[Peace-discuss] Fwd: The Great Game of Hunting Somali Pirates

[John W.]

This seems to me to be a fairly balanced summary of the Somali pirate
situation.

John Wason



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: The Wisdom Fund <listserve at twf.org>
Date: Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Subject: The Great Game of Hunting Somali Pirates


*THE WISDOM FUND
twf.org <http://www.twf.org>*


November 22, 2008
Asia Times

*The Great Game of Hunting Somali Pirates*
by M K Bhadrakumar

*[Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign
Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka,
Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey.]*


Maersk, the world's largest shipping company, announced it would no longer
put its tankers at risk to pirates off Somalia. Maersk said it would reroute
its 50-strong oil tanker fleet via the Cape of Good Hope off the tip of
southern Africa - a much longer and more expensive route.

The naval presence by foreign powers cannot solve the problem. There are
about 14 warships from various countries including the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) deployed off the Somali coast, whereas over 20,000 ships
are estimated to pass through the Persian Gulf annually. Moreover, there are
question marks about the legality of the operations by these warships. While
NATO secured a request from the United Nations secretary general for
undertaking interdiction work in international waters off Somalia, the same
cannot be said for Russia or India. Russia claims the Somali government
sought its assistance but there is no one really in charge in Mogadishu. It
is noteworthy that the Indian navy statement has made it a point to
underline that its warship "retaliated in self-defense".

The obvious thing to do is to act under a United Nations mandate, preferably
involving the African Union and the littoral states, which may have
capabilities or may be assisted to develop capabilities. But this hasn't
happened, lending to strong suspicion that a Great Game is unfolding for
control of the sea route in the Indian Ocean between the Strait of Malacca
and the Persian Gulf. This sea route is undoubtedly one of the most
sensitive waterways for commerce involving cargo such as oil, weapons and
manufactured goods moving between Europe and Asia. Actually, the effective
regional cooperation in curbing piracy and hijacking at the chokepoint of
the Malacca Strait should provide a useful model.

There is some talk that the pirates may provide cover for international
terrorist groups. Experts on "terrorism" have already shifted gear and begun
speculating about al-Qaeda copying the modus operandi of the Somali pirates.
Are we inching toward including sea piracy in the "war on terror"?

Which will be a pity since the anarchic conditions prevailing in Somalia are
easy to understand. Somalia is a dysfunctional country like Afghanistan
which has never been a shining beacon of stability or democracy. But things
changed distinctly for the better when the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) took
control in early 2006. The ICU succeeded in restoring law and order in that
country torn by clan rivalries and violence.

But, then, the George W Bush administration viewed this as unacceptable. By
the perverse September 11, 2001, logic, how could an Islamic government be
allowed to be a trailblazer of good governance? The result was the invasion
by Christian Ethiopia in 2007, with US backing. The invasion failed to
produce decisive results and instead helped only to splinter the ICU, with
the radical elements known as shabah (young men) gaining the upper hand.

The result is plain to see. Therefore, there is no question that the problem
of piracy is also to be addressed ashore in Somalia. But, problems often
enough, lend themselves to solution if only soldiers and geostrategists
would step aside for a while. That is, at least, the expert opinion of Katie
Stuhldreher. Writing in the Christian Science Monitor recently, she put
forth a three-way approach to the Somalia problem. One, the international
community should appreciate that the piracy in Somalia has its origin among
disgruntled fishermen who had to compete with illegal poaching by foreign
commercial vessels in its tuna-rich coastal waters.

This unequal fight created a local impoverished population. Resentment was
also caused among the coastal population over the shameless dumping of
wastes in Somali waters by foreign ships. The disgruntled local fishermen,
who lost out, soon organized to attack foreign fishing vessels and demand
compensation. Their campaign succeeded and prompted many young men to "hang
up their fishing nets in favor of AK-47s". . . .


*FULL TEXT AND MORE at
http://www.twf.org/News/Y2008/1122-Pirates.html*


---
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed
without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational purposes.

FREE, 3rd ed, "*THE WAR ON ISLAM*" -- CLICK ON BOOK'S PICTURE at
http://www.twf.org/Library/WaronIslam.html

NEW BOOK "*9/11 UNVEILED*" -- Watch the video, click on iTV icon
http://www.twf.org/Library/911Unveiled.html

SUBSCRIBE to our mailing list at
http://www.twf.org/twflist/subscribe.html
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace-discuss/attachments/20081121/9e80101a/attachment.htm