Written by Paul I. Adujie

New York, United States

Piracy in Somalia waters has finally gotten the world’s attention? What took so long? It was, and still is, a phenomenon on the African continent, to which the world is often content to look askance!

I have come to believe, without exceptions, that issues affecting Africa are treated by the world, haphazardly, lopsidedly and near nonchalantly, despite protestations to the contrary.

There is this, which ought to be labeled as breaking news, the fact that in Somalia, piracy is not a water-borne disease. Some might want to treat the symptoms, but is most probably better to address the root.

There are root causes outside and distinct from the outward symptoms which now threatens the world’s commerce and sea-lanes for merchant ships and recreational vessels as well. Piracy on Somalia waters have been going on for quite a while, in fact, a Nigerian vessel, tugboat was held for about a year, and it has just be released as I write these words.

Why is the world concerned now? What took the world so long? The capture of American citizens I suppose. And Mr. Obama got his first chance to exercise America’s military armada, and Africans were Mr. Obama’s first kills, road kill? Mr. Obama would dialogue with North Korea and Iran, but not with those, water-borne-disease African pirates crime gangs? A presidential rite of passage, of defending America militarily, is accomplished, by Mr. Obama through the order to shoot, and kill the Somalia pirates, in order to preserve American lives and demonstrate through that, Mr. Obama’s resolve to employ snuffing-out tactics as tool of policy, especially, as no consequences, political or military would be forthcoming. Good.

Here is the unaddressed long term issue for Somalia, America and the rest of the world. Piracy on Somalia waters lingers, and it is actually widening on the waters of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, around east Africa. American citizens have been rescued, but, the battle has not been addressed. The temporal war was won. And that is surely not good enough as policy, as long-term strategy; for America and the world.

The failure of Somalia as a nation state, the complete disintegration and defluxion of political authority in Mogadishu and all of Somalia have starred the world in the face for more than 15 years!

Somalia, just like any other African nation which is like any nation in Africa afflicted with crises and political fissures from time to time, as it were not long ago in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina etc crises in African nations are allowed to fester, replicate and metastasize (circa Liberia flowed to Sierra Leone and then Ivory Coast) Darfur Sudan replicates similar pattern, flows to Niger etc) Uganda crises, flows to Rwanda and Congo with combatants from many African countries in the region

Piracy is not a water-borne disease; piracy, the Somali blend must not be seen is not another chaos or disease which defy explanations or understanding by those outside of Africa. What has happened in Somalia is one of the symptoms of a failed nation state and the lawlessness which arises as consequences. Nations should not be allowed to fail; the world often views nations in Africa as anything but nations, and there is this attitude or belief that African nations are not capable of stability or sustainable social structures. And as a result, challenges in African nations are often viewed as if they are insurmountable and hence, why bother?

Africa, for most, is synonymous and represents chaos; chaos of wars, AIDS, Ebola, famine, and malaria etc But these problems are not peculiar to Africa, unless anyone was to assume or conclude that the human capacity to do good or so much evil, are unique human traits limited to the African continent. There are those who selectively view challenges faced by all humans, when such challenges are facing Africans.

Africa for some is an inconvenient part of the world to which the wish to wish away.

A great number of people in the world today, some Africans among them, are unwilling to ask the root causes what eventually become these consequences or what others see as chaotic situations with which many are either uninterested and or just plainly impatient!

A cursory examination however, reveals the source of the brigandage on the waters of Somalia, otherwise known as piracy. As a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe ideological bloc, as was then called. Somalia under Siad Barre was a Marxist/communist nation and at that time, the Soviet Union and the United States struggled for the Somali turf. Barre was overthrown, died of heart attack while exiled in Nigeria

The Berlin Wall came down and the rest of Eastern Europe tumbled down between 1989 and 1991, there was a sea change within and among nations which were until then aligned ideological power blocs of geopolitical schisms. Western powers maintained a sphere of influence with preachment of capitalist ideology and Eastern powers similarly maintained a sphere of influence in accordance with communist-socialist formulas. During the so-called Cold War years, nations of the world were apportioned and piled up along these east-west political divide geopolitical theories.

African nations were, like other nations slapped and splashed along this great divide, a divide that was aggressively ferocious and mutually dedicated to the annihilation of each other. And so, in particular reference to African nations, the split was very pronounced. There were capitalists, mixed economies and there were communists-socialist economy. It meant the tolerance of dictators, tyrants, autocratic leaders, some in uniform as military men who pretended to be politicians and managers of public policies. Democracy, the rule of law and all the fine ideals were expediently ignored.

In battles to align nations with these competing ideologies and sphere of influence were aggressively ferocious and unrelenting; and in the process, persons and countries were completely ruined without a second-thought about consequences. Western and Eastern blocs competed with most brutal of methods and means without a care of consequences.

Somalia as a failed nation state is one such consequence. But who cares? The cold war was fought the great powers, as if with blinders on. Western and Eastern powers needed satellite nations, and puppets on strings-sorts of political leaders in their spheres of influence. Dictators sprouted with winks and nods from the power blocs such satellite state supported. There were stooges, dictators, tyrants and autocrats were set up in a plethora of nations to engage in proxy wars in these satellite nations.

Legitimate constitutionally elected governments were overthrown and supplanted, in their place, anyone willing to do the bidding of particular geopolitical power bloc was good enough. In Africa, and there were so many such post colonial usurpation of power by the west. Mobutu of the Congo came about and Pinochet in Chile came about. Siad Barre was a military man turned politician in Somalia, a country which was once touted as a model for the spread of democracy on the continent of Africa.

Somalia suffered from protracted internecine strife. Clan loyalty replaced patriotism and dedication and commitment to central government. All these were added to the toxic mix of geopolitics and Somalia spiraled out of control. The United Nations mandated a belated intervention, and, the so-called humanitarian intervention by the United States was botched as the factions accused the US of supporting and backing factional efforts, instead of being a neutral and objective peace-broker.

Expediency reigned during the cold war years laid the ground work for imbroglios in Africa. Expediency as policy replaced logic and good sense and long term planning or strategies. The building blocks of political structures were overlooked, neglected or jettisoned outright for expedient chess games power games between the competing super powers for superiority. Democracy, Human Rights etc were ignored, in favor of puppets, and tyrants who would gladly do the biddings of a superpower.

The current financial meltdown and downturn in the global economy, provides an analogy, toxic assets and securitization of mortgages were essentially American and European phenomenon, however, the consequences has reverberated beyond America and Europe.

Additionally, double standard in the rescue implementation, also exacerbated the meltdown. Just as a double standard in policy also produced different results for nations facing disintegration, such as was in the Balkans and in some parts of Africa.

Lehman Brothers was permitted to fail, after the open rescue of Bear Sterns and then, AIG, Somalia was permitted to fail while Bosnia was publicly rescued. There is no difference between the causes of failure for Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers, and there were no difference between social, economic and political fissures Bosnia-Sarajevo faced compared with Somalia. This double standard is also evident in the treatment of say, desperate refugees and asylum seekers from Cuba and Haiti, the Cubans are welcomed with banners and pageantry. The Haitians are returned to Haiti, despite the fact that both asylum seekers are from identical dire economic and political straits, even by American own assessments and admission.

The only difference is the color or race and continents of the victims of wars and social upheavals in our world.

Robot  # 1 | 19.06.2009 07:52

Somalia Piracy Is Not A Water Borne Disease! Written by Paul I. Adujie New York, United States Piracy in Somalia waters has finally gotten the world’s attention? What took so long? It was, and still is, a phenomenon on the African continent, to which the world is often content to look askance! I have come to believe, without exceptions, that issues affecting Africa are treated by the world, haphazardly, lopsidedly and near nonchalantly, despite protestations to the contrary. There is this, which ought to be labeled as breaking news, the fact that in Somalia, piracy is not a water-borne disease. Some might want to treat the symptoms, but is most probably better to address the root. There are root causes outside and distinct from the outward symptoms which now threatens the world’s commerce and sea-lanes for merchant ships and recreational vessels as well. Piracy on Somalia waters have been going on for quite a while, in fact, a Nigeria...Read the full article.

I Love Nigeria  # 2 | 25.06.2009 20:22

June 25, 2009 Officials: US Bolsters Somalia Aid to Foil Rebels http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/06/25/us/politics/AP-US-US-Somalia.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 7:58 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration has decided to bolster efforts to support Somalia's embattled government by providing money for weapons and helping the military in neighboring Djibouti train Somali forces, U.S. officials said Thursday. The goal is to stem Islamic insurgent advances in the Horn of Africa, but the plan would commit the U.S. to a greater embrace of a shaky government atop one of the world's most chaotic states. An administration review of U.S. policy toward Somalia found an urgent need to supply the Somali government with ammunition and weapons as it struggles to confront increasingly powerful Islamic militants. Alarmed by terrorists' gains in Somalia, the administration decided it needed to do more to support Somalia's transitional federal government, officials said. Officials said the U.S. would not conduct the training and that the U.S. military would not be in Somalia. The U.S. would provide logistical support for the training, and provide arms to the Somalis. The U.S. officials spoke about the emerging plan on condition of anonymity because the details have not yet been finalized. But even with the administration's careful effort not to leave an American footprint in a country wracked by violent upheaval, the move amounts to a budding foreign complication for the U.S. as its own armed forces wage two distant wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan. The effort to bolster Somalia's tattered military and police forces faces heavy odds. Somalia, which has been in chaos for nearly 20 years, controls only a few blocks of the capital and comes under regular attack from increasingly powerful Islamic insurgents. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Thursday the administration was concerned about continuing unrest in Somalia. Kelly confirmed that the U.S. organized an arms shipment made to the Somali government earlier this month, but did not confirm the plans to train Somali forces in Djibouti. One official said the shipment was ammunition delivered to Mogadishu. The Washington Post first reported the arms shipment Thursday. The ''threat to the government,'' Kelly said, ''is causing real suffering -- this kind of violence is causing real suffering for the Somalian people and it's just prolonging the chaos and preventing the country from getting on stable footing. So, yes, we are concerned.'' On Thursday, Idd Mohammed, the Republic of Somalia's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told The Associated Press that the planned U.S. effort represents a ''new window of opportunity in which the two countries can coordinate strategy for peace and stability.'' Mohammed said Somalia welcome U.S. assistance in establishing his country's security forces, which he said will include $10 million in financial assistance for those forces. Mohammed and other top leaders from the country told the House Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa that their country needs money to promote economic development, beef up their Coast Guard to battle piracy, and resolve humanitarian crises as people flee the violence. But, warned Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud, president of the state of Puntland, while the U.S. can play a leading role in political and economic assistance, ''this does not and should not involve direct military intervention.'' Puntland is a more stable semiautonomous region in northeastern Somalia. Warlords and Islamic al-Shabab militants control the countryside, which has become a growing base for al-Qaida terrorists arriving from Yemen and South Asia, U.S. officials have said. Somali pirates operating from coastal towns have hijacked dozens of cargo ships and confronted the U.S. Navy during an April standoff that ended when American snipers freed a hostage after killing three pirates. Insurgents hold sway even inside Somalia's capital. That was evident Thursday as militants cut off the limbs of four men convicted of stealing cell phones during a public display of fundamentalist Islamic justice. The government in recent years has depended on outsiders for protection, including more than 4,000 African Union troops in the capital and on forces from neighboring Ethiopia, which drove out the Council of Islamic Courts in 2007 and stayed in the country for two years, helping to prop up the government. The shipment of arms was part of a series of deliveries of weapons and ammunition that are expected to be sent to African Union forces -- primarily Ugandans -- who in turn will relay them to the Somali government, the official said. Any nation operating under the auspices of the African Union in Somalia would be reimbursed for the weaponry handed over to the Somalis, the official said. Kelly confirmed that at the request of the Somali government, ''the State Department has helped to provide weapons and ammunition on an urgent basis. This is to support the Transitional Federal Government's efforts to repel the onslaught of extremist forces.'' Both the U.S. military and diplomats have acted quietly in recent months to increase American involvement in Africa. A new Africa Command within the Defense Department is now coordinating aid across the continent, focused on ungoverned territories in the north and east where Islamic extremists are pressing for a foothold. But the U.S. military does not want to be out front as the trainers, reflecting sensitivities in African nations that could view aggressive U.S. involvement as interference by the West. Instead, U.S. officials working in Africa to date have limited their efforts to aiding nations in dealing with their own internal security problems. A chief concern in Somalia is al-Shabab, a terrorist organization whose name means ''the youth.'' The faction has been gaining ground as Somalia's Western-backed government crumbles. The group's goal is to establish an Islamic state in Somalia Sheik Sharif Sheik Amed, a moderate Islamist, was elected president in January in hopes that he could unite the country's feuding factions, but the violence has continued. Despite continuing chaos, State Department spokesman Kelly said the administration considers Somalia's current government the ''best chance for peace, stability and reconciliation.'' There is also a domestic American consideration to Somalia's violent insurgency. Several young Somali-American men have disappeared from the Minneapolis region in recent months and are believed to have traveled to Somalia to fight with al-Shabab militants. One strapped on explosives last fall in a coordinated attack in Somalia, becoming the first U.S. citizen to act as a suicide bomber. U.S. counterterrorism officials say it is a disturbing pattern, one that mirrors al-Qaida methods in Somalia and could spawn homegrown insurgents and suicide bombers inside the U.S. ------ Associated Press writers Robert Burns in Washington and Elizabeth Kennedy in Nairobi contributed to this report.

Auspicious  # 3 | 25.06.2009 20:32

+ YAWN! Another patronising piece of trash called an article!!! :rant: Auspcious.

RAHIM  # 4 | 25.06.2009 21:45

In 1993, I think the US made an effort in Somalia with 'Operation Restore Hope' and had to pull out after the 'Black Hawk Down' debacle in which it took casualties and had dead army rangers mutilated and dragged through the streets. Clinton had to withdraw his troops then and ''some countries'' was gloating on how they were given a bloody nose and now, this same US is expected to go and finish a job it started almost 17 years ago. If they had stayed, maybe the country would have been better off but i guess now we'll never know. After all, the presence of US troops there was strictly 'humanitarian' and no one could have accused them of being there for the oil. Very soon the somali gunmen and the populace will term US as the great satan again and will be criticised for interfering in other countries domestic affairs. Why does the world have to sit back and wait for the Yanks to fix all the problems in the world? Iran, North Korea? My point, where were the other world leaders since the US is always termed as 'policeman of the world', how about countries like France, Russia, Germany, China and most especially the Italians, make a stand and take charge here to help the country out of its present predicament.

Auspicious  # 5 | 25.06.2009 23:52

+ Abi O. The in-thing now is to jump on the America-bashing wagon and pretend to care for people who don't even care for themselves - care for themselves enough to stand-up and liberate themselves from the stranglehold of their internal oppressors, from Somalia to Nigeria. Yeah, indeed, America would ignore her own interests to focus on others'. Nnnnice. That would be the day. Auspicious.

I Love Nigeria  # 6 | 26.06.2009 18:34

Somalia suffered from protracted internecine strife. Clan loyalty replaced patriotism and dedication and commitment to central government. All these were added to the toxic mix of geopolitics and Somalia spiraled out of control. The United Nations mandated a belated intervention, and, the so-called humanitarian intervention by the United States was botched as the factions accused the US of supporting and backing factional efforts, instead of being a neutral and objective peace-broker. The above is a paragraph from the current article's reference to American role while there.... the efforts should have been a neutral and humanitarian one. BUT instead, the Americans were known to have preferred a particular person in the factionalized jostle for power and it backfired.... A peace keeper or peace broker should be dispassionate and objective, not hunt Aidid and search for a preferred puppet. Honest broker or perfidious Albion? By Jane M. O. Sharp, Institute for Public Policy Research (London, England), Institute for Public Policy Research Honest broker or perfidious Albion?: British policy in former ... - Google Books Result by Jane M. O. Sharp, Institute for Public Policy ... - 1997 - Former Yugoslav republics - 94 pages You were run out of Somalia because you took casualties and couldn't stand the heat. ... p.159 173 Beelman MS (1997) "Dining with the Devil: America's tacit ... books.google.com/books?isbn=1860300154... - http://books.google.com/books?id=S_3o86gRsOAC&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86&dq=America+as+honest+broker+in+somalia+in+1993%3F&source=bl&ots=zZHuvIjbEL&sig=jhifxXGqn5PRkGtctYTPcRfNguc&hl=en&ei=xE1FStitFcGktgfihpzbAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5 And, I am sure that you guys have not bothered to learn about toxic waste dumping in Somalia's territorial waters and the over-fishing on around Somalia by those who are profiting from the crises there. Westerners and others. Over-fishing and toxic waste dumping are against UN protocols/conventions/treaties. Dig deeper people!