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Why We Don't Condemn Our Pirates in Somalia

By K'Naan , URB Magazine. Posted April 14, 2009.


Can anyone ever really be for piracy? Well in Somalia, the answer is: it's complicated.
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Can anyone ever really be for piracy? Outside of sea bandits, and young girls fantasizing of Johnny Depp, would anyone with an honest regard for good human conduct really say that they are in support of Sea Robbery? Well in Somalia, the answer is: it's complicated. The news media these days has been covering piracy in the Somali coast, with such lopsided journalism that it's lucky they're not on a ship themselves. It's true that the constant hijacking of vessels in the Gulf of Aden is a major threat to the vibrant trade route between Asia and Europe. It is also true that for most of the pirates operating in this vast shoreline, money is the primary objective. But according to many Somalis, the disruption of Europe's darling of a trade route is just Karma biting a perpetrator in the butt. And if you don't believe in Karma, maybe you believe in recent history. Here is why we Somalis find ourselves slightly shy of condemning our pirates.

Somalia has been without any form of a functioning government since 1991. And despite its failures, like many other toddler governments in Africa, sprung from the wells of post-colonial independence, bad governance and development loan sharks, the specific problem of piracy was put in motion in 1992.

After the overthrow of Siyad Barre, our charmless dictator of twenty-some odd years, two major forces of the Hawiye Clan came to power. At the time, Ali Mahdi, and General Mohamed Farah Aidid, the two leaders of the Hawiye rebels were largely considered liberators. But the unity of the two men and their respective sub-clans was very short-lived. It's as if they were dumbstruck at the advent of ousting the dictator, or that they just forgot to discuss who will be the leader of the country once they defeated their common foe. A disagreement of who will upgrade from militia leader to Mr. President broke up their honeymoon. It's because of this disagreement that we've seen one of the most devastating wars in Somalia's history, leading to millions displaced and hundreds of thousands dead. But war is expensive and militias need food for their families, and Jaad (an amphetamine-based stimulant) to stay awake for the fighting. Therefore a good clan-based Warlord must look out for his own fighters. Aidid's men turned to robbing aid trucks carrying food to the starving masses, and reselling it to continue their war. But Ali Mahdi had his sights set on a larger and more unexploited resource, namely: the Indian Ocean.

Already by this time, local fishermen in the coastline of Somalia have been complaining of illegal vessels coming to Somali waters and stealing all the fish. And since there was no government to report it to, and since the severity of the violence clumsily overshadowed every other problem, the fishermen went completely unheard. But it was around this same time that a more sinister, a more patronizing practice was being put in motion. A Swiss firm called Achair Parterns, and an Italian waste company called Progresso, made a deal with Ali Mahdi, that they could dump containers of waste material in Somali waters. These European companies were said to be paying Warlords about $3 a ton, where as in to properly dispose of waste in Europe costs about $1000 a ton.

In 2004, after Tsunami washed ashore several leaking containers, thousand of locals in the Puntland region of Somalia started to complain of severe and previously unreported ailments, such as abdominal bleeding, skin melting off and a lot of immediate cancer-like symptoms. Nick Nuttall, a spokesman for the United Nations Environmental Program, says that the containers had many different kinds of waste, including "Uranium, radioactive waste, lead, cadmium, mercury and chemical waste." But this wasn't just a passing evil from one or two groups taking advantage of our unprotected waters, the UN Convoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, says that the practice still continues to this day. It was months after those initial reports that local fishermen mobilized themselves, along with street militias, to go into the waters and deter the Westerners from having a free pass at completely destroying Somalia's aquatic life. Now years later, that deterance has become less noble, and the ex-fishermen with their militias have begun to develop a taste for ransom at sea. This form of piracy is now a major contributor to the Somali economy, especially in the very region that private toxic waste companies first began to bury our nation's death trap.

Now Somalia has upped the world's pirate attacks by ove r21 percent in one year, and while NATO and the EU are both sending forces to the Somali coast to try and slow down the attacks, Blackwater and all kinds of private security firms are intent on cashing in. But while Europeans are well in their right to protect their trade interest in the region, our pirates were the only deterrent we had from an externally imposed environmental disaster. No one can say for sure that some of the ships they are now holding for ransom were not involved in illegal activity in our waters. The truth is, if you ask any Somali if they think getting rid of the pirates only means the continuous rape of our coast by unmonitored Western vessels, and the production of a new cancerous generation, we would all fly our pirate flags high.

It is time that the world gave the Somali people some assurance that these Western illegal activities will end, if our pirates are to seize their operations. We do not want the EU and NATO serving as a shield for these nuclear waste-dumping hoodlums. It seems to me that this new modern crisis is a question of justice, but also a question of whose justice. As is apparent these days, one man's pirate is another man's coast guard.
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K'naan is a Somali-Canadian poet, rapper and musician.

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Sometimes people bite back
[Report this comment]
Posted by: mandiwrite on Apr 14, 2009 12:29 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"Peter Lehr, a Somalia piracy expert at the University of St. Andrews says 'It's almost like a resource swap, Somalis collect up to $100 million a year from pirate ransoms off their coasts and the Europeans and Asians poach around $300 million a year in fish from Somali waters.'"
If you destroy people's livelihoods, they will try to make a living some other way.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Sometimes people bite back Posted by: Obamasupporter
» RE: Sometimes people bite back Posted by: richholland
» RE: Sometimes people bite back Posted by: aonghus36
» RE: Sometimes people bite back Posted by: Buzzramjet
» RE: Sometimes people bite back Posted by: greenPuker
» RE: Sometimes people bite back Posted by: RedAaron
» Bullshit Posted by: Philip Newton
» RE: Sometimes people bite back Posted by: ags121068
justice isn't what it used to be
[Report this comment]
Posted by: twocreeks on Apr 14, 2009 1:04 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It was simple, "once upon a time", for the great nations to have it their way, or better said, have their way with history. Thanks to articles like this, from a decidedly not mainstream voice. we can add detail and nuance to our discourse within these "great nations" who are screaming about this bogey man.

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Just another layer of misery imposed upon the Horn
[Report this comment]
Posted by: atheistcable on Apr 14, 2009 1:26 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I didn't know about the waste dumping. I knew about such dumping in Nigeria by Italian companies in the 80s. I also knew about the excessive fishing off the coast of Somalia. And I also know about the tons of weapons left behind by the U.S. and the Soviets--instead of picking them up and taking them back home.

And we must always concern ourselves with population growth above stability, persecution of women and the sorry state of education. Is there any source of hope for Somalia?

This is another tragic article and not a time for joking, but I can't resist: What is the United Nations doing about this?

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» Self-imposed? Posted by: thesbrian
In the interest of Mother Earth
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Blacktiger1 on Apr 14, 2009 1:36 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The dumping of waste in the ocean in and of itself is criminal. So safe to say the dumpers are beholden to the dumpees and the rest of the world who are trying to save ocean life. One thing for sure I hope that the majority of hostage vessels are the culprits.Either way if the people using the waters paid a toll then maybe there would be no pirates.

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» RE: In the interest of Mother Earth Posted by: atheistcable
» Grow a brain Posted by: Philip Newton
Somali Pirates
[Report this comment]
Posted by: jay diamond on Apr 14, 2009 2:20 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The tortured, and unintentionally comical rationalization in this individual's essay is on a par with the mendacious drivel more commonly seen in moronic right-wing circles.

I am tempted to describe this "commentary" as a farce, but farce in the hands of Moliere or Oliver Goldsmith is high art, and this is just baloney.

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» RE: Somali Pirates Posted by: nha16
» RE: Somali Pirates Posted by: jay diamond
» RE: Somali Pirates Posted by: furiousd
Sorry, this comment has been removed from the system.
» RE: Somali Pirates Posted by: IceOwl
thanks for another perspective ...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: J4761 on Apr 14, 2009 2:28 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
while the mainstream media gloat over the summary execution of three Somali pirates, alternet offers another perspective ... thanks, appreciate it.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» They deserved to die Posted by: Mishma
» You deserve to die. Posted by: and_abottleofrum
» RE: You deserve to die. Posted by: RedAaron
» Execution? Posted by: Philip Newton
ba
[Report this comment]
Posted by: mnstra on Apr 14, 2009 2:39 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
PLEASE SUBSTITUTE TH WORD AMERICAN FOR PIRATE.......

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» RE: ba...humbug! Posted by: greenPuker
Right..
[Report this comment]
Posted by: daniel1982 on Apr 14, 2009 2:41 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's true that the constant hijacking of vessels in the Gulf of Aden is a major threat to the vibrant trade route between Asia and Europe. It is also true that for most of the pirates operating in this vast shoreline, money is the primary objective.

Case closed, what is there more to say? Even the author agrees, it's all about the money.

The left has grabbed onto to the 'nuclear-dumping' non-sequitur eagerly in order to frame Somali piracy as the fault of, yet again, the West. Never mind the fact that the piracy benefits (and is controlled by) various local warlords. Never mind that pirates don't discriminate between any nationality. Never mind that Somalia is a corrupt, backward, failed state, in which female genital mutilation is widely practiced, Sharia is the law of the land, and their retarded clan system prevents any kind of coming-together to build a nation.

No, once again, Africans are too stupid and too pathetic to be held responsible for their actions.

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» Um. Posted by: nha16
» RE: Um. Posted by: HLbuchanan
» RE: Um. Posted by: Basenjis
» RE: The Right cupidity.. Posted by: greenPuker
Priorities
[Report this comment]
Posted by: bonzi on Apr 14, 2009 2:49 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So, Ali Mahdi sold your waters to serve as toxic waste dump? Perhaps you should turn on him, not ships far in the Indian Ocean.

Chaos in Somalia was not brought about by external forces, but by Somalis themselves. Only Somalis can bring their house in order. Blaming the big bad world is counterproductive.

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» RE: Priorities Posted by: hilaryuk
» RE: Priorities Posted by: bonzi
» RE: Priorities Posted by: hilaryuk
» RE: Priorities Posted by: bonzi
» EXACTLY Posted by: Philip Newton
» RE: rectal-cranial inversion Posted by: RedAaron
Score
[Report this comment]
Posted by: PJT on Apr 14, 2009 3:10 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yanks 3- Pirates 0

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» RE: Score Posted by: bonzi
» RE: Bonzi Score Posted by: greenPuker
» RE: Bonzi Score Posted by: bonzi
» RE: Score Posted by: EncinoM
Now Reality – Attacks on American or Canadian Vessels Just Criminal
[Report this comment]
Posted by: iris89 on Apr 14, 2009 5:22 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Now Reality – Attacks on American or Canadian Vessels Just Criminal

Yes, some in Somali try to justify the unjustifiable; to wit, attacks on innocent vessels from nations that have done them no wrong. The author of this self-justification of wrong said,

“No one can say for sure that some of the ships they are now holding for ransom were not involved in illegal activity in our waters. The truth is, if you ask any Somali if they think getting rid of the pirates only means the continuous rape of our coast by unmonitored Western vessels, and the production of a new cancerous generation, we would all fly our pirate flags high.

It is time that the world gave the Somali people some assurance that these Western illegal activities will end, if our pirates are to seize their operations. We do not want the EU and NATO serving as a shield for these nuclear waste-dumping hoodlums. It seems to me that this new modern crisis is a question of justice, but also a question of whose justice. As is apparent these days, one man's pirate is another man's coast guard.”

But attacks on American and Canadian vessels proves this self-justification is just a big lie to justify evil acts. Now let’s look at the facts:

[1] No American or Canadian vessel has dumped any waste in Somali waters.

[2] No American or Canadian fishing boats have been fishing in Somali waters.

Yet American and Canadian vessels are being attacked clearly showing there is no question of justice, but only of evil criminal acts against the innocent.

Iris89

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» you say 'pirate', I say 'emperor'? Posted by: BlueBerry PickN
Sorry, this comment has been removed from the system.
What if it were your country?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: inanaturallight on Apr 14, 2009 5:41 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
In many of the comments we see the reflection of American hubris at an extreme... those "dumb Africans", those criminals, they know what they're doing is wrong, blah blah blah.
The developed world has plundered Africa ever since sea trade started and it continues today. They will happily deal with an oppressive dictator, if a marginally democratic government arises then the west will make sure there's a well armed uprising of "freedom fighters" enticed with power and riches to overthrow them, and if they can't do it we'll be glad to help out with a few hundred mercenaries and a CIA sponsored assassination or ten. If a group of people gets uppity and starts fighting against the rape of their land, starts standing on the right side of the cause, then we'll send in the military to straighten them out, give 'em some "justice", and our justice is a bullet to the head. Any country in Africa starts to develop we'll make sure we go in quick with the World Bank, IMF, and WTO and kick the ladder out from under them.
Y'all ought to be proud, go stand on the rooftops and shout about how great America and the western world is, how "right" we are always and forever. And while the rich bankers plunder all of us here, y'all ought to just shut up, since if you can cheer for the plunder of Africa you better be cheering for the plunder of America too.

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» RE: What if it were your country? Posted by: Bob Graham Las Vegas
» RE: What if it were your country? Posted by: Johanna Moren
» Well it isn't my country Posted by: Philip Newton
Piracy is wrong, period
[Report this comment]
Posted by: PJKiger on Apr 14, 2009 6:11 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Maersk Alabama was attacked in international waters, 350 miles from the Somali coast. It wasn't carrying a load of toxic waste, but rather food and supplies intended for Somalians. The pirates who seized Captain Phillips weren't trying to raise awareness of European environmental misdeeds or improve conditions in Somalia. No, they just wanted their share of a $6 million ransom, and he was their ticket to wealth. They were perfectly willing to risk killing Phillops, who had done no wrong to them or Somalia, by firing into the water when he initially tried to escape. When trapped, they were given plenty of opportunities to surrender and avoid harm (one of their number did so). I take no joy in their deaths, but the reality is that people who choose to commit violence against others make their own karma.

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» RE: Piracy is wrong, period Posted by: mainspark
» RE: Platitudes are wrong, period Posted by: greenPuker
» YEP Posted by: Philip Newton
» RE: Piracy is wrong, period Posted by: jay diamond
Which Somalis?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: hansennancykay on Apr 14, 2009 6:40 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I appreciate Alternet making this article available, and I think the author makes very valid points and brings information I didn't know about. Illegal dumping and overfishing should be a large concern of the UN and at least a moderate concern of President Obama. Nevertheless, my image of Somali men is so poor that it's hard for me not to feel happy at hearing about three of their heads being blown off. I recall the famine when women and children starved while the thugs with guns and erections seized their food, raped 'em, and drove off in their pickup trucks waving their arms in "triumph". If I could have shot them myself, I would have. I recall the photos I've seen of girls and women in Somalia with such severe (and entirely routine) mutilation that the area between their legs looks like a Barbie doll (i.e. adult women don't even have pubic hair because that's how much skin was cut away and intentionally scarified), the women and girls walking stiffly because, after the cutting was done, their legs were tied together to encourage scarrring in-between, the girls whose "wedding night" involves their "husband" cutting open the scars with a knife, pleasing himself, and then having their re-ripped vaginas re-sewn around a clay model of his particular dick, and the women and girls dying in agony as a fetus becomes lodged in the scarred birth canal or living after it is forced through the side and out the anus. The number of cases of these vaginal-anal fistulas is very high in parts of the world practicing female genital mutilation, and nowhere is it practiced more extremely and with more gusto than in Somalia. It is no accident that the men who grow up in this culture can't come together to govern or do anything but plunder and fight. I don't see any hope for them at all. I hope I'm wrong.

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» RE: Which Somalis? Posted by: greenPuker
No Sympathy
[Report this comment]
Posted by: the.messenger on Apr 14, 2009 6:47 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I could sympathize with the views of K'Naan if the pirates attacked only the fishing trawlers and the ships dumping the waste. However, I have no sympathy for those whose sole motive is profit.

The fact that Somalia does not have a functioning government is not the fault of the shipowners - in the end it is the fault of the Somalis themselves (admittedly with the help of the former colonialists) as admitted by K'Naan. Perhaps the Somali's should do something about the lack of a government and ask for assistance if they can't do it on their own and stop tryng to justify piracy.

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Forget About Somalia and Somalians
[Report this comment]
Posted by: jaguarxjs on Apr 14, 2009 6:51 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is a great article, yet another 'gee we don't have a functioning government, so piracy is okay'. I love how Somali's constantly defend their own illegal, murderous and vile behavior on the lack of a functioning government.

The Somalian government failed long before the US or anyone else got involved, Somalia's lack of government falls squarely on the shoulders of it's people and we should stop trying to help them.

We need to find a 'Marius' that will lead the legions ashore to destroy the pirates ports, kill the pirates and let the Somali's know that if they want to be treated like civilized people, they need to start acting like civilized people.

Maybe then they will realize that if they work together, they can have a functioning government.

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» Amen Posted by: Philip Newton
Now I have the rest of the story
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Btelfare on Apr 14, 2009 6:53 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Thank you, K'naan

There is always two sides of a story. The media usually picks the side that bring the most money.I pray God put a hedge of protection around you.

No justification is good enough for me! The destroying of the Earth is wrong. Killing people from that destruction is not acceptable. There is nothing more for me to say.

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SAd
[Report this comment]
Posted by: JTMixer5 on Apr 14, 2009 7:09 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Seems to me they are doing what they have to do in order to survive. They are using what they have and you cant blame them for that. Most of those freighters are easy picking.

RT
Online Privacy when it COunts

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» Thanks GuitarBill! Posted by: AKD
» You wouldn't say that... Posted by: Philip Newton
H4020
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Triton on Apr 14, 2009 7:18 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I don't want to dwell on any sob-sister drivel about how the world is so unjust to the Somalis. Justice is what the rich impose on the poor. It's unfair but no one has figured out how to deal with it effectively with the possible exception of the French. Greed is not good but it's an inate characteristic of our species. In the United States, for example, the greed of the most powerful has resulted in people living under bridges and on the streets, eating out of dumpsters, wide spread unemployment, dumbed down education and lack of health care. All of these inequities are aided and abetted by the government. Imagine how much worse things would be in Somalia if there was a central government. At least the Somalis have organized a protest which has captured the attention of the world. It's a criminal protest because their world is criminal. Why have there not been large, wide spread peacefull protests in our country to impress upon the government our concerns with the way it has not dealt with the greedy Wall Street bankers and allowed their representatives to continue to infest the treasury? The government, even at this moment, continues to support the rich at the expense of the rest of us? Aren't we all dealing with just an up- scale version of what is driving the Somalis into piracy? It's time to really organize and effectively make our values incorporated into public policies and regulations.

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» RE: H4020 Posted by: BulldogRedeemer
» Living well Posted by: inanaturallight
» Dealing with it effectively Posted by: leafsong1
Intelligent, informed commentary
[Report this comment]
Posted by: BlueBerry PickN on Apr 14, 2009 7:12 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
by a fantastic Canadian talent.

rock on K'naan!!




perspective for the Peoples:



The Jeff Farias Show: streams FREE & LIVE Mon-Fri, 6-9pmEST

FREE podcast

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Can anyone ever really be for piracy
[Report this comment]
Posted by: titusoye on Apr 14, 2009 7:27 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
My answer is NO! It is pathetic that Africans still justify engaging their children, teens, and adolescents in unwholesome activities in the name of finding solutions to Africa's intractable woes and misfortunes. Whoever supplies lifeboats and assault guns to teenagers (13-19 years old) and sends them to the high seas to waylay seafarers and hijack ships for ransom is committing crime against humanity. What is the way forward for Africa? What have Africans shown for 60 years of Independence? What will Africa show for 100 years of independence? We cannot keep ourselves, we cannot feed ourselves, we cannot heal ourselves. Where does the huge ransome go? Where does the money from gold, diamond, oil, and other resources go? Is the money used to build better schools, construct better roads, provide healthcare, improve electricity supplies, or rebuild ruined cities and destroyed lives? Who will do all these things for Africa? Are they not the children of today who will become the leaders of tomorrow? Every African country is misleading the young by forcing them to fend for themselves. Whatever excuse we manufacture. It is wrong to think that enlisting teenagers in piracy is the solution to the problem of Somalia and other African countries too, for that matter. Every African in a position of leadership should look inward and do some rethinking.

This reminds me of few lines from my 2005 poem "Africa’s wounds are grievous; wounded by friends and foes alike. Her children had destroyed her tents; no-one was left to restore her dignity and pride ... But Africa is strong and courageous. She was beaten but did not bend, She was kicked but did not bow
Like the Kente, Africa refused to tear
She had covenanted with fate and with perseverance will stay alive Until her sons returned to bind her wounds."

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Who are the real pirates here?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: knowbuddhaU on Apr 14, 2009 7:31 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Thanks for this eloquent first-person account.

To paraphrase Michael Franti & Spearhead, we can machine the world to pieces, but we can't machine it into peace. And Pres. Morales of Bolivia said, what say you?

PRESIDENT EVO MORALES: [translated] Thank you very much for the invitation and for this kind interview. I’m very pleased, as always, to talk with you and share our proposals on behalf of life.

I’ve come at the invitation of the Permanent Forum of Indigenous Peoples of the United Nations. I was, as a union—to share experiences on climate change, first as a peasant union leader and second as a president.

Unfortunately, the so-called developing countries are the hardest hit by natural phenomena. These natural phenomena are a result of the unbridled industrialization of the Western countries. I think that the countries of the West are under an obligation to see how they can pay the environmental debt to reduce harm to the planet earth. The planet earth has suffered a death warrant [sic, poss. "wound"] and must be saved, and that means saving planet earth is to save life and to save humankind.

But there are other factors that are leading to the inflation in prices for some agricultural goods, ... And it’s not possible to understand in this new millennium how there are governments, presidents, institutions that are more interested in a heap of metal than in life. They’re more interested in fueling luxury cars than in feeding human beings.

That’s where we raise a question. First, land is to be for life and not land for scrap metal or a heap of metal. And while some presidents and some international organizations want to implement measures of this sort, well, I believe very much in the social movements. ... and we need to wake up some presidents and international organizations before this problem of hunger that’s suffered by families and hectares of land being earmarked to cars rather than people goes any further. [End quote.] Pres. Morales on Democracy Now! 24 April 08

Our world is fatally overmechanized. When the tsunami struck, the sea puked up the poisons dumped by the real pirates here, sickening your people, stealing their livelihoods. And now, more white men in more metal machines are on the way to escalate another bogus war.

Why is it that perpetual bogus "holy" war is the only way we know of being in the world? It's the mythology!

The myth of the cosmos as Newtonian mechanism needs to die now. We are organic beings who conceive of our selves and our ultimate Source as machines, that's our problem. And we help the Machine Men defeat us when we champion the same damn myths that oppress us.

As a fellow poet, K'naan, I'm curious: what do you think of Morales's rejection of mechanism as a way of life?

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They're hijacking cruise ships
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Posted by: harpy on Apr 14, 2009 7:39 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
and others that have absolutely nothing to do with fishing and pollution. I know someone who was on one of those ships. This article likes to sidestep that little inconvenient fact. Why aren't they hijacking the polluters? No money in it. Warlords don't give a damn about pollution and poachers. This is all about money, pure and simple. The warlords send out their soldiers to attack, hijack, and kidnap innocent people.

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Very disappointing feedback
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Bizatch! on Apr 14, 2009 8:04 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Really, the average level of insight in these remarks is not encouraging. Yes, we can establish that pirate molestation is vile and prone to being undertaken for personal gains far more than upholding national sovereignty issues. But how many of us North Americans have ever had to live below subsistence level for most of our lives and face social upheaval and violence throughout our daily life experience? Those of you who balk at armed resistance have no doubt lived a very settled and undisturbed existence that is only periodically marred by things such as armed madmen storming community centers. How placid would you remain if your livelihood or well-being were reduced to miserable conditions? Until you've come close to that scenario, you've got nothing substantive to say.

Goddammit, I'd sure as hell get up and do something about it... something more than blogging, that is!

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» RE: Very disappointing attack! Posted by: greenPuker
whats this? "Our" pirates? "Our"????
[Report this comment]
Posted by: lindawageck1 on Apr 14, 2009 8:14 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What the heck is this? Talking about OUR pirates? I didn't get past the title and don't intend to. Alternet, you're going to far.

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no excuse for piracy
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Posted by: Charlow on Apr 14, 2009 8:33 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Piracy and holding innocent crew hostage is organized crime, no matter the circumstances. It is a shame that Somalia is a failed state and is thus in a state of anarchy. As in any anarchy (as American "conservatives" who wish to destroy our government are trying to achieve,) anything goes.

There are areas of piracy all over the world, to the extent that I personally would not want to undertake any extended sea voyages for fear of being taken hostage by these people. It's money they're after, nothing more.

I applaud our Navy for going in to rescue the brave ship Captain and for their success in that endeavor. I hope that if these attacks and hostage takings continue, that we will step up our effort to stop the criminals. This is an appropriate use of our Navy in my opinion.

One irony here, the American-owned Maersk vessel was carrying foodstuffs and other aid destined for several eastern African countries, including Somalia. So, I see it as highly irresponsible to paint the pirates as anything other than organized crime.

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» RE: no excuse for piracy Posted by: willymack
Do You People even READ Your own Comments???
[Report this comment]
Posted by: madmax427 on Apr 14, 2009 9:05 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The "U.S.of A." is INNOCENT because I SAY SO"?! "It's Your OWN Fault"?

People, time to breathe some fresh AIR (otherwise stated as get Your head out of the Ass You have it shoved up!)!

There is more than enough blame to go around, for ALL Parties concerned!

To lay all the Blame on Somolia because They make some money over the Piracy is just NOT thinking clearly! Of COURSE They want to make MONEY over doing this, But that does NOT mean They do not have Legitimate reasons for doing it BESIDES the money!

Do Yourselves a SMALL favor & LEARN WHY & HOW Piracy began in the first place!(Gee, could it be SLAVES revolting AGAINST Their "Masters"?)

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Historical perspective
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Posted by: leafsong1 on Apr 14, 2009 9:12 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Piracy has historically been a natural consequence of the building of maritime empires. The piracy that destroyed the Minoans was fueled by their jealous guarding of their trading privelidges with their colonies. The pirates, after taking over the Minoan empire and duplicating its monopolistic policies, fell prey to a new generation of pirates, some of whom used to sail ships for the Minoans. The Romans, the Spanish, the British, over and over again we see the oppressions of empires answered by the atrocities of free thugs. Over and over again, we blame the thugs and their excessive liberty, but the cause lies elsewhere. "The more you tighten your fist, the more systems will slip through your fingers," says Princess Leia, but the lesson is a very old one from the annals of Earth history. Piracy is a natural human reaction.

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BulldogRedemer
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Posted by: BulldogRedeemer on Apr 14, 2009 10:45 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Where, or where, do you find authors like K'naan? Excuses, excuses. Such is the state of the tortured progressive mind. Since when is 300 miles off shore considered national waters? The warlords, who are the current government of Somalia, are responsible for collecting money for sanctioning the dumping of waste off their coastlines. No excluses for raiding shipping far out to sea to collect money. They are criminal pirates, pure and simple. It is not complicated. Pirates should be dealt with as they always have been. Confronted and destroyed, either by direct fighting or by capture and hanging. Pure and simple.

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Somali women suffer twice
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Posted by: hansennancykay on Apr 14, 2009 11:19 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
From their own men, as well as from injustices by Western powers. I appreciate Alternet making this article available, and I think the author makes very valid points and brings information I didn't know about. Illegal dumping and overfishing should be a large concern of the UN and at least a moderate concern of President Obama. Nevertheless, my image of Somali men is so poor that it's hard for me not to feel happy at hearing about three of their heads being blown off. I recall the famine when women and children starved while the thugs with guns and erections seized their food, raped 'em, and drove off in their pickup trucks waving their arms in "triumph". If I could have shot them myself, I would have. I recall the photos I've seen of girls and women in Somalia with such severe (and entirely routine) mutilation that the area between their legs looks like a Barbie doll (i.e. adult women don't even have pubic hair because that's how much skin was cut away and intentionally scarified), the women and girls walking stiffly because, after the cutting was done, their legs were tied together to encourage scarrring in-between, the girls whose "wedding night" involves their "husband" cutting open the scars with a knife, pleasing himself, and then having their re-ripped vaginas re-sewn around a clay model of his particular dick, and the women and girls dying in agony as a fetus becomes lodged in the scarred birth canal or living after it is forced through the side and out the anus. The number of cases of these vaginal-anal fistulas is very high in parts of the world practicing female genital mutilation, and nowhere is it practiced more extremely and with more gusto than in Somalia. It is no accident that the men who grow up in this culture can't come together to govern or do anything but plunder and fight. I don't see any hope for them at all. I hope I'm wrong.

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» one tool in the hammer Posted by: BlueBerry PickN
THEY CALL THEMSELVES THE VOLUNTEER COASTGUARD OF SOMALIA
[Report this comment]
Posted by: thetruth07 on Apr 14, 2009 11:26 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
These are the ordinary Somalian fisherman who at first took speedboats to try to prevent the dumpers and trawlers, or at least wage a 'tax' on them. After the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died. There was lead and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury. Much of it traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to "dispose" of cheaply.
At the same time European ships have been looting Somalia's seas of their greatest resource: seafood. These so-called "pirates" have the overwhelming support of the local population and strongly support the piracy as a form of national defence of the country's territorial waters. During the revolutionary war President Washington and the founding fathers paid pirates to protect America's territorial waters, because they had no navy or coastguard of their own. Most Americans supported them. Is this so different?

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Anything goes?
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Posted by: slugsucker on Apr 14, 2009 11:38 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So the rules are "there are no rules"? Two wrongs now make a right? OK. I guess this justifies minority gang violence here in the U.S. against whitey. Carjacking, mugging, rape, armed robbery, even murder are now cool because these "criminals" are sending the powerful, dominating, cruel, abusive, manipulative, and unjust wealthier white folks a political message and getting payback for earlier wrongs (many of which are generations old). Now I understand. So vigilante revenge is cool then too? Where are we going with this logic? When will it end? Aren't there other methods of addressing these grievances? Is it perhaps your culture that needs to evolve and adjust to the 21st century way of international relations, or do we just go along with a survival of the fittest (and most violent) mentality? If so, I've got some bad news. Somalia will lose, and badly. But in the end, everyone loses.

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No rules
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Posted by: Sentencius on Apr 14, 2009 12:08 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The truth is, those pirates were not always there. They did not exist 30 years ago when Somalia still had a government of sorts and was pretty close to self-sufficient in food.
There were still no pirates in the late 70's when the IMF forced down a "structural adjustments" program on the Somalian state. Among other provisions, this plan led to the abandonment of the program of free vaccination of the cattle. Cattle was 80% of Somalia's export. Vaccines were now too expensive for the peasants. Cattle died. Pretty soon, peasants died too. Famin, disease.
Healthcare budget was down by 78% thanks to the same plan. So was education which went from 82$/child in 1982 to 4$ in 1989.

Then there was civil war and Somalia collapsed. A US-led military expedition in 1996 killed a few thousand Somalis but did not make things better. Canadian military, lacking their UScounterpart firepower for large-scale massacre, contented themselves with torturing to death one Somali civilian.
When 17 US military were killed (remember black Hawk Down ?, foreign troops just left.

From then on, Somalia was pretty much left to itself. Still divided among warring warlords, still always on the brink of famin. Stille no government. A conservative paradise really : no state and guns everywhere.

Really pirates are the least important of Somalia's problems. They even bring quite a large amount of cash in some coastal villages. The only income those places have, actually.

Rules ? Somalis have learned the hard way : there are no rules.

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Perhaps the International courts need to step in
[Report this comment]
Posted by: reelectnoone on Apr 14, 2009 12:35 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It is time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Let's turn the UN and International courts lose and catch (a) actual pirates and (b) illegal dumping and fishing. Confiscate their boats and send them to jail for awhile. Fine the companies that shipped the trash. Make it very unattractive to dump illegally.

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Dendts
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Posted by: Dendts on Apr 14, 2009 12:45 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And how does all this history relate to the kidnapping of a ship's captain with AK 47's that was bringing goods (aid) to Somalia? What am I missing here?

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It's Our Fault
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Posted by: dockboy on Apr 14, 2009 12:46 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I just knew it was the fault of industrialized nations.

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» RE: It's Our Fault-CW found... Posted by: slugsucker
UN-led
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Posted by: Sentencius on Apr 14, 2009 1:32 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It had a UN mandate, yes. But when it turned into actual fighting, it was mostly US troops who did the fighting if only because they had the firepower nobdy else had.
I am not blaming it solely "on the US". The IMF is not just the US.
And the United Nations were pretty happy to get what they thought would give some clout to their troops, i.e. : a US military expedition.

Only it did not turn out the way they thought.

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Come petrocollapse...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: DaBear on Apr 14, 2009 2:19 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I guarantee the US of A will become the same festering cesspool of psychotic gun-violent riff raff the trolls are so excoriating right now vis-a-vis Somalia.

Put a RWA, a Xtian Fundie, five 'Merkaaner Sheeple, and 800 guns into a room, lock the door. Open it in ten weeks. I guarantee, some crazy survivor will have killed and eaten alive all the others.

Somalia is 'Merkuh's future after petrocollapse... especially after reading much of the troll literature upthread...

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» RE: Come petrocollapse... Posted by: slugsucker
» RE: Some petrocollapse... Posted by: greenPuker
Bullshit
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Philip Newton on Apr 14, 2009 3:09 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Another failed klepto-state blaming its failure to get its act together on the West.

Who the hell do you think the companies were cutting deals with to poison the Somali people?

Right. The same piece of shit warlords that are now raiding ships off the Somali coast.

Give me a break.

And AlterNet PUBLISHES this crap?

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» RE: Bullshit Posted by: jaguarxjs
» RE: Bullshit Posted by: IceOwl
American anger over piracy is hypocritical
[Report this comment]
Posted by: MeyravLevine on Apr 14, 2009 3:35 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Consider EncinoM's enthusiastic support for torturing and molesting children by US soldiers:
"Nor do I see Omar Kahid as a child, he was old enough to travel to a war zone and participate, he is old enough to deal with the ramifications of his actions."

The UN Convention on the rights of children in wartime, to which the U.S. is a signatory, requires juveniles – those under the age of 18 when the alleged crime took place – to be rehabilitated rather than punished. Of course, that doesn't stop EncinoM from supporting child molesters.

Those who are showing indignation over piracy are also the most ardent supporters of US war crimes in Iraq.

If taking over a boat is illegal and the punishment is to be shot dead, without a hearing, then what should be the punishment for US soldiers who have voluntarily served in Iraq?

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» Meyrav Levine is a Liar Posted by: EncinoM
» ML is an Idiot Posted by: EncinoM
» RE: EncinoM supports child molesters Posted by: MeyravLevine
UN coastal waters management
[Report this comment]
Posted by: jebpgh on Apr 14, 2009 4:45 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The UN should establish a coastal waters management authority to ensure that the coastlines of states unable to protect themselves can ensure that these areas are not a dumping ground.

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Let's Look At Reality
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Posted by: iris89 on Apr 14, 2009 5:19 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
FIRST, Even the biased author of the article only accused certain Europeans.

SECOND, The Canadian and American fishing fleet would not fish the area because it would not be economical for them to do so. Obviously some know nothing of economic realities.

THIRD, Both the Canadian and American governments have strict controls of disposal of any neculear waste products originating in their respective countries and uncontrolled dumping is just not allowed of same.

FOURTH, The American vessel attacked was on a humanitarial mission - bringing food to starving Africans.

FIFTH, None of the boats seized had anything to do with dumping of any substance - they were innocents, and their attackers were just plain common criminals.

Iris89

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If we as a species
[Report this comment]
Posted by: wormfarmer on Apr 14, 2009 5:55 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
don't respond to this violation of our planet, our home, we, as a species, don't deserve a place on this planet. Stop the exploitation, stop the bribery.

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Bull. Fucking. Shit.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Longdream on Apr 14, 2009 5:58 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Hey, there are some people in upstate New York who are so poor they're skinny. They haven't worked in a decade because there's nothing to damned work at and they can't afford to move. They've closed a lot of stores up there, and put more of the people out of work, because of course the people in town are out of work and can't buy the stuff in the stores. Their kids die young more often than ours do, and they die young, too.

They put pictures of these folks up on AlterNet one time because they were part of a photo exhibition of how disgusting it is to be them, and I had a biff-out with some shitty woman who thought that the least they could do was make their beds before they let the art photographer in. That's how downtrodden these people are. Nobody even pities them.

It's like they live in a separate country from you and me. A country without help or hope, and no government that will help them. Kind of like Somalia.

So when about ten of them go into the local smoke shop, lock the door and hold the owner at gunpoint while talking to the newspapers demanding a ransom so they could have some money, that would be ok, right?

Bull. Fucking. Shit.

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» obviously Posted by: BlueBerry PickN
» RE: obviously Posted by: Longdream
NOT A complicated Author
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ds1st on Apr 14, 2009 8:11 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"It's complicated" - just BITE ME LIBERAL IDIOT.

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Unqualified readers on this forum should...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Bizatch! on Apr 15, 2009 6:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
... read this and learn something for the first time, [you self-righteous know-nothings!]--
http://www.counterpunch.org/macaux04142009.html

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NOT USA FAULT
[Report this comment]
Posted by: reelman on Apr 15, 2009 9:07 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Its not our fault that so many African countries have horrible forms of gov-meant...not our fault, not our fault not our fault, not our fault...
keep the guilt to yourself, its sickening

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"Pirates & Emperors" - film by Eric Henry
[Report this comment]
Posted by: BlueBerry PickN on Apr 15, 2009 5:08 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Rough Crossings - Simon Schama Speaks at Google about his latest published offerings
Making Room for Conscience
===

Saint Augustine on Pirates

In the "City of God," St. Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great. The Emperor angrily demanded of him, "How dare you molest the seas?" To which the pirate replied, "How dare you molest the whole world? Because I do it with a small boat, I am called a pirate and a thief. You, with a great navy, molest the world and are called an emperor."
The quote is from Noam Chomsky's Pirates and Emperors
===
While critics decry the United States' current brand of military and economic imperialism as dangerously unprecedented, great powers have been throwing their weight around like schoolyard bullies since St. Augustine's time.
This playful but pointed cartoon shows that while Uncle Sam has been an especially bad apple of late, he's following a pattern of bad behavior which goes back decades.

Written & Directed by: Eric Henry
Produced by: Eric Henry & RES Media Group
Pirates & Emperors
Animation/Illustration: Eric & Cristie Henry, Martha Sue Harris, David Drowns, Poopy Lickles, Joshua Ellingson, Magda May, Syd Garon, Dylan Latimer

Narrator: Amy X Neuburg
Alexander the Great: Ian Scott McGregor
Pirate: Ian Scott McGregor
Uncle Sam: Ian Scott McGregor
Comic Book Kid: Elijah Yesovitch
Duck: Kerry Rose

Music: Eric Henry & Jim Coursey
Sound Design: Jim Coursey

Music Performed by:
Vocals - Amy X Neuburg
Guitar - Ted Savarese
Bass - Ashley Adams
Drums - Mark Edwards
Keyboards - Jim Coursey

Engineered by: Mark Edwards & Tardon Feathered
Mixed by: Mark Edwards
Recorded at Mr. Toad's, San Francisco
Research: Ahart Powers III
Special Thanks: Zoe Edmonds, Louis Fox, Syd Garon, Peter Henry, Dylan Latimer, Naeem Mohaiemen, Jonathan Wells
Inspired by the writings of Noam Chomsky.
TRT 4:05, © 2004 Eric Henry




perspective, people.


Perspective.

The Jeff Farias Show: streams FREE & LIVE Mon-Fri, 6-9pmEST

FREE podcast

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finally an explanation
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Posted by: lindalee on Apr 16, 2009 7:45 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This article didn't make excuses for the pirates, it simply explained how the Somalis were pushed to that point by the bullshit happening in the country. I wanted to understand what drove so many to be so lawless and now it makes sense. That was the whole point of the article and some of you are just being nasty.

Clearly, the Somali people are in deep shit. These two warlords clearly have no respect for their own people. Didn't we all go through this with the Bush administration?

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what waste`
[Report this comment]
Posted by: mj541 on Apr 16, 2009 9:21 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Am i am missing something , I do not recall a single ship ever kidnapped that had anything to do with illegal dumping or fishing. Until there is some substantive proof, other then the bald allegations made by this author, that this is presently being done, the whole premise of this article is nonsense.

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Americans are pirates
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Posted by: Zeugitai on Apr 17, 2009 2:06 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Simply construe the term "pirate" generally and you have Americans from the genocidal land thieves from the Mayflower onward to our current global financial and corporate institutions of quasi-legitimate piracy. Americans have been cold-blooded slavers, murderers and exploiters since before they became know as Americans.

Now that America has the world in a death-grip, anyone who disagrees with the USA is a rogue, an insurgent, a radical, a "hostile native," and now, a "pirate," and faces summary execution by some insane young American armed to the teeth with glorious American weapons.

The world faces the same dilemma that weak individuals and nations have faced throughout recorded history: bow down, kiss our asses, do our bidding, or die like dogs.

America makes a joke of the word "civilization."

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» RE: Americans are pirates Posted by: EncinoM
Simolia Pirates
[Report this comment]
Posted by: rtpricetag on Apr 17, 2009 4:10 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I will not accept the story put out by the US-Gov and Media simply for the fact they rarely if ever report the truth.

What is happening in this part of the world has clear markers, a Pentagon 'High Security' ship often contracted to the Pentagon, to ship Aid to Simolia no doubt.

I have yet to hear of the Shipping Line that dumped dangerous materials along the Simolia coast brought to trial. This smells of Cheney and his cabal.

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#@%@^^@%#
[Report this comment]
Posted by: itouch backup on May 7, 2009 10:54 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
_________________________
Video Converter OS X

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