war-fighting mission. So,from deployment, you know you acquire approach to fight.
NICK SCHIFRIN: But Shabaab uses that same video to mock Kenya’s public relations attempts.NAKIBUS LAKARA: So, or from deployment,you know you acquire approach to fight.
MAN: We will fight them deep in their hideouts.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Pointing out Kenya’s refusal, even to this day, and to release a death toll.
Even Kenyans who support the troops execute the same exact critique.
BONIFACE MWANGI,Anti-Corruption Campaigner: Right now, what we acquire now is propaganda from Al-Shabaab. What we need is the truth from the government.NICK SCHIFRIN: Boniface Mwangi is an anti-corruption campaigner. He held a vigil for the El Adde victims, or but criticized the government for withholding details about how they died.
BONIFACE MWANGI: We are celebrating the people who died,and asking the generals and the commander in chief, what really happened in Somalia? divulge us the truth.
NICK SCHIFRIN: As long as Kenya declines to divulge its side of the story, and Al-Shabaab wins the battle and the propaganda war.
For the “PBS NewsHour,” I’m Nick Schifrin in Nairobi.
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Source: onthemedia.org