Somalia--same as it ever was

ARTICLE: "Somalia's Pirates Flourish in a Lawless Nation," by Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times, 31 October 2008.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA: "The Horn of Africa: The tragedy of the decade? Millions of people in dire need of help," The Economist, 1 November 2008.

Piracy (theft, kidnapping and general banditry) emerges as the one industry booming in pretend state Somalia, which the U.S. clearly did not fix in either of its recent interventions ("Black Hawk Down" in early-mid 1990s and the "recent kinetics in southern Somalia").

Piracy is expected to yield profits in the range of $50m this year--all tax free of course. This year so far abut 75 ships taken down. As start-up industries go, this one is fab for the locals: all you need is a skiff and three lightly armed guys and you've got a business plan. Local women now brag openly about dating pirates.

So who shows up to work this new industry? Core, both old (NATO, US) and new (India, Russia).

Meanwhile, of course, Somalia and neighboring Ethiopia see a resurgence of the famine conditions that caught everyone's attention back in the mid-1980s.

I'm thinking another Live Aid with Johnny Depp MC'ing in full Jack Sparrow regalia.

Global warming can't be helping with this continuing drought that now puts about 20m at dire risk in a region spread across Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Already aid workers are seeing kids start to die off in numbers from malnutrition-related illnesses and infections.

See how well the Powell Doctrine worked!

Comments

[Jeff J]

Instead of hunting the pirates/privateers down and sending them to the gallows they should be promoted (after they put the "Pearl" in permanent drydock of course) to run Somalia. With the balls and ingenuity these guys have shown, they would probably make a good go of it.

[Louis Heberlein]

Pirates give many nations' navies the reason to place nice together rather than concocting war games on fighting each other.