Marianna C. Ford
English 105
Professor Timmons
October 26, 2010
The Growing Threat of Piracy and Terrorism in Somalia: Who Will Subdue It?
Somalia’s recent corruption has proven that piracy is not just the theme of a movie we pay to watch in the movie theaters but rather a frightening reality currently taking place in the oceanic shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia. Although the issue does not just end with piracy but continues to escalate with the growing threat from the terrorist group the Shabab, who has connections to the Al Qaeda, joining with the pirates. While the situation may seem controllable another problem presents itself: Somalia’s government does not have the means to constrain the piracy or terrorism. One may wonder why this should concern anyone not living in Somalia. There are many reasons as to why people living thousands of miles away should be concerned. Firstly the pirates attack other country’s ships that may sail off the coast of Africa’s horn. Secondly governments of other countries may be potentially involved in controlling the piracy and terrorism. Thirdly with recent signs of the pirate forces and Islamic terrorist groups in Somalia joining powers the terrorism threat to the rest of the world will strengthen. Now the question has become obvious to other nations in the world. That is since Somalia does not have the resources to control the piracy and terrorism in their own country then who will? The United Nations has given the opportunity for its members to help manage the radical groups of Somalia but members have remained idle in efforts to invade and combat those groups (Axe). The piracy and terrorist threats in Somalia have proven to be out of their government’s control. There is a need for members from the United Nations of a more abled country’s government and armed forces to take action before the Islamic terrorist groups and pirates gain a strong hold in Somalia and potentially the surrounding areas or even further.
The increase of piracy in Somalia affects other countries by holding their ships hostage for a ransom. Up by 200% from 2007, the year 2008 proved to be a “banner year” when pirates took a foothold off the coasts of Somalia with 120 attacks and 100 million dollars in profit from their piracy (“Piracy”). The obvious and major issue with these facts is that the pirates are putting other countries and their people at risk and are taking millions of dollars from other nations. One would think that serious strides would be taken by member of the United Nations to control Somalia’s piracy after pirates profited 3.2 million in ransom money from a Ukrainian freighter carrying tankers and hefty artillery was seized in September 2008 off Somalia’s shores (“Piracy”). Mohommad, a pirate who assisted in the hijacking of the Ukrainian ship testified that he personally man $250,000 off of that single attack (Gettleman, “Somali Town”). Should a criminal from a country whose government does not have the means to control their own delinquents be profiting at the expense of other countries? The apparent answer is no but if Somalia cannot restrain its piracy then another more abled country must do so.
Members of the United Nations need to take part in helping to control Somalia’s piracy because Somalia’s piracy has been organizing a stronger and better equipped armed forces. Recently the pirates have become better armed leading to in an increase of attacks since 2007. Rather than striking smaller more vulnerable ships as the pirates have been, they are now attacking massive cargo ships. Due to more powerful weapons, faster boats, and more detailed reports of ships locations, Somalia’s pirates have become brave and siege larger and more prestige ships, including attempts at cruise ships (Axe). In David Axes article 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Pirates he comments on the pirates endeavors to attack cruise ships: “With cruise ships carrying as many as 2,000 people, there’s no way pirates would be able to conduct an orderly capture. Things might get out of hand; and that, officials say, is when people get hurt” (Axe). In account of the Somali pirate’s militia force the United Nations needs to act quickly before innocent people are harmed.
One may wonder how such menacing and ruthless pirates are able to operate such attacks on ships off the east coast of Africa without being persecuted by the law. The truth is that where these pirates work there is no law (Axe). The area where the pirates operate is in Somalia’s territory and because Somalia’s government is so dysfunctional disorganized there are no laws enforced against the pirates. This means that even when pirates are captured, no matter by who, there is no solid method to persecute them (Axe). If members of the United Nations invaded Somalia in hope to restore and promote a stabilized government and court system these pirates could be brought to justice. As other nations we should not let the weakness of another country’s government put our people at risk or rob us of our money. Members of the United Nations need to take the opportunity that has been presented and help to control the chaos in Somalia caused by lack of a stable government who cannot persecute the pirates wreaking havoc.
Somalia’s government is currently in a “transitional” state making it so weak that it controls only few blocks of the capital in Mogadishu, Somalia (Ibrahim and Gettleman). Unfortunately the country is primarily ruled by the Shabab. The Shabab is “a group of radical Islamist rebels who have sworn allegiance to Al Qaeda” according to a recent article in The New York Times Online (Ibrahim and Gettleman). The current and “ultimate” goal of the Shabab was defined by a news report in The New York Times Online: “The Shabab have also vowed to crack down on a popular mobile money transfer service in Somalia, saying it is a threat to the Muslim-owned economy, even though the money transfer service, which many Somalis use to pay bills, is owned by Muslim Somalis” (Ibrahim and Gettleman). While Somalia’s government is completely against the work of the Shabab and does not condone their efforts to gain control of Somali government and economy, the Somalis government does not have the resources or power to suppress and subdue the Shabab. The world has become well aware, especially since the year 2001, that terrorism is on the rise. It is detrimental that members of the United Nations do their part in effort to control and minimize the amount of terrorism activity before anymore disasters occur like those of the September 11th plane crashes and like the current control the Shabab has in Somalia.
If Somalia did not already have enough problems within its country including lack of a functional government and threats from piracy and terrorism, Somalia is now at risk of threats from a combined group of pirates and terrorists (Gettleman, “In Somalia”). This adversity came about when the Shabab and another militant Islamist group vowed to shut down a pirate region on the coast called Xararheere. Jeffery Gettleman reports the fusion of these two precarious groups in The New York Times Online: “The militant Islamists had originally vowed to shut down piracy in Xarardheere, claiming it was unholy, but apparently the money was too good. This seems to be beginning of the West’s worst Somali nightmare, with two of the country’s biggest growth industries — piracy and Islamist radicalism — joining hands” (Gettleman, “In Somalia”). Separately the effects of each of these groups have been highlighted and proven to be destructive. Individually each is harmful but if piracy and terrorism joined forces and resources in Somalia the combination could be devastating. Therefore if one of these rebellious groups or both of them are not controlled they could wind-up not only affecting Somalia in a more detrimental way but could also begin to affect the rest of the world. For the safety of not only Somalia and their people but for the rest of the world; the United Nations needs to make strides in effort to control the expanding bond of the two dangerous groups: Somali pirates and the Shabab.
While the idea that United Nations should help the fight against the Shabab and piracy in Somalia there is also the view that this struggle or conflict is not the United Nations to fight. This idea has been present in many wars for the notion that countries should not get involved in wars that are not theirs to fight. In essence the conflicts that Somalia is currently dealing with are not the United Nations problem; therefore the United Nations should not become involved. Jason Ditz wrote an article on Antiwar.com addressing the issue of the need of aid in Somalia: “Uganda currently provides the majority of the 7,000+ AU soldiers in Somalia, struggling to back the self-proclaimed government in its attempts to control more than a few city blocks along the coast in Mogadishu” (Ditz). Though some argue there is a need for more help in the fight against terrorism and piracy in Somalia; it is apparent there is already assistance there. Thus there is no need for any further involvement of the United Nations in the effort to pacify the rebellion from Somalia’s piracy and terrorism from the Shabab.
Though there are already soldiers from Uganda helping to fight off piracy and terrorism in Somalia the amount of soldiers is obviously inadequate for the need considering piracy and terrorism are still on the rise. Since the early 1990s piracy in Somalia has proven to be dangerous to any ship in the trading lanes off the coast of the African Horn. Not only is piracy a physical threat to any vessel or person that sails off Somalia’s coast but it also hits other countries and companies financially by the millions of dollars demanded to be paid as a ransom for their people held as hostages by the pirates. In addition to Somalia’s piracy is the growing threat of terrorism from the Islamic terrorist group the Shabab. The Shabab have kept Somalia’s inoperative government from developing as it should by their efforts and hopes to be the government. As if Somalia could not get in a worse position there have been recent signs of Somali pirates and the Shabab joining sides and sharing resources. Due to recent terrorist attacks seen around the globe the rest of the world is well aware of the potential effects of terrorism. The problem presents itself that either the weak dysfunctional Somali government tries to subdue the growing piracy industry and Shabab terrorist clan or members of United Nations assists them in the efforts to do so before the terrorism becomes uncontrollable.
Works Cited
Axe, David. "10 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT SOMALI PIRATES." Current 513 (2009): 31-33. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2010.
Ditz, Jason. "UN Eyes Proposal to Fund Massive Somalia Escalation." 6 October 2010. Antiwar.com. 26 October 2010 <http://news.antiwar.com/2010/10/06/un-eyes-proposal-to-fund-massive-somalia-escalation/>.
Gettleman, Jeffery. "In Somali Civil War, Both Sides Embrace Pirates." 1 September 2010. New York Times. 5 October 2010 <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/world/africa/02pirates.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=somalia%20pirates&st=cse>.
Gettleman, Jeffery. "Somali Town Embodies Enduring Sense of Loss ." 15 September 2010. New York Times. 5 October 2010 <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/world/africa/16somalia.html?scp=3&sq=somalia%20pirates&st=cse>.
Ibrahim, Mohammed and Jeffery Gettleman. "Somalia Government and Allies Attack Insurgents." 18 October 2010. The New York Times. 25 October 2010 <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/world/africa/19somalia.html?ref=somalia>.
"Piracy at Sea." 2010 September 2010. New York Times. 4 October 2010 <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/piracy_at_sea/index.html?scp=2&sq=somalia%20pirates&st=cse>.
