The World Needs to Come Together to Deal With the Somali Piracy Issue
If there ever was an opponent that the United States was really not qualified to deal with, it would be four Somali pirates in a small life boat. Even with eight hundred million dollars of destroyer on their side, the United States is still unable to deal with the fact that an American is currently being held by pirates in the Indian Ocean. How is it that the US can go head to head against so many of the world powers, but we are unable to deal with four pirates in a small life boat?
The United States needs to do two things. The first is a very short term thing and that is to determine how much the pirates want and then relay that information to the shipping company so that they can make the necessary arrangements for ransom. Even with a destroyer already in the vicinity and two more on the way, the pirates are currently the ones that are in control. If the negotiators do anything wrong, it could be as easy as killing the captain and all of this would be over.
The first step is to get Richard Philips back. Once we have done that, the United States needs to make more of an effort to try and put an end to the piracy issue. So long as the Somali pirates are able to run free and rampant, there are going to be problems in the area. Different shipping companies are going to continue paying millions of dollars in ransom fees so long as piracy continues. Furthermore, there is the risk that someone might get hurt one day. The argument that the pirates are only looking for money and are not interested in killing might be true; however, they have weapons and that means there is the risk of someone getting hurt.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton needs to convince other nations that have a direct interest in this to send more ships, if necessary, to try and put an end to the piracy. Millions of dollars are going to be lost and citizens of numerous countries are put at risk. If these countries put together the necessary force to really put an end to the piracy, there’d be less risk of human harm as well as economic loss.
The question comes up, though, about how to go about doing it. The US tried playing around in Somalia before and that resulted in nothing. The US lost soldiers and Somalia continued to stay a relatively dangerous nation. If the nations that are being directly affected by the piracy band together and put up a strong enough force, they could curb the pirate issue.
To do this, what each nation needs to do is ensure that an appropriate number of ships are sent to the area. Germany, Russia, Japan, and quite a few other countries have sent ships; however, there are many more nations that could be put at risk because of this. They need to all come together to really put a stop to this. One powerful addition to this large flotilla would be the Arab League agreeing to send more ships.
While there are obviously differences between all of these countries, there is one simple fact about the pirates: they’re not prejudiced. They have hijacked Saudi Oil tankers and have taken Chinese fishing vessels. They took a German ship last week and now have an American ship this week. The world needs to come together, send the necessary resources, and get rid of piracy for good. If that means that they need to land soldiers in the areas that the pirates live, so be it. So long as they continue raiding our ships, the world needs to do what is necessary to prevent it.
I agree, this is a sensative issue. But first thing that needs to be realized is that the US does not negotiate with terrorists. We can’t start doing so other wise a precedent would be created, opening the door for attacks to follow. Secondly, the last thing we need to do is invade another guerilla nation. The somalians are not organized enough to attack us directly and they have nothing to offer if we liberate them. I do agree with a show of force in the form of a naval blockade lining the somalian ports. Stop the problem before it starts. But ultimately these ships need to be arming themselves with something greater than firehose. Anything would work better. I see no problem with a small assortment of shotguns for personnell protection. And acustic weapons to prevent the terrorists from reaching the vessels. Once the ships can defend themselves than 4 men on a liferaft with rifles will think twice before attempting to attack american ships
I can see what you’re saying, Conor, but it is important that we don’t put Captain Philips’ life in jeopardy because we don’t want to negotiate with terrorists. It is important that we get him back. If that means that Maersk gives them the money, so be it.
The issue with these boats arming themselves is that there needs to be liability insurance when you bring weapons on board and a lot of these companies would rather just pay the ransoms instead of having to pay for that extra insurance. They’ve tried acoustic weapons; however, they prove dangerous to the crew and don’t really work.
The best bet is for the world to work together to really get rid of the problem. A UN led attack on the pirate’s territories would be the best move I can think of. It won’t be a US led attack, but a UN led one. When Germany and France are losing profits, they’re suddenly willing to help. Cool, huh?
“But first thing that needs to be realized is that the US does not negotiate with terrorists.”
It is ignorant statements like that that remind me every day of why the United States is slowly moving towards being a third rate world power. I know this concept is hard for Americans to grasp, but what is a terrorist to us isn’t a terrorist, but a hero normally, to someone else. Also, the label of “terrorist” is a nice way to singling out some group that people feel threatened by. For the most part, its an easy way for white people to label groups of darker skin colored ethnicities and gives us a reason to be racist against the said mentioned groups.
However, I agree with Jacob completely. These pirates, despite the romanticized modern notion of pirates as being noble, are a threat to the global structure. So long as they are looting, we must deal with them in the form of a world united front. However, I think we should investigate the real problem that exists from these pirates: Why are pirates coming out of Somali to begin with? Once that has an answer, from there proper action can be taken to first overcome this threat, and then to limit the chance for it to happen again.
Had it ever occurred to the owners of these ships that if they gave their workers the ability to defend themselves they might have stopped the piracy problem completely? I know that if these guys had some M-4s or some AK-47s in an ams locker, and they were approached by a rubber raft full of pirates, could put up a decent fight. This is a microcosm of the whole 2nd Amendment issue… giving people the right to defend themselves instead of waiting for a hostage rescue team… 3 hours away on a destroyer.
Give me a break… these pirates exist because the people of Somalia are starving from war after war. That’s why they rob. But at the same time, these workers and their cargo should be able to be defended with force. Force against force.
You don’t need destroyers to fight off a bunch of emaciated terrible shots like the Somalis. Give the workers guns, end of story.
By giving them weapons, an article said, the companies would have to pay for liability insurance and they don’t feel that it is worth it. They’d just rather pay the ransom money and then not have to worry about that insurance. I agree with you, though. Give them guns and they’ll be able to defend against this. However, there is no law that says, “thou shalt not bring gun aboard this ship.” It’s simply a case of not wanting to pay for the insurance.
So pretty much, this lack of desire to protect their employees from becoming hostages is an effect of rich people not wanting to be smart enough to arm their employees to deal with problems themselves. Sounds about right. After all, what good have rich people ever been at doing anything useful? That aside, there also is the danger that one of the employees might just snap and kill a bunch of people on the boat. That’s another logical issue, but still, not as important the risk as fighting pirates.
Good news is, Captain Philips was released by the pirates and apparently three of them are dead. So, all the pirates have been dealt with since one of them surrendered to the United States and the final one was killed in a fire fight. I agree with you, Stephen. It is important that these companies keep their people safe, but in their eyes, it’s about profit. The most money you can make from a shipment is the ideal amount. I’m just waiting to see these private companies start producing their own versions of warships to protect themselves.
When that day comes, Jacob, pray. At that day, private industry seeks to become the new government, and we’ll have to arm ourselves against them as well. Anyway, I am haunted by something a little more pressing, as I stated before. Instead of simply fighting and killing Somali pirates, why not deal with what’s creating them? While we may be upset or angered at these attacks, the pirates are only trying to supply their depressingly destitute country. Somali’s economy is in even worse shape than most third world countries in the world. Why not, instead of just killing pirates as they crop up, stop what’s producing them at the source and aid Somali in attempting to create a stable government and economy for them?
Why should we have to provide funding to another country, especially after they’ve tried to screw us? It just doesn’t make sense to provide funding to Somalia when it is a corrupt nation and in turn, still have them pirating. They make millions on a single ship and yet they continue to do it. Criminals are going to continue doing whatever it takes to make more money. It’s about power. It’s not always about giving the foreign government money. It’s about making it obvious that what they’re doing is punishable by either arrest or death.