U.S. Role Against Somalian Pirates - Research Paper Example

? U.S. ROLE AGAINST SOMALIAN PIRATES Alexander Calderon White English Composition 28 January U.S. Role against Somalian pirates “As Somali piracy became one of the major economic activities in the country, netting US$82 million in ransom payments in 2009, thereby prompting mounting international alarm” (Samatar, 2010, p.318). Somalian piracy is causing big headaches not only to America, but also to other countries as well. Many of the ships passing through the coastal areas of Somalia became the victims of Somali pirates in the recent past. Even though pirates showing no discrimination in selecting their targets, majority of the ships attacked by these pirates in recent times belong to America, Britain, Australia and India. Somalia’s eastern coastal areas and Gulf of Aden are the major areas in which Somali pirates base their operations. Multinational naval force including warships from America, Britain, India and Australia are currently patrolling in Somali coastal areas in order to avoid further mishaps. However, the threats from the pirates are increasing day by day even though UN Security Council and other countries did everything possible to counter the threats from the pirates. Being the sole super power in the world at present, America has definitely a major role to play in Somali pirate issue. It should be noted that America is currently conducting war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many people have the belief that Somali pirates definitely have some close connections with Islamic terrorists even though it is not proved yet. Under such circumstances, America should give more emphasize to the Somali pirate issue so that its counter terrorism efforts would be more meaningful. This paper analyses the role of America against Somali pirate issue. America and Somali piracy Warner (2010) pointed out that “Given Somalia’s proximity to one of the world’s main sea lines of communications through the Gulf of Aden, Somali fishermen, unrestrained by a functioning coast guard or navy, seized the opportunity to engage in maritime piracy starting in the 1990s” (Warner, 2010, p.62). Somali is a country in which governance is extremely poor. It should be noted that Somali government has nominal power in controlling its people. In fact, it is difficult for Somali government to establish law and order in the country when people are suffering a lot from poverty and unemployment. Terrorists know this fact very well and they can easily establish links with Somali pirates. In other words, America cannot stay away from the Somali piracy issue if they like to end war on terror successfully. Terrorists are now establishing their bases in Somali like poorly governed countries. America should realize this fact and respond properly to this issue. Operation Enduring Freedom, a military mission by the US and coalition partners in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, contained a naval component. As their mission was essentially a counter-terrorism mission, it initially had no intention to take action against pirates. The area of operations of Task Force 150 however included the area off the coast of Somalia (Fink & Galvin, 2009, p.382) Terrorism in any form cannot be justified even if it may have some credible reasons. For example, Somali pirates are looting or attacking the ships passing through its coastal lines because of poverty in their country. Same way, Islamic terrorists attack innocent people in order to save their belief or religion; as proclaimed by them. In any case, it should be noted that taking the life and property of another person is illegal and unethical. Terrorists and pirates cite many reasons to justify their activities. In short, Somali piracy should be dealt as a form of terrorism and United States should interfere more meaningfully in this issue. “Some nations act as part of an international organization, such as NATO and EU, and others act individually, such as China, Russia, India and Pakistan, while others take part in multinational coalition operations, such as the US and Denmark” (Fink & Galvin, 2009, p.381-382). Individual efforts may have lot of limitations in countering Somali piracy. Collective efforts are necessary to eliminate Somali piracy permanently. Being an international body, UN has lot to do with this issue. America should take a lead role in countering Somali piracy and they should force UN to take stronger actions against the pirates. The American led NATO forces definitely have a major role to play in Somali piracy issue. “At this point, the main effort of the NATO maritime operation in the Somali region was to escort the humanitarian aid vessels for safe arrival in Somalia” (Fink & Galvin, 2009, p.384). This is not sufficient enough to wipe off piracy issue permanently from Somali region. NATO’s naval forces should keep some of its war ships near Somali coastal areas at least for few years in order to discourage Somali pirates from robbing the ships passing through its coastal areas. At present, each country takes their own measures to silence Somali pirates. However, such measures may not be effective in countering the threats from pirates. “Given Islamic terrorist effective use of maritime in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and the prevalence of sea transport – licit and illicit- of military hardware and WMD related technology, possible synergies between Islamic terrorists and pirates need to be considered” (Stevenson, 2010, p.31). So far America stayed away from Somali pirate issue as they thought that this issue had nothing to do with terrorism. In other words, America thought that piracy was caused by poverty and terrorism has nothing to do with it. However, recent Mumbai attack served as an eye opener to America. It should be noted that terrorists reached Mumbai through sea routes and no coastal guards were able to seize them. In other words, terrorists are using sea routes more frequently nowadays as the security measures in land and air transport systems were strengthened. A possible nexus between Islamic terrorists and Somali pirates cannot be ruled out under these circumstances. Cultural reasons also were suspected for the increased piracy in Somalian or African region for the last five years. Somali pirates are behaving more aggressively towards Americans even though they are not showing such aggression towards the hostages of other countries. There are many cases in which pirates liberated the hostages after taking money. However, they are showing such mercy towards American hostages. “Pirates killed four Americans in the bloodiest piracy incident in recent history, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command told reporters in a conference call” (Admiral Provides Details of Somali Piracy Killings, 2011). The above incident clearly indicates that Somali pirates are treating Americans and others differently. In other words, Somali pirates are behaving like terrorists towards American hostages. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for America to treat this issue as an issue related to poverty anymore. In short, Somali piracy has attained the dimensions of Islamic terrorism. So, America cannot stay away from this issue anymore. Somalia will never be a breeding ground for Islamic terrorism. The Somali polity is shaped to an extraordinary degree by a central principle that overrides all others, namely the phenomenon that social anthropologists refer to as ‘segmentary lineage system’. However, there are Somali-Somalis and non-Somali Somalis - the latter being Somalis who came as children or were born and raised in America, Canada or Western Europe. These are highly vulnerable to jihadist indoctrination. Having been detribalized and brain-washed by the fiery preaching of Pakistani or Afghani mullahs, they are liable to being seduced by the romantic notion of a global jihad (Samatar, 2010, p.320-321). Unlike many other Islamic countries, Somalia was never been a happy hunting ground for Islamic terrorists. Poverty, unemployment, environmental hardship etc were the major problems which caused headaches to the ordinary Somalis rather than religious beliefs or traditions. However, the scenario has changed a lot because of globalization. It is easy for antisocial elements or terrorists to base their operations in countries such as Somalia where poor administration prevail. Conclusions America has definitely a major role to play in Somali pirate issue. Somali piracy issue has international dimensions which should be addressed collectively. Even though terrorism had nothing to do with Somali piracy in the past, current incidents have shown that piracy is no more an issue related to poverty, but an issue related to terrorism. America should take the lead role in countering this issue, when we consider the fact that Islamic terrorists may have close linkages between Somali pirates. Terrorists are now increasingly selecting sea routes for conducting their mission as land and air routes were blocked effectively after 9/11. Moreover, terrorists are now establishing their bases in countries such as Somali where poor governance prevails. All these things point towards the fact that America can no more keep a blind eye towards the Somali piracy issue. Somali piracy is no more a regional problem, but a problem with international dimensions. In short, America should concentrate more on Somali piracy issue in order to put an end to its war on terror on a successful note. References Admiral Provides Details of Somali Piracy Killings (2011). War on terror news. February 22, 2011. [Online] Available at: http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2011/02/admiral-provides-details-of-somali-piracy-killings-.html Fink, M. D., & Galvin, R. J. (2009) Combating Pirates off the Coast of Somalia: Current legal Challenges. Netherlands International Law Review. Netherlands International Law Review, LVI: 367-395, 2009. doi:10.1017/S0165070X09003672 Samatar, S. S. (2010) An open letter to Uncle Sam: America, pray leave Somalia to it's own devices. Journal of Contemporary African Studies. Vol. 28, No. 3, July 2010, 313_323 Stevenson, S. (2010) Jihad and Piracy in Somalia. Survival. vol. 52 no. 1. February–March 2010 pp. 27–38. DOI 10.1080/00396331003612455 Warner, L. A. (2010) Pieces of Eight: An Appraisal of U.S. Counter-piracy Options in the Horn of Africa. Naval War College Review, Vol 63, No. 2. Read More