Pirates Have Lawyers Too

Spain's Defence Minister is pushing the EU to blockade three Somali ports. I won't discuss the utility of this since I don't know the naval deployment capabilities of the EU outside of NATO. But, I found this remark amazing:

--- Chacon also said the pirate gangs "have ties to sophisticated law firms in London," and she called for the international community to do more to track ransoms given to pirates to release hostages. ---

Really?

Somalia Pirates

Somalia – or the Puntland part at least – seems to be tiring of pirate glamour, according to the BBC. Two things struck me about the article. The first is that UNICEF actually appears to make a difference by building schools and providing alternative lifestyles to the fading romanticism of piracy. But they are leaving.

The second is the statement by the President of Puntland. He named a price for which his government, and not the one that controls a few square blocks of Mogadishu, could eliminate piracy. It’s a lot less than what the military deployments cost or the ransom payments. So now we know what it will cost to control the pirates – even if paying him is sort of a ransom payment of its own.

Failed State No. 1

The rescue of Captain Phillips of the Maersk Alabama was both wonderful and an amazing display of marksmanship. Now, however, very good questions are being raised here. They deserve to be addressed, since as is correctly pointed out, the level of violence is likely to escalate.

Beyond these questions, lie even more difficult ones that include policy decisions on how to handle, if at all, the failed state of Somalia. Clearly, foreign assistance to arrest the decline of Somalia is impossible. It is not safe for anyone to be based there for any period of time. But sooner or later, something will need to be done.

Piracy, although a headline grabber, is not the key problem. Although I am sure there are pirates who simply don't care and enjoy their life, how many have been driven to it by the collapse of Somalia as a state. This raises the larger question of true terrorists making Somalia a base of operations because of so many, particularly among the youth, who will be attracted by fundamentalist activities and promises.

So. What must be done?