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The Forum > Article Comments > Piracy: a symptom of Somalia's deeper problems > Comments

Piracy: a symptom of Somalia's deeper problems : Comments

By Brett Schaefer, published 23/4/2009

Somalia: trading nations benefit from having sea lanes free of pirates and should pursue a strategy to discourage them.

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Sir Richard Burton in the 19th century described a state of governance and society in what is now Somalia that is virtually unchanged.

Perhaps you have heard of the famous exchange between Alexander the Great and a pirate.
A the G: 'Why are you a pirate, sailing the seas and robbing people?'
P: 'It is only because I have one ship that I am called a pirate. If I had a lot, I would be called an emperor'.

Perhaps the Somali pirates are an incipient government and we all know how socially useful they are. Please see http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/higgins1.html
Posted by Wing Ah Ling, Thursday, 23 April 2009 11:33:53 AM
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This country is controlled by Tribal Warlords and Unsavoury Islamists .

Piracy is Illegal .

Enforce the Law .

Simply arrange short field Radar Scanners around the Ship driving Mortors , Machine Guns , Small short range guided missiles etc.

Too Easy .
Posted by ShazBaz001, Thursday, 23 April 2009 2:10:14 PM
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Even simpler than that.
Three trained men on board, one always on duty. .50" cal Browning machine guns, port, starbord and astern. Any boat that doesn't sheer off after a warning, blow it out of the water.
Posted by Is Mise, Thursday, 23 April 2009 4:41:50 PM
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There are two sides to this debate and the pirates do actually make
a valid point: Along the Somali coast, people used to make a living
from fishing, but along came the large trawlers, owned by the
Europeans, Taiwanese, Japanese etc and stole all their fish.

That claim cannot be denied and EU boats are culprits as much as
any, as their own fishing grounds become more depleted.

That is of course going to happen in a world of ever increasing
people, all chasing a diminishing fish population. Once again,
the ever increasing human population raises its head as an issue.

Piracy will continue, because it gets results. Millions of $
are being paid by insurers, to free captured boats. The Somalis
would highly amused at being arrested by various navies and then
being released again, as nobody wants to deal with prisoners.

In Somalia, the law of the jungle operates, so that is also the
only effective solution. If boats are being threatened with
guns etc, they have every right to respond and sink the pirate
boats, along with their crew. That is the language that they
understand.

I will watch with interest, to see if anyone comes up with a better
solution.
Posted by Yabby, Saturday, 25 April 2009 2:35:08 PM
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