Aaargh yourself! U.S. business group stands up for Somali pirates.
When's the last time you heard a business group — a Chamber of Commerce, no less — openly defending pirates? Or of the U.S. and Iran working together against a common enemy?
In Somalia — untouched by the global financial crisis because it's always in crisis, even in good times — pirates aren't hoods. They're Robin Hoods. And the U.S. African Chamber of Commerce does have a point when it asks today in a virtually ignored statement, "Who are the Real Pirates of East Africa and Somalia?" (The D.C.-based business group has a special interest: Its founder and president, Martin Mohammed, is from Somalia.)
Click on the CBC video above ("Somali Pirates See Themselves As Unofficial Coast Guard") for an alternate view of the piracy off the coast of Somalia — the dumping by foreign vessels of toxic waste that the tsunami washed ashore and that has made an untold number of Somalis deathly ill, the invasion of foreign fishing vessels destroying coastal Somalia's fishing industry. The Canadian news video notes the unusual occurrence of the U.S. and Iran "uniting against a common enemy."
The pirates are getting a lot of negative publicity, and quite a lot of money — a reported $80 million last year in ransoms paid. But their defenders say Somalia has lost $300 million in fishing revenue from what they claim is, in effect, piracy by foreign vessels.
Lawlessness is relative in a place where there are no laws at all, and Somalia is that kind of place, only it's dirtier than Wall Street: It's chaotic, plagued by civil war, Islamic terrorists, full of starving villagers. Life expectancy has stalled at an average age of 46, and one in six youngsters under the age of 5 is malnourished, according to a November 2008 report.
The pirates, on the other hand, are often hailed not as just gangsters but as gangsters who contribute to the local economy — often, they're the only local economy that functions.
As to the hostages held for ransom (see this morning's story of the dramatic recapture of a U.S. ship), yes, it must be scary to be captured by pirates.
Nevertheless, these pirates don't seem particularly murderous. Reuters noted Sunday:
See this piece from IRIN, the U.N.'s news service, that features interviews with two Somali pirates and that notes:
"The ransom they pay is somehow a punishment for their illegal activity in the Somali water, especially in the era without government," one of the pirates said.
This is the business they've chosen, the pirates say. MSNBC's "Young Somalis lured by piracy's riches" says this morning:
Piracy has improved the economy somewhat around Eyl, in the northern Puntland region. Commerce has increased because the pirates bring cash to spend. The pirates have promised to build new schools and better roads, but they have yet to deliver on those projects.
They're not the first businessmen to break promises to the public. The story adds:
"We have leaders, investors, young people who go to the sea for hunting ships and also negotiators in many areas," said the man, who identified himself only as Madobe and said he was in his 20s.
He said pirates also have "very reliable support from the people on the ground." And, he added, the pirates give a share of their ransom money to local elders, militia commanders and politicians to curb any threats.
