Who Are The Pirates? good quick read.

December 2, 2008 at 07:32:21

Headlined on 12/2/08:
Who Are The Pirates?

by Jerry West

There is a real life pirate story taking place in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, let us call it Pirates of the Somali Coast. Of course it isn't the only pirate problem on the globe at the moment. The waters of South East Asia are noted for the problem as well. And, depending on how one wants to define pirate, there are probably a fair number of so called legitimate enterprises out there that deserve the label.

Pirates, if they are historical or fictional and the subject of Hollywood epics, are often heroes, but contemporary ones, particularly like those off the Somali coast are generally considered villains. Don't expect Walt Disney to build a theme park attraction around them, or Jerry Bruckheimer to produce a series of movies glorifying a jolly band of AK-47 and RPG toting sailors snatching oil tankers and other merchant vessels, and holding them for ransom.

Like so many things in the world that we learn about, what we read and hear often is only one part of the story, the part that suits those who relay it to us. In most cases there is always a story or two behind the story, just waiting to be dug up.

The knee jerk reaction to the pirates of Somalia is to see them as criminals that need to be dealt with. That is what the common story that we are given would imply. But, the question must arise, why are they pirates in the first place. Perhaps the solution to this piracy is to go behind that story to the root of the problem and change the situation that compels people to be pirates, rather than perpetually playing Whac-a-Mole with them off of the Horn of Africa.

The first problem leading to the creation of the piracy problem along the Somali coast is the fact that Somalia is a failed state with little functional national authority to maintain its security, both internal and external. The second problem is the foreigners who took advantage of this weakness to prey upon Somalia.

The waters off of Somalia are rich in Tuna and other fish, a traditional source of support for tens of thousands of people in the relatively primitive fishing communities along its coast. With the disintegration of state power in the country modern foreign fishing fleets were able to swoop in without restraint and using industrial methods mine the sea of its bounty. In addition, foreign interests began using Somali waters for a dumping ground for toxic waste.

Understandably Somali fishermen who depending upon these fish stocks, and clean and productive water, could not compete with the hundreds of more modern foreign vessels that were scooping up the resources. Understandably they were both upset with this, and in need of some new enterprise to feed themselves and their families. Attacking the foreign vessels and holding them for ransom became a replacement for the fishing that they lost.

One may ask what does seizing an oil tanker have to do with redressing grievances about fishing issues. The answer is that once the Somalis became adept at their new profession, grabbing bigger ships for more reward was just normal business expansion that any good capitalist would understand. Still, however, the value earned by the pirates in this enterprise, by some estimates, is only about one third of that of the fishery that is being stolen from them by the foreign fleets.

Looking at it from a Somali point of view, who really are the pirates here, people finding a way to survive in response to their traditional means of support being looted and pillaged? Or is it the unscrupulous foreign fishing fleets that are strip mining the sea around Somalia?

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Who-Are-The-Pirates-by-Jerry-West-081202-648.html
http://www.island.net/~record/

Jerry West is Editor and Publisher of THE RECORD newspaper in Gold River, BC. Graduate with Honors, UC Berkeley. Former Sgt. USMC

but killing the bad guys is not enough.. which is the knee jerk response we always get

We also need to clean the swamp as it where, and create conditions that will not lead people to take on the pirate's life to make a living.

In other words, it is far more complex than our ADD media tends to present

Now a Bruckheimer epic based on this... kind of like Syriana, including some of the same suspects might work though

nobody could or would dare touch on the NOOZZZ channels

"The knee jerk reaction to the pirates of Somalia is to see them as criminals that need to be dealt with"

They are criminals, and they DO need to be delt with. WTF ?

And who can blame them? They're being forced into this. :wtf:

who are pillaging and polluting?

which you apparently don't want to do.. for whatever reasons.

maybe which is why the US has more of its citizens behind bars than any "rogue" nation
or commie state.

If you excuse piracy, I guess you would just about any behavior, huh? After all, anyone can come up with a reason for their behavior.

whenever the overlords decide they want the resources.:eye:
:kick:

Firstly, I'm not "condoning or excusing" piracy. Where did I say that? I didn't.

I posted an article I found interesting and informative, and you had the same kind
of "kill the bastards" knee-jerk response, like the article talks about. how ironic.

Secondly, it seems if anyone's making excuses it's you excusing the ongoing capitalist
fat cat take-over of anything and everything with any value; robbing locals of their
livelihood in the process.

The point is, there's a reason for their criminality. Possibly a big enough reason to honestly count as an excuse. if you're living in a land with no law, no government, that other nations are plundering like, well, pirates... what are you going to do? Scrape dirt and hope that all the lead in it from foreign dumping doesn't taint your sorghum?

but thanks for the knee jerk... I knew I could count on DU

Like dealing with the gangs... when you only use law enforcement your results are very substandard

When you also involve public affairs, alternate lifestyles (to the gangs), direct social intervention, and all that jazz, results are much better

Same thing, different day, for the piracy problem.

Those involved in it have to be dealt with legally, but how do you expect to stop this?

I know, hang some in the middle of the street as an example to the rest... like that has ever worked...

Piece of trivia, you know how the brits stopped that little problem in the Caribbean? Read on it, because that is a very valid model, but first things first, we need to get the central government in Somalia get some teeth back, and that failed state become a functioning one

After you strip a people of their means of making a living they have very few choices. GET IT???

We were getting ready to pull into Aden, just opposite from Somalia. The ship was moving at just a couple of knots while waiting for the pilot boat.
I noticed some bird activity off the stern, so I went below and grabbed a big spool of heavy monofilament line and a yellow Lead-head jig. I dropped the lure off the stern and within less than a minute, hooked what tuned out to be a Yellowfin Tuna. In the space of 20 minutes or so, I landed 5 fish and lost at least a dozen more.

Great fishing.

This is the same crap we hear about murderers and muggers who steal and pillage for drugs. Its not their fault. They grew up in a bad part of town and what else can they do?

Fuck that shit. Fuck them. They made the choice to take fucking hostages. How bout those fucking sailors who live within the law who are either threatened with an AK or flat out killed while taking the boat. Society has fucking rules. If you don't like the rules then change them or do something else.

If this was the fucking mad max world then more power to them but until that happens keep on playing that wack a mole, killing fucking pirates and if you don't like the rules or the situation that "drove them to it" then send your goddamn 50 cents a month or go there yourself and fix it.

Fuck!

out of thin air. which is no doubt why the USA imprisons more of it's citizens than any
rogue nation or commie state. your attitude is part of the problem, not the solution.

That's the point of the article - that there is no rule of law there, so those that can get hold of arms have taken to holding people hostage, when others took advantage of the lack of law to take the traditional means of living away.

Is your attitude really "more power to them"?

.. and then you can edit or reply.

Does that mean you're withdrawing your 'more power to them' remark - that even in the lawless state of Somalia, you want them tried as criminals rather than praised?

... as opposed to living in an imaginary film world that i referenced earlier.