Omar Hammami on drone strikes

At the end of part one of the recently released autobiography of American jihadist Omar Hammami, he addresses a question about US airstrikes in Somalia and their effectiveness.

Hammami’s response is interesting. He says the strikes have not had an effect on the fighting between Shabaab and the Somali government, and that it is what is on the ground that counts (he’s basically saying you can’t win a war via airpower alone). He also states that although the main purpose of the strikes is to cause a rift between “the global element of this Jihaad from the local element,” the strikes are having the opposite effect.

Here is the question, and his answer:

32.1) Have they given America any advantage? Have the Mujahideen been able to effectively deal with this development? Are the drone strikes accurate, or do they occasionally result in civilian casualties? Please explain.

The drones haven’t really changed anything on the ground as far as the basic power struggle between the TFG and the Mujaahidiin. The only aim of these attacks is to separate the global element of this Jihaad from the local element. They just want to kill off every white Muhaajir they can. It goes without saying that lots of collateral damage will only unite the people against the Americans, so they try to make our departure as unnoticeable to the populace as possible.

Like I said before, there have been lots of “cases” in the past few years, but the “accuracy” is only because of who’s on the ground and not because of what is in the air.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.

Tags: ,

4 Comments

  • That he acknowledges a ‘local element’ and a ‘global element’ tells me those rifts exist.

  • Gerald says:

    And yet the Kenyan Army are the outskirts of kismayu and the Ethiopians are surrounding Baidoa!

  • My2Cents says:

    “the “accuracy” is only because of who’s on the ground and not because of what is in the air”
    This guy seems to have a better grasp of reality than any of our political class.

  • Neonmeat says:

    Can someone explain that last line on the accuracy, I can’t seem to make sense of it?
    This is pure propaganda aimed at recruiting more and more White Jihadis. It’ll probably work too.
    I was really hoping that this guy was dead.

Iraq

Islamic state

Syria

Aqap

Al shabaab

Boko Haram

Isis