BBC article covers the root causes of Somali piracy.

[go west young man]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8001183.stm

[uppityperson]

1. Good grief! Piracy Apologists at BBC?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!1111

thanks for the article. k&r

[Posteritatis]

2. That strikes me as an explanation rather than a justification

There's a number of things feeding into the piracy problem, and the article mentions that, but I'm not seeing a "therefore they're justified in what they're doing" type tone at all.

We could talk about various causes of most forms of crime (unless we're talking about The Cause for them, in which case we're deluded), and we could even identify those causes accurately, without actually defending or justifying the crimes in question.

Either way, the pirate problem isn't the monolith most people are presenting it as. Even if some of them are doing it for the dumping issue (either as ecowarriors - which I doubt - or to supplement income from lost fisheries - which I'd believe), some others are just in it 'cause it leads to them being awash in sweet, sweet cash. Others might be in it for more geopolitical reasons; I'm sure we're not getting the full story on that freighter full of Russian-built tanks destined for South Sudan, and I doubt we'll get said story until some stuff's declassified in a few decades.

There's probably a pile of other angles as well. It's way too complex a region to boil down to some simplistic white-hat-black-hat sort of thing, like most of the discussion here tends towards.

[uppityperson]

3. I know, was being sarcastic. There are reasons behind what people do, and learning about them

is good. I am in agreement with you.

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. As the article indicates, navies are only treating the symptom, not the cause

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The World's superpower using it's War-Machine and its killing expertise to blow the heads off three pirates didn't do ONE thing to discourage the piracy.

Indeed, it may have accelerated violence.

If it was possible to go kill every single pirate, nothing would be accomplished UNLESS the powers that be can provide some sort of decent living opportunities for the remaining population in Somalia.

Otherwise, new pirates will emerge - maybe even more vicious than the ones we now know.

Bullets and bombs won't solve the problem -

But that seems to be all that the "powers" are willing to provide as a "solution"

(sigh)

[ColbertWatcher]

5. Beautifully put.

The strategy you posted would also slow the opium industry in Afghanistan.

[ConsAreLiars]

8. Exactly.

People, given a choice between morally-bad-and-dangerous-but-family-starvation-is-worse and anything-better in any respect will choose the alternative.

[Prometheus Bound]

10. It's so obvious it's insane.

I guess it's some sort of alpha male syndrome. We've got the big guns; they don't; let's blow them out of the water. Only pussies would talk about this 'treating the cause' shit.

[ConcernedCanuk]

11. I guess I be a pussy then!

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And the Ruh Roh guys that support the USAmerican Empire will go the way of the Romans, the British and so on.

Too bad they are killing millions and polluting the planet with their toxic weapons in the meantime,

But do NOT try to convince the USA electorate that they have overstepped the boundaries of human decency -

because then they'll just bomb you to shit - -

I wonder - -

How many countries has the USA dropped bombs on since WW2?

I'll betcha it's more than every other nation in the World combined - -

How's THAT for a "Democratic" peace-loving nation . . .

We ain't fooled . .

USA is the most war-mongering nation on this planet

[BlooInBloo]

6. The good guy pulls the babies out of the river...

The better guy goes upstream and stops the asshole throwing the babies into the river in the first place.

[ColbertWatcher]

7. Nancy Pelosi is throwing babies in the river!? n/t

[ColbertWatcher]

9. Kick. n/t