The truth behind the Somali Pirates

By Adel - PeaceMaker

December 01, 2009

In Somalia right now the US is holding millions hostage, refusing to allow food aid because it might get into the hands of the Islamist al-Shabab movement that is winning the war against the heavily-subsidized and heavily armed (by the US) the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu. Even Foreign Policy Magazine has an article condemning the policy, concluding with the following:

The U.S. government is holding the Somalia relief enterprise and its beneficiary’s hostage to its counterterrorism policy... Until Washington lets [aid] agencies fulfill their mission unhindered, the U.S. mission to win "hearts and minds" in Somalia, a feared up-and-coming stronghold of terrorism, will be completely undermined. Knowingly allowing millions of people to suffer is no way to win friends.

Somalia's pirates are indubitably – even the mainstream media acknowledge this - a response to the lack of a central government to police the waters of the Somali basin, and the devastating poverty of that country. The action of seizing boats might seem extreme but since the pirates aren't recognized as a legitimate sovereign authority, they are forced to use coercion. If we're honest, all state transactions – including taxation and tariffs – are rooted in the threat of violence (whether physical or financial) against the subject. So, the pirates, without the benefit of legal recognition, are applying the threat.

Part 1

Somalia is a country that is suffering because of the continued meddling, manipulation, invasion, and bombardment. The USA supports the dictator Siad Barre. They invaded to prevent Mohammad Farah Aideed from consolidating his power. They supported the Ethiopian invasion which forced the Union of Islamic Courts out of power, after they had brought a modicum of stability to the country. And now they are arming and backing a group that has no support outside of a few neighborhoods in Mogadishu.

Part 2

"The actions of the Somali Pirates have a democratic component to it – they are attempting to overcome the effects of imperialism and to affirm their right to self-determination and sovereignty."