Are you being lied to about the Somali pirates?

[Uben]

I must be! There have been so many threads started quoting the same article!

So, forgive me while I also tell a small fib. I care!

LOL!!

Morans!

[jonnyblitz]

1. they are really teen environmentalists!1

:patriot:

[Uben]

3. Yeah, well......

.....looks like the Somali Jr. High School band just lost three of their percussionists!

[Occulus]

6. There's a "this one time, at band camp" joke in there somewhere, I think n/t

[trotsky]

7. lol n/t

[Midlodemocrat]

2. Yes, I was told they were going to do the dishes, but so far? Nada.

[DevonRex]

4. Hysterical!! Thanks. nt

[Adelante]

5. I thought this was another one!

I was going to put you on Ignore :D

[RC]

8. There is something you need to know.

The United States backed Kenya in toppling the Somali government. Somalia never recovered. Then their fishing territory was fished out by other countries. Starting right after that that same off shore area was used as a toxic waste dump, including radioactive waste, by many countries. People living along the coast of Somalia were poisoned and even killed by this waste.
Piracy was just a way to survive, they have nothing else. I believe the term to use is 'Blow Back'. We, the United States are to blame once again.

[Uben]

9. No, we're not to blame

People who steal, rob, and take hostages here are no different than those over there. They chose to do it just like criminals here chose to do it. And do they hijack the ships that are fishing or carrying radioactive wastes? No, they hijack ships with expensive cargos so they can get more ransom out of it. They're criminals. Robbing and killing to survive is a choice of criminals.

And, wasn't a lot of the waste traced back to Europeans who paid the mafia to dispose of it? It's certainly too far away for American ships to have fished out their resources, so that had to be someone else, as well. Why is it our fault?

[RC]

11. Why is it our fault?

Because as I posted, we helped topple their government, then we ignored the situation we caused. If we had left them alone in the first place, chances are good there would be no pirates.
Got it? We, the United States needs to stop meddling in the affairs of other countries. We cause our own 'enemies', then 'Forget' why they hate us in the first place and try to defend themselves or in this case, survive, by any means that they can.
We should try helping instead of killing for a change. If nothing else we would not be making so many enemies.

[Uben]

12. I remember when Daddy Bush sent troops

It was initially a humanitarian effort to keep millions from starving, but the warlords were preventing the aid to get through. Was it right to get embroiled in the conflict? Well, when you have that many people starving and have resources to keep them alive, is it not honorable to try to get those resources to those that need them most?
Clinton got us out in 1993. The warlords already had taken the country over and anarchy had already prevailed. I don't see the end result being any different had we not entered the conflict, so to say we wouldn't have the pirates doing their robbing and pilaging today is stretching it awfully far!
Should we have stayed and rebuilt the nation? I'm not into nation building at all. I think we should get out of Iraq and Afghanistan right now. We are witnessing our own nation struggling economically, and we need to take care of business back here at home. It's gonna be a difficult task to do, and it is only compounded by having to rebuild two other nations while providing an occupying force. My son-in-law is currently staioned just north of Kabul, Afghanistan.
I see where you are coming from, but I'm not ready to blame America for the pitiful state of Somalia. It's not our job to civilize the world. Our attempt to just feed the starving got us sucked into that conflict.

[Pavulon]

10. Not one little fishy for them to catch

only piracy is available. Their government took millions for waste. Not one article has solid proof of any illness or damage caused. Just innuendo.