Shabaab Propaganda Indicates Growing Power, Anxiety
The Shabaab Movement has greatly accelerated its Arabic propaganda efforts in the last two weeks, keeping pace with its growing power in Somalia (compare it with their meager attempts just three months ago). In the two week period there have been at least four major publications (video and audio). The acceleration might be attributed to more capable personnel or perhaps the organization has decided it needs to reach out more to the Arab world. If the Taliban experience is any precedent, better propaganda = better insurgency. But there’s also something else that is driving the recent acceleration: anxiety about losing “the fruits of jihad.” This harvest metaphor is often invoked by Jihadis as part of cautionary tales of past militant groups who excelled at fighting but failed to consolidate their gains once the fighting ended. The Shabaab employ it explicitly in the first publication below and implicitly in the second: