The upside of pirate attacks

[margotb822]

So, I've been doing some thinking about these pirate attacks. They're not necessarily recent, but recently the pirates have taken larger and more valuable targets. How soon is it until a cruise ship full of people is captured? What will the world do then?

The Suez canal is one of the most valuable shipping routes in the world. It shaves tens of thousands of miles off the trip from the Gulf to the Med and Atlantic. However, in light of the most recent attack, one Dutch shipping company just ordered it's ships to make the long, treacherous trip around Cape Horn instead of risk a pirate attack. We as a world cannot afford this. Literally, we cannot afford the shipping costs for all vessels to avoid the Suez, but, more symbolically, we cannot let the pirates lord over the world. I mean, this is the 21st century and we're going to be at the mercy of pirates? Not a chance.

Well, the upside of this crisis (yes, it is a crisis) is that the whole world is affected. Every single nation has a stake in preventing further terror and we must work together to solve it. I believe that this is a great opportunity for America to lead, without necessarily committing more assets to the region (and we really do have a lot there now). This is not Iraq. All nations can send ships to protect shipping, we can conduct joint training and actually form alliances with nations that Bush has ignored and shunned. This is a cause for nations around the world to come together and solve.

But, the solution will not be out on the water. The fact that piracy is the largest source of income for Somalia is a problem. Everybody knows that there is a problem in sub-Saharan Africa, but what have we really done about it? Well, Somalis won't stop pirating unless they have a viable government to support the people and protect the fishermen. And, what's to stop other nations from engaging in piracy? How widespread will this have to be before we realize that the world needs to come together? Will we have to send Navy convoys to protect world shipping? And, again, America can lead. Or we can all stand equally as citizens of the world and actually work to solve a problem that has been boiling over for decades.

If people don't believe we are all interconnected, I dare them to show how they won't be affected by this. This is a wake up call and we need to answer.

[msongs]

1. this time they 'jacked a saudi oil tanker - the saudis are now in the game and they

have some influence and weight they can toss about. hmm, mass beheadings anyone? nt

[daninthemoon]

2. I can't help it. Some primal part of me loves this current round of Somali

pirate attacks. For some reason, I was recently considering the similarities of these giant lone cargo vessels to past military commercial fleets. I was wondering that modern unarmed cargo ships each carry as much treasure as armed fleets in earlier times. Now, these Somali pirates have conquered treasure ships and oil tankers to rival any treasure commerce fleets in history. Especially telling is the capture of the oil tanker. How much treasure will these tankers come to be worth as the oil continues to be depleted and made more precious? These are fascinating developments. Soon, our navy will be escorting these vessels. Soon our navy will be providing fleets to guard these tanker ships. We have to get off the oil.

[DS1]

3. The immediate corporate response, in my mind, would be to hire Blackwater

to provide ship security. These guys are typically special forces who trained to invade ships, so they're obviously the first corporate choice. Ticket prices will rise, in order to pay for 'specialists' manning the stern to look for pirates and shoot them.

[margotb822]

4. But, that only addresses the symptoms, not the cause

Are we just going to accept this forever and hire Blackwater? Or are we actually going to try to fix the problem?

[cobalt1999]

6. So, what's the cause?

Poverty? Good luck trying to fix that world wide.

We are facing a depression here at home and we are trillions of dollars in debt.

[margotb822]

8. The cause is a lack of a functioning government

There is no one to represent the Somali fishing industry or protect fishermen from larger fishing vessels fishing illegally in Somali waters or collect taxes/dues from those that do.

[BunkerHill24]

5. I kinda agree most of your analysis, but I have some of my own points to add

Firstly, piracy in Somalia begin with disgruntled fisherman who had no representation and couldn't fish their own waters because they were competing with illegal large fishing vessels from China and South Korea. Hence these fishermen got upset and formed their own vigilantly piracy.

Second, your premise that Somalia economy is passed on piracy is rather uninformative. Since 1991 Somalia was without government and the country has been broken into different regions. Somaliland in the north, and Puntland in the northeast had become autonomous regions and are thriving and doing better with their own local administrations. The south on the other hand, is where the capital was and has been the focus of the conflict and is where the most fighting and refugee crisis are happening. And since there is no functioning government in Somalia there is no authority in place to protect the fisherman, or stop these pirates operating in the open sea.

I think these pirates brought attention back to forgotten Somalia, and I would hope that the world community would once again realize that there has to be a solution for Somali's civil war before the situation gets out of hand.

[margotb822]

7. Thank you for the info!

Good points added :)