Somali Pirates Stare Down Superpowers

[SlightlyCatholic]

October 06, 2008
Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya - With a Russian frigate closing in and a half-dozen U.S. warships within shouting distance, the pirates holding a tanker off Somalia's coast might appear to have no other choice than to wave the white flag.

But that's not how it works in Somalia, a failed state where a quarter of children die before they turn 5, where anybody with a gun controls the streets and where every public institution has crumbled.

The 11-day standoff aboard the Ukrainian MV Faina raises the question: How can a bunch of criminals from one of the poorest and most wretched countries on Earth face off with some of the world's richest and well-armed superpowers?

"They have enough guns to fight for another 20 years," Ted Dagne, a Somalia analyst in Washington, told The Associated Press. "And there is no way to win a battle when the other side is in a suicidal mind-set."

In Somalia, pirates are better-funded, better-organized and better-armed than one might imagine in a country that has been in tatters for nearly two decades. They have the support of their communities and rogue members of the government - some pirates even promise to put ransom money toward building roads and schools.

With most attacks ending with million-dollar payouts, piracy is considered the biggest economy in Somalia. Pirates rarely hurt their hostages, instead holding out for a huge payday.

The strategy works well: A report Thursday by a London-based think tank said pirates have raked in up to $30 million in ransoms this year alone.

"If we are attacked we will defend ourselves until every last one of us dies," Sugule Ali, a spokesman for the pirates aboard the Faina, said in an interview over satellite telephone from the ship, which is carrying 33 battle tanks, military weapons and 21 Ukrainian and Latvian and Russian hostages. One Russian has reportedly died, apparently of illness.

The pirates are demanding $20 million ransom, and say they will not lower the price.

"We only need money and if we are paid, then everything will be OK," he said. "No one can tell us what to do."

Ali's bold words come even though his dozens of fighters are surrounded by U.S. warships and American helicopters buzz overhead. Moscow has sent a frigate, which should arrive within days.

Jennifer Cooke of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said hostage-taking is the key to the pirates' success against any military muscle looming from the U.S. and Russia.

"Once you have a crew at gunpoint, you can hold six U.S. naval warships at bay and they don't have a whole lot of options except to wait it out," Cooke said.

The pirates have specifically warned against the type of raids carried out twice this year by French commandos to recover hijacked vessels. The French used night vision goggles and helicopters in operations that killed or captured several pirates, who are now standing trial in Paris.

But the hostages are not the bandits' only card to play.

Often dressed in military fatigues, pirates travel in open skiffs with outboard engines, working with larger mother ships that tow them far out to sea. They use satellite navigational and communications equipment and an intimate knowledge of local waters, clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.

They are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and grenades - weaponry that is readily available throughout Somalia, where a bustling arms market operates in the center of the capital.

They also have the support of their communities and some members of local administrations, particularly in Puntland, a semiautonomous region in northeast Somalia that is a hotbed for piracy, officials and pirates have told the AP.

Abdulqadir Muse Yusuf, a deputy minister of ports in Puntland, acknowledged there were widespread signs that Puntland officials, lawmakers and government officials are "involved or benefiting from piracy" and said investigations were ongoing. He would not elaborate.

Piracy has transformed the region around the town of Eyl, near where many hijacked ships are anchored while pirates negotiate ransoms.

"Pirates buy new luxury cars and marry two, three, or even four women," said Mohamed, an Eyl resident who refused to give his full name for fear of reprisals from the pirates.

"They build new homes - the demand for construction material is way up."

He said most of the well-known pirates promise to build roads and schools in addition to homes for themselves. But for now, Mohamed says he has only seen inflation skyrocket as the money pours in.

"One cup of tea is about $1," he said. Before the piracy skyrocketed, tea cost a few cents.

Piracy in Somalia is nothing new, as bandits have stalked the seas for years. But this year's surge in attacks - nearly 30 so far - has prompted an unprecedented international response. The Faina has been the highest-profile attack because of its dangerous cargo. The U.S. fears the arms could end up in the hands of al-Qaida-linked militants in a country seen as a key battleground on terror.

The United States has been leading international patrols to combat piracy along Somalia's unruly 1,880-mile (3,025-kilometer) coast, the longest in Africa and near key shipping routes. In June, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that would allow countries to chase and arrest pirates after attacks increased this year.

But still, the attacks continue. Dagne, an analyst in Washington, said that unless the roots of the problem are solved - poverty, disease, violence - piracy will only flourish.

"You have a population that is frustrated, alienated, angry and hopeless," Dagne said. "This generation of Somalis grew up surrounded by abject poverty and violence."

Link at: http://www.military.com/news/article...perpowers.html


These people are insane! It almost sounds like the Japanese during World War II. They'd rather die than be captured or defeated...

[pingjocky]

"If we are attacked we will defend ourselves until every last one of us dies,"

I'm sure FeelinFroggy has a few friends that wouldn't mind helping these guys fulfill that wish...

We shouldn't be worried about the arms and tanks being transported off the ship...we've got warships in the area watching. Heck, just sink the biotch, and call it a day. Don't negotiate with terrorists, just kill 'em. I'd feel sorry for the families of the hostages, but it's risk they took when they sailed a ship past Somalia.

R/
Pingjocky

[HairyEyeball]

Funny how the fact that Somalia is, as set forth in its own Constitution, an 'islamic state', is casually glossed over: Hel-lo, people - these are the same sheep-rapers that have been attacking civilized nations - and their shipping - since before Lt. O'Bannon kicked butt in Derna...the same pederasts and pedophiles who think televised beheading of 'infidels' is wholesome viewing for the whole family.

Not to bring up 'plausible deniability', but if one of ping's buddies in the area were to 'accidentally' brush against the launch button for a SLCM...and perhaps it's time to 'reinvent' the Q-ship.

The current bullroar of a 'kinder, gentler' military 'minimizing collateral damage' is directly responsible for lengthening wars - Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan - by sending precisely the wrong message: If you're not actively shooting at us at this moment, you must be one of the 'good guys', we'll bypass you so you can shoot us in the back later. There is only one way to deal with terrorists - smack them down so hard their great-grandchildren will be born crippled from the blow. If they believe death is only the doorway to a better existence, kick 'em through the door: When you deal with a culture that only respects superior force, pound the living dog pee out of them. Eventually - and sooner rather than later - you will eliminate the threat: Either by eliminating those who pose it (and history is replete with examples) or by the idea dawning in the consciousness of survivors that there is a 'better way'.

As simplistic as it may sound, this is a war against a single but fragmented enemy - global islamofascism - and there are only two sides. You are either for civilization or not; you are ally or enemy - and there are no sidelines to sit on. Anyone recall 'the only thing needed for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing'? Unless you actively oppose evil - and make no mistake, this is evil on a scale Hitler and Stalin could only have wet dreams of - you condone it.

The roots of the tree of liberty must, indeed, be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants - and, necessarily 'innocents', if such indeed exist. The longer we fail to pull up these weeds in the garden of civilization, the more ground they gain - and the more they choke out the beneficial.

[FeelinFroggy]

Originally Posted by pingjocky

I'm sure FeelinFroggy has a few friends that wouldn't mind helping these guys fulfill that wish...

Yes indeed. It's time for all the negotiations to cease. It's been 11 days, and from what I know Russia hasn't made any efforts toward a rescue attempt.

[FeelinFroggy]

I just read that the pirates have dropped the ransom to $8 million. Kenya is calling for the use of force against them. They also claim that the ship's original destination was Kenya. But, evidence has emerged the deal was part of a clandestine arms deal between Kenya and the separatist region of southern Sudan. Our main priority is to make sure the weapons don't end up in the hands of Islamist insurgents in Somalia.

A four man team would work best in my opinion. With the help of nightfall and suppressors, they literally wouldn't even see us coming.

[Woody]

But why bother ? Russian tanks heading to someone else .How long would a T 72 stay operational in somalia anyway?
Pirate situation does need addresing but then so does the whole problem of somalia .Though no one really intrested in spending the dollars and lives trying
to drag the country into a sembalance of civilisation .
Royal Navy has been told not to capture pirates as they would be entitled to claim asylum !

[FeelinFroggy]

Originally Posted by timwoodhead@hotmail.com

But why bother?

To let the pirates know that their criminal acts will not be tolerated. To let the people of Somalia know that we care enough about them not to "add fuel to the fire" and give insurgents new toys to kill with.

Are you suggesting we give these pirates the ransom money? They'll probably end up stealing the weapons back once they make land on Kenya.

[DoubleHelix]

Originally Posted by FeelinFroggy

To let the pirates know that their criminal acts will not be tolerated. To let the people of Somalia know that we care enough about them not to "add fuel to the fire" and give insurgents new toys to kill with.

Are you suggesting we give these pirates the ransom money? They'll probably end up stealing the weapons back once they make land on Kenya.

Pirating off the coast is nothing new, it's been happening for a long time. And already a ton of fuel has been poured in the fire, not just by us, but many of the countries that traverse those waters. Theres a lot of those pirates that have been made rich by companies paying them those ransoms. Some will say they don't deal with terrorists, but they don't have to tell anyone that when their sliding the hush money under the table.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by FeelinFroggy

To let the pirates know that their criminal acts will not be tolerated. To let the people of Somalia know that we care enough about them not to "add fuel to the fire" and give insurgents new toys to kill with.

Are you suggesting we give these pirates the ransom money? They'll probably end up stealing the weapons back once they make land on Kenya.

I 'd just threaten to sink the ship give them 10 minutes to evacutate if the crew not taken off any surviors will be killed .No shortage of soviet weapons is there .Not as subtle as a seal team assualt but ,They may be stupid enough to think they could win a firefight against the seals .Naval gunfire is something else.

[Woody]

Actually royal navy seem to have put down its diversity manuals and got on with the job .And shot a couple of pirates .Why they just didn't blow ship out of the water I don't know .