Pirates on the High Seas in the 21st Century

Posted by johnhouk on Nov 25, 2008
 John R. Houk
© November 25, 2008

Somali Pirates have been in the news often lately. Although these pirates appear to be equal opportunity thieves raiding ships from both the West and Islamic nations, I wish to point out they reside in a nation that has had close roots to both radical Islam and to warlord thugs.

Pirating has become a venture of illicit money making much like dealing in drugs, weapons or slavery. In other words it is dangerous business in which the only regulatory rules are who is tougher than whom.

It has been speculated the Somali Pirates have sent of some of their spoils to Islamic terrorists like al-Qaeda. The speculation is based on the known use of Islamic terrorists have used Sharia Finance practice known as hawala. Hawala is an Islamic money transfer practice that uses little to nothing of a paper trail; thus the suspicion of portions of the booty going to Islamic terrorists.

General William Ward of AFRICOM has made it known that there is no direct evidence linking the Somali Pirates to al-Qaeda. I suspect Ward’s opinion is closer to military Machiavellianism so that American pro-military and anti-Islamist groups do not call for a military expedition to Somalia to clean the vermin out.

There is harder evidence that the spoils have been redistributed within Somalia as part of the disorganized rogue nation’s economy.

Leslie J. Sacks has emailed a post to SlantRight regarding on how the Somali Pirates should be dealt with. His first solution was essentially to pay the Pirates for stolen oil to get it at a cheaper price than the Islamic oil nations provide. I’m still not sure how serious Sacks is about that solution. Due to what I have just researched I have a huge sense that some of that dough is going to America’s terrorist enemies. Yes Virginia there is a Global War on Terror (GWOT).

I tend to favor Sacks’ alternative. GO THERE AND READ IT. (OR at the end of this introduction)

JRH 11/25/08
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Pirates' Heaven

By Leslie J. Sacks
Email Sent: 11/24/2008 4:11 PM
Leslie’s Blog

Off Somalia's vast Indian Ocean coastline, a set of entrepreneurial Somalis have found gainful employment in one of the world's most impoverished settings. The Horn of Africa is the setting for a latter day "Barbary Pirates," where ragtag groups equipped with GPS devices, rocket-propelled grenades and assorted machine guns roam at will, boarding supertankers and cargo vessels at a rate of about two per week. As a result, some 15 dormant ships are now berthed in lawless yet booming Somali ports.

Perhaps oil-thirsty America can bid for some of those oil-filled supertankers on the cheap and quietly fill our strategic oil reserve. Call it pragmatic politics if you will - an attempt to counter-balance the oil-slicked Saudi and Iranian financing of Hamas, Hezbollah and Tablighi Jamaat, the group at the forefront of the Islamic missionary and revival movement.

I write in all seriousness. Media reports about the globe's latest pirates' haven outline the infuriating helplessness of international authorities. In 1805, the U.S. Marines decimated the slew of pirate havens along "the shores of Tripoli," as the famous song goes. Why not take direction from a 200 year old success?

This is not a scenario that lends itself to Obama-like negotiation - let's keep that delicacy for our irascible friends Putin, Ahmadinejad and Chavez, etc. Instead, a NATO Navy assemblage supplemented by our Asian allies could implement some effective 19th century policies. All suspicious boats in the Horn of Africa area will be boarded and searched for weapons; those offering resistance will be ignominiously sent to Davy Jones' locker. Other boats found with weapons will preferably be destroyed, with pirates summarily turned over to the authorities in the semi-autonomous Puntland region - the only effective government in the country [*SlantRight Editor: the only effective government is not necessarily free from corruption] - for long term imprisonment. To ensure compliance - after all, it seems some local officials have been taking a cut of pirate ransoms - NATO members could tangle the prospect of recognition before the leaders of this breakaway territory. What's more, the shipping and insurance industries relevant to the area could be taxed modestly to cover a prison fee, say $100 per month per prisoner. This sorely needed foreign exchange will ensure the Puntland authorities willing compliance in keeping the pirates under lock-and-key as a permanent disincentive to budding bandits.

It should not be long before these remaining entrepreneurs of the sea find alternative employment.

Problem solved.

Now back to the cheap oil tankers?

"Pirates' Delight" Wall Street Journal (Nov. 19, 2008)

"Pirates Exploit Confusion About International Law" Wall Street Journal (Nov. 19, 2008)

"Somali pirates turn villages into boomtowns" The Associated Press (Nov. 19, 2008)

"How to Deal With Pirates" by Michael B. Oren Wall Street Journal (Nov. 23-23, 2008)
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 Pirates on the High Seas in the 21st Century
John R. Houk
© November 25, 2008
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Pirates' Heaven

Mr. Leslie J. Sacks
11640 San Vicente Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90049
Tel: 310.820.9448 Fax: 310.207.1757
Leslie@LeslieSacks.com

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