The East African nation of Kenya is at the top of world news headlines due to a deadly siege at the upscale Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi. As many as 15 attackers swarmed the mall with automatic weapons and grenades, leaving the death toll at 62 as of Sept. 23. The militants, from the Somali group Al-Shabaab, barricaded themselves inside one section of the mall, and as of this writing were continuing to battle Kenyan forces and Israeli advisors in clashes that had so far killed 11 soldiers and three Al-Shabaab fighters.
With Kenyan authorities claiming the incident is a case of “global terrorism,” the attack has thrown all eyes back on the Horn of Africa, and the ongoing Somali conflict. Al-Shabaab, for their part, have stated that the attack is in response to Kenyan involvement in the multi-national occupation of Somalia that has served to prop-up the “official” Transitional Federal Government based in Mogadishu.
This should be of great interest and concern to anti-imperialists in the United States, given that U.S. support has been crucial for the long-running occupation of Somalia, including the initial destabilization that put wind in the sails of Al-Shabaab.
Somali crisis in context
In 2005 Somalia looked as if it might be coming to the end of the long civil war that had begun in 1991, ravaging the country and splitting it apart into a number of fiefdoms with no central authority or services. The Islamic Courts Union, a collection of various Islamic-oriented forces with varying ideologies appeared to have the country poised for its first unified government in over a decade.
The United States, however, believed the ICU to be an unreliable government, one that couldn’t be counted on to serve U.S. geo-political interests. Making the allegation that the ICU was dominated by Al-Qaeda and Al-Qaeda related forces, the United States backed an invasion and occupation by Ethiopia that re-destabilized the country in 2006.
The Ethiopian invasion plunged the country back into war, devastation, and division. With the ICU split in various ways, Al-Shabaab emerged as the most consistent opponent of the Ethiopian occupation and its U.S. backers. This has allowed Al-Shabaab to grow, attracting support both from their ideological allies around the world, and the many Somalis who see them as the force of resistance to foreign occupation.
The United States, along with the European Union, and an African Union force (AMISOM) made up primarily of troops from East African states, have continued to support the TFG even following Ethiopian withdrawal. Notably the U.S. has used its connections with the TFG to run secret CIA prisons in Mogadishu, and under the guise of the war on terror has conducted drone strikes against Al-Shabaab.
Kenya’s role
Following Ethiopian withdrawal in 2009, the combined TFG and AMISOM forces, even with U.S. help and European aid could not defeat Al-Shabaab, only effectively controlling limited parts of Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab remained dominant.
In 2011, Kenya sent its own army as well as Somali proxy forces streaming across the border.
As we stated in an earlier article:
“Kenyan intervention is rooted in the needs of Kenyan elites to secure profit. Al-Shabaab’s menacing of Kenyan tourist areas is a significant blow to one of the nation’s largest, and growing, economic sectors. More importantly, Kenya’s growing role as the central hub of regional trade is threatened by Al-Shabaab’s ability to attack ports and menace shipping lanes.
“Just 60 miles from the Somali border, for example, Kenya has a major new port project planned. Kenya hopes to create a buffer zone in southern Somalia where Al-Shabaab can not threaten its ability to capture the greatest share of the growing regional trade volume, as well as export its own goods.”
Kenyan intervention had the effect of turning the tide, giving the upper-hand to the African forces backing the TFG and their Western supporters. This has driven Al-Shabaab out of a number of key areas, forcing them to resort more to guerilla-style tactics.
The group had warned that it would retaliate against nations backing the TFG.
Why Westgate?
The Westgate mall is a symbol of the rising wealth of the elite in Kenya, and frequented by many of the well-off Westerners and Israelis living in Kenya, including diplomats. This made it a convenient target for Al-Shabaab, allowing them to attack and target inside Kenya almost the whole range of countries involved in the occupation of Somalia. These features of the mall allowed them to carry out the sort of attack they had long been warning the world they would undertake.
The tragic loss of life in Westgate was not based on random acts of violence by “maniacs,” but rooted in these geo-politics.
What next?
The Westgate attack has shown yet again the terrible consequences of the U.S. policy of regime change in Somalia. It has resulted only in death and destruction, which is now spreading throughout the region. The imperialist drive to demonize and eliminate those they cannot control has wreaked havoc all across the Horn of Africa and Southwest Asia.
The response to the attacks on Westgate mall is likely to be calls from the Kenyan and Western governments for a renewed fight against Al-Shabaab. However, it was the imposition of military might to stifle Somali self-determination that led to this crisis in the first place.
Those who seek the defeat of U.S. imperialism must oppose all attempts to manipulate and dominate the politics of African states, which is currently being carried out under under the false pretext of the “war on terrorism.”
