Why Kenyans must face the changing nature of terrorism

Since the entry of our military personnel in Somalia, we are confronted as never before by insurgency. Our sense of vulnerability to attack is still new.

So are the force, global reach and ambition of the distinctive threat from transnational terrorism now perpetrated in the name of a Muslim extremist cause.

Understanding these changes is the first challenge. That is not easy for a nation neither expecting nor used to being targeted frequently.

But it is essential to maintaining an effective national response.

Open and pluralist societies like ours are now confronted in fundamental ways. These terrorists seek to undermine our security and prosperity.

They feel threatened by the values and aspirations that make us an open, tolerant and creative country with a confident future.

Kenyans know that preserving these qualities is vital to our health as a people in all its diversity. It is central to our resilience in the face of this threat.

It is the key to our appreciation of the many Muslims who are part of us and to the continuing strength of our links with other Muslim-populated countries.

But, naturally enough, we struggle to come to grips with the dimensions of contemporary terrorism. It is not easily understood as a nationalist or political campaign such as Irish, Basque or Tamil separatist terrorism.

It bears little resemblance to familiar examples in the public memory when Kenyans were occasionally incidental victims. While these previously known forms of terror continue, they are peripheral to the nature and scale of the security challenge we now confront.

We find it hard to comprehend the rhetoric of these terrorists, who condemn anyone who does not agree with their approach to Islam. For us, the terrorists' assertions of an international conspiracy to repress and defeat Islam make no sense.

It has no connection to everyday reality, however much we understand and sympathise with the plight of Muslim and other communities in distress. We cannot easily relate their assertions to a territorial dispute, political ideology or historical injustice.

The terrorists' challenge is now direct and immediate. Their goals confront us. Their objectives are inherently political regardless of their religious trappings. To achieve this they are set on intimidating Muslim and non-Muslim likewise.

It is time Kenyans came to terms with a security threat neither constrained nor defined by national borders, traditional power structures or formed armies, one that is neither dependent on sponsoring nation-states, nor responsive to traditional deterrence.

Rather, it is driven by an ideology that is inaccessible to reason, and with objectives that cannot be negotiated.

We have to adjust to a threat that is not only alien, but unconventional and unpredictable. Its presence is largely unseen and unknown. But it commands frequent headlines and commitment of our resources on a national scale.

We seek to protect and defend ourselves in the knowledge that there can be no guarantees from successful attacks in open societies like ours.

This is an 'asymmetric' threat with disproportionate advantage to the smaller but determined aggressor operating beyond any accepted rules of behaviour.

Kenyans must adapt to living in a more dangerous world. These terrorists have used public transport to kill indiscriminately, made bombs from materials used in farming and mining, have experimented with chemical and biological weapons. They are limited only by imagination and opportunity.

And we must adapt to these harsh new realities in a changed strategic environment. These changes began with the end of the Cold War and the new strategic uncertainties that followed.

The asymmetric nature of the threat posed to this nation demands a disproportionate scale of response. National security is higher on the government policy agenda than it has been for decades. The national resources deployed to counter the threat are major — and still growing.

The transnational terrorist capacity to inflict harm disproportionately, without restraint or warning, means Kenya’s response must be broad-spectrum. It has demanded adjustment to the conventional defence posture we maintain to fight conventional wars.

And it has put a new cast on our broader security policies, including our approaches to other transnational issues such as people smuggling, money laundering and organised crime.

Good intelligence has become an even more vital element to our protection. So too has better law enforcement and improved counter-terrorist legislation.

Protection against terrorism is essential to preserving the right of each citizen to security.

This allows us to participate freely in a society based on shared values of freedom and respect for the dignity of human life. Kenyans must recognise this and to make sure the inevitable cost of our preparedness does not also tax our values, our tolerance and our fundamental way of life.

The threat Kenyans face is enduring. It requires a sustained national response. While we have already made many changes in order to better protect ourselves, we may need to make more.

We can expect our national resilience to be put to future tests. The dynamic nature of the threat will continue to demand heightened awareness and vigilance of all Kenyans.

Okwaro is an analyst with Gravio Africa. The views are his own.