AP Shows the Love To Somali Pirates

Leave it to the Associated Press to pick up on this notion that the pirates that have been hijacking and seizing shipping off the coast of Somalia and even deep into the Indian Ocean are some kind of modern day Robin Hoods, redistributing the wealth to dirt poor Somalis who have built up a cottage industry to support the pirate lifestyle. (HT: Purple Avenger at Ace)

The AP is simply picking up on a theme first proffered by the New York Times in October - that the pirate lifestyle is a jobs program to long suffering Somalis and that the solution lies not in destroying the pirates, but to somehow wean them from going after shipping.

The pirates continue to harass shipping off the Horn of Africa, and shipping companies are responding by altering their routing of shipping to avoid the region. Maersk is doing just that. After all, they can see the writing on the wall when the Somali pirates are asking for a $25 million ransom for the oil tanker they seized earlier this week, which makes a total of nine ships seized in just under two weeks time.

The fact is that the pirates are out of control because no one is willing to do what must be done to stop them. Don Surber thinks it isn't the right time to send in the Marines to do the job of taking out the pirate safe havens. He might be right about the timing, especially if President Elect Obama isn't keen on involving the US in still another foreign entanglement even though I've argued that this would be the easiest place for him to cut his chops on foreign policy since it is in the interests of the world's nations to ensure that the flow of commerce is uninterrupted by piracy.

Perhaps, instead of sending in the Marines just yet, an international blockade of warships to patrol the coast, especially those harbors know to be locations from which the pirates operate. Several countries, including the US, Russia, the UK, and India have warships in the region, and closer coordination and littoral water operations would improve the security in the waters off Somalia.

UPDATE:
The African Union is finally sounding the warning signs about the pirate situation in Somalia, and might send in peacekeepers. Well, it took them long enough to realize that the situation in Somalia was bad, despite the Ethiopian campaign to deal with the Islamic Courts Union and the Islamists, some of whom have al Qaeda links.

UPDATE:
The Russians are sending still more warships to patrol the waters off the Horn of Africa. No word on the number of ships to be sent, but there's mixed signals on how the Russians will operate in close proximity with NATO ships:

The Russian frigate Neustrashimy is already in the region and has helped repel pirate attacks on at least two ships. Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky told the official news agency Ria Novosti that more ships would be joining it soon.

"After Neustrashimy, Russia will be sending warships from other fleets to this region," Vysotsky said. No additional details were provided.

A NATO-led international fleet has attempted to crack down on the attacks. An Indian frigate battled a pirate ship in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, leaving the ship ablaze and likely sunk, the country's defense ministry reported.

In September, Vysotsky said Russian ships would be operating on their own. But the crews of the Neustrashimy and the British frigate HMS Cumberland teamed up to chase off pirates who attacked a Danish ship in the gulf earlier this month. Video Watch more about the pirates' tactics »

More than 90 ships have been attacked off eastern Africa so far this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which monitors piracy. The pirates, who operate from largely lawless Somalia, still hold 17 vessels -- including the Saudi-owned supertanker Sirius Star, the largest ship captured to date.

UPDATE:
This is flat out idiocy. Pirates have freed two ships they've held after the companies involved paid a $1.67 million ransom. That's only going to encourage still more acts of piracy. These companies must understand that providing ransoms will encourage still more piracy and the pirates will increase the scope of their actions and seek bigger targets in a quest for higher ransoms.

Somali pirates released two hijacked ships after ransoms were paid, U.S. military officials said Thursday.

The deals emerged as Britain warned that paying for the release of hostages risks encouraging more piracy.

NBC News reported that the Great Creation, a Hong Kong-flagged chemical tanker seized on Sept. 18, was released after a $1.67 million ransom was paid.
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The Genius, another Hong Kong-flagged chemical tanker which was hijacked Sept. 26, was also released in exchange for an unknown sum.