The Definition of "Piracy"?

[katyknight]

As a woman who works in the international trade industry, I have very little sympathy for anyone that would hijack a merchant vessel and threaten the lives of innocent crew members aboard (as we're seeing off the coast of Somalia). However - as with most issues - there are two sides to every story, which makes this article by Johann Hari so

Comments

[llyans_boudoir]

Before moving to Tex-Ass my whole house was decorated in pirate.

Argghhh....I love pirates.

Hugs and Love

Toni

[dabroots]

Thank you for sharing this article. I had heard just a bit about this situation, but not much. For centuries, Africa has been plundered of its resources and its people, and it seems to keep going on and on.

[katyknight]

Indeed. I was a member of our delegation at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town earlier this year. It was, shall we say, a very "enlightening" experience. :(

[dabroots]

I'm noticing that the author of the book cited is Marcus Redeker, who published The Slave Ship: A Human History, just last year. In fact, he teaches here at University of Pittsburgh. I have a copy of latter, but have yet to read it.

You do some serious traveling.

[katyknight]

Please publish your thoughts on the book after you've read it, if you'd be so kind. I'd be interested to learn if it's worth borrowing from the library.

> "You do some serious traveling."

My mother's lament. My father was a career military man, and spent long spans away from home while we were growing up. Now that he's retired, it's me that's hardly home. The good news is my sister has settled down near Sydney, and I will be going back to visit in the early autumn (and, hopefully, again at Christmastime).

[whoasksfinds]

im glad you posted this article. the past couple days ive been plotting how best to assasinate those holding the american captain. thinking we need to send a message to these bandits that pirating will lead to death and nothing else. thereby eliminating the incentives to become a pirate.

but when you look at the big picture, the somalis are desperate people, and the threat of death is not going to stop the pirating. the root of the problem is the lack of a government in somalia, and without a government, no other states respect the sovereignty of somalia. which leads to the problems mentioned in the article. not to mention the extreme poverty and desperation.

sadly, short of an international effort to rebuild a functioning somalia government, which is unlikely to happen anytime soon, the anarchy and pirating will continue.

[katyknight]

> "the somalis are desperate people, and the threat of death is not going to stop the pirating. the root of the problem is the lack of a government in somalia, and without a government, no other states respect the sovereignty of somalia... sadly, short of an international effort to rebuild a functioning somalia government, which is unlikely to happen anytime soon, the anarchy and pirating will continue."

How very well said. The situation, from the Somali perspective, reminds me of a specific line Bob Dylan wrote in "Like a Rolling Stone" many years ago:

"When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose."

[whoasksfinds]

the tradgedy is that if the united states, or even some international body, went into somalia to help alleviate the suffering of the somalia people and build a functioning government, islamic extremists would bring their suicide vests and cry bloody murder about 'infidels' and their 'occupation'. not to mention the oraganized gangs that have an interest in keeping the status quo. and there is no country in the world thats going to sacrifice their military men and women to help somalia.

[vivianc1968]

I'm not buying it. If they were attacking the illegal dumping ships or the fishing boats, there might be a case. To claim that they have the right to attack any ship in the area because of a perceived injustice doesn't make them any less criminal. The ship they kidnapped the American captain from was an aid ship taking food to Kenya.

This is just another example of someone in the media trying to elevate a common criminal to the level of a mythic hero.

[katyknight]

As I said, I have no pity for criminals and thieves of any sort, be they hijackers, poachers or illegal dumpers. I just found the "other side" of the story to be sadly intriguing (and not something that I've seen featured in the international media). Like you, I hope the hijackers involved the current standoff are apprehended and prosecuted to the full extent of international law.

Happy Easter to you and your family. :)

[kinvore]

Exactly. While I sincerely feel for the plight of the Somalis and I think the world needs to do more to help them out (if they had we probably wouldn't have this problem), but once they made that decision to steal from other countries then they will have to accept the consequences of their actions.

Looks like it's coming to a head now that they've taken on an American vessel.

[lily_enelya]

Thanks for posting this article, it's good to see the other side of the story.