Somali Piracy and American Foreign Policy
by Rebecca Macaux and Philip Primeau, Counterpunch, April 14, 2009
With the explosion of Somali piracy, America is reaping what it has sown. In many ways, we have nobody to blame but ourselves for the emergence of high-seas crime threatening to disrupt important lanes of trade.
America’s support for a violent strongman during Somalia’s formative post-colonial years hindered the development of stable political institutions and severely complicated its capacity for effective self-rule and sustainable growth.
The country’s markets are also victims of foreign meddling, fatalities of the backhanded ‘charity’ which has made Western actors—and especially the U.S.—distrusted throughout the Third World. Rendered economically impotent through the misapplication of aid and assistance by the U.S. government and various NGOs, it is no surprise that Somalis have turned to brigandry for sustenance.
These actions we are now witnessing are not crimes of maliciousness or greed, but of desperation. They are sins of last resort.
“I’m a successful Somali pirate”
Reuters UK, Sat Apr 11, 2009
GAROWE, Somalia (Reuters) – Yassin Dheere is a 39-year-old Somali who took to piracy five years ago and has made a fortune from the mushrooming business.
A hulk of a man, Dheere towered over his bodyguards as he spoke to Reuters in Garowe, capital of the northern Puntland province.
Dressed in expensive-looking traditional robes, he chewed khat leaves and stroked an AK-47 rifle as he told his story, starting with his birth in a notorious pirates’ haven on the coast.
“I was born in Eyl town and I used to be a fisherman.
“I was forced to hijack foreign ships after the central government collapsed. No one was monitoring the sea, and we couldn’t fish properly, because the ships which trawl the Somali coasts illegally would destroy our small boats and equipment. That is what forced us to become pirates.
“The first time I was involved in hijacking a ship was 2003. It must have been Arabian, there were 18 Yemeni crew. It was a big fishing ship that destroyed our boats several times.
“We surrounded it with our boats and seized it at gunpoint at night. We did not know these modern methods of using hooks and ladders, so we got near with our boats and climbed on.
“We held it for two weeks, then some Somali and Arab mediators stepped in to negotiate. We were convinced to take $50,000 (34,111 pounds) as compensation. Gosh! This was a huge amount for us. That inspired us and gave us an appetite for hunting ships.”
Pirates can be stopped
Editorial, Winnipeg Free Press, April 14, 2009
The problem of Somali pirates that has plagued the world in recent years does not seem to have any solution that is both easy and practical. The United States and France, however, recently demonstrated a useful and practical way of dealing with individual acts of piracy.
Pirates attempted to hijack an American cargo vessel on Wednesday in the waters off Somalia but had to settle for taking the captain hostage. They demanded about $2 million in ransom, which the U.S. refused to pay. On Sunday, U.S. Navy Seal snipers killed the hijackers and rescued Capt. Richard Phillips unharmed. Two days earlier, the French navy had stormed a sailboat that had been seized by pirates, freeing five hostages.
Mostly, however, the international response to this growing menace has been to bluster and bristle and do nothing as ships are hijacked and hostages taken almost under their noses. There is an international flotilla of warships from the world’s most powerful nations in the waters off the Somali coast and in the Gulf of Aden to protect shipping. But the problem gets worse and the pirates get bolder. Since January, there have been more than 66 attacks and 14 ships have been hijacked; 260 crew members from those ships are still being held hostage.
For a variety of reasons, none of them good, most governments are reluctant to use force to protect their citizens and the sea lanes from the Somalis. Perhaps the U.S. and French initiatives will give them some spine.