03-16-2011, 10:00 AM
Since it is my neighbourhood, let me try and educate you clearly ignorant infidels about Somalia and its Piracy.
Not even so many years ago Somalia was a wonderful holiday destination for Europe just like Phuket, Bali or Goa. In a matter of a week all of that changed. Since then it is chaos. Chaos sponsored by many of the world powers to be. Why? Because there are large oil fields in Somalia which few people know. So it is handy to keep that chaos going until one of the powers is ready to enter. Which most probably will happen once Iraq is well secured.
Anyway, during this period of chaos some effort went into trying to bring some order as well. Not so much around the Mogadishu area but more so in Somaliland and Puntland, as those are the gateways out of the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean and handle about 30% of all world wide shipping. Mogadishu is down south and does not matter, so who cares if the people down there keep shooting their heads off. Such is not the case with the north due to the money travelling past it right in front of their beaches.
Djibouti is a small dot right next to Somaliland and since many years the headquarters for most of the navies as well as the hottest training ground for the Foreign Legion. In the office of the US Navy is a sign that reads "Welcome to the waiting room to Hell". It is VERY hot!
So once upon a time all those people in charge of those Navies, mainly the Presidents and /or Prime Ministers of America, England, France and Italy decided to start a nice little sort of local Navy in Somalia. A Coast Guard equipped with Fibreglass boats and 60hp outboard engines. Why? Because some of those cheeky little Chinks and Koreans decided that since there is plenty of chaos in that country, they could just come and fish what is there. Without license or any kind of fees going to the country.
From the other side you had those big ships hired by those mean and evil corporate people who decided that since there is plenty of chaos in that country, they could just dump any sort of waste right there onto the beach. No matter if chemical or nuclear, anything that's disgusting and kills you dead, ship it there. So they did.
Somalia has one of the richest fishing grounds in the world plus the largest coast line of Africa. So there was plenty of space for everybody, just not the Somali's. And they got angry. Obviously. You would be pissed off too if you not only feel hungry cos all your coast is empty but do so with a rather suspicious green glow streaming out of you, turning you into one of those sticks the army people brake to give them light at night.
However, now there was suddenly a small fraction that was not only a bunch of local fishermen but actually had received some training in how to approach and board larger vessels with their little fibreglass boats. And that is how it all started.
First they just wanted to run after those evil foreign vessels taking advantage of that wonderful chaos in their country and make them go away, until one bright chap had this brilliant flash of genius while looking at one of those boats and going "But hey, fuck going sho sho, go away ... that thing looks like it's worth some money!!"
And yes indeed, it sure was.
The irony is that just like Bin Laden and good ole Saddam, these people where trained or groomed by the West.
First it was purely the fishermen people who took on this new and highly lucrative profession, and traditionally they took care of their hostages and their health. Of course they did, those are the main inventory after all. Most of the ransom is paid for the people and not the ships, unless it is one of those super tankers of course. So they made sure that their hostages were in good shape, and after a short time you could find restaurants along Puntlands beaches serving Russian, European and Asian food.
However, even so being a very large piece of beach, Somalia's community is rather small, obviously since most have been shot, hence news travelling really fast.
And just like with any good and clean racket, once it becomes public knowledge, every Tom, Dick and Harry tries to get into it and simply spoils the well kept and preserved image. So once the boys from Mogadishu got to know about a few millions to be made by simply jumping out in a slightly larger rowing boat with an RPG strapped to your back, there was no holding them back anymore. The bad elements of hostage taking had arrived and all the honourable Gentlemeness had all but vanished from a once respectable and distinguished profession that could make you very rich in the matter of 3 months. For that was how long it usually took for the ransom to arrive.
Not only that, now you had all those navies suddenly go mad for you too. Of course it makes one nervous. No more relaxing lunches or dinners with the captured crew on board a luxury yacht. No more relaxing hours in a Jaccuzzi with the scrumptious female service team while lazzily cruising thru the ocean. Oh no, now it is all stress and mental strain. You would be pissed of too!
But here is the best. A lot of the security companies making now millions by providing security for all those ships are the same chaps that trained those boys all that time ago in the first place!
Well, just like Bin Laden and Saddam I guess.
Not even so many years ago Somalia was a wonderful holiday destination for Europe just like Phuket, Bali or Goa. In a matter of a week all of that changed. Since then it is chaos. Chaos sponsored by many of the world powers to be. Why? Because there are large oil fields in Somalia which few people know. So it is handy to keep that chaos going until one of the powers is ready to enter. Which most probably will happen once Iraq is well secured.
Anyway, during this period of chaos some effort went into trying to bring some order as well. Not so much around the Mogadishu area but more so in Somaliland and Puntland, as those are the gateways out of the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean and handle about 30% of all world wide shipping. Mogadishu is down south and does not matter, so who cares if the people down there keep shooting their heads off. Such is not the case with the north due to the money travelling past it right in front of their beaches.
Djibouti is a small dot right next to Somaliland and since many years the headquarters for most of the navies as well as the hottest training ground for the Foreign Legion. In the office of the US Navy is a sign that reads "Welcome to the waiting room to Hell". It is VERY hot!
So once upon a time all those people in charge of those Navies, mainly the Presidents and /or Prime Ministers of America, England, France and Italy decided to start a nice little sort of local Navy in Somalia. A Coast Guard equipped with Fibreglass boats and 60hp outboard engines. Why? Because some of those cheeky little Chinks and Koreans decided that since there is plenty of chaos in that country, they could just come and fish what is there. Without license or any kind of fees going to the country.
From the other side you had those big ships hired by those mean and evil corporate people who decided that since there is plenty of chaos in that country, they could just dump any sort of waste right there onto the beach. No matter if chemical or nuclear, anything that's disgusting and kills you dead, ship it there. So they did.
Somalia has one of the richest fishing grounds in the world plus the largest coast line of Africa. So there was plenty of space for everybody, just not the Somali's. And they got angry. Obviously. You would be pissed off too if you not only feel hungry cos all your coast is empty but do so with a rather suspicious green glow streaming out of you, turning you into one of those sticks the army people brake to give them light at night.
However, now there was suddenly a small fraction that was not only a bunch of local fishermen but actually had received some training in how to approach and board larger vessels with their little fibreglass boats. And that is how it all started.
First they just wanted to run after those evil foreign vessels taking advantage of that wonderful chaos in their country and make them go away, until one bright chap had this brilliant flash of genius while looking at one of those boats and going "But hey, fuck going sho sho, go away ... that thing looks like it's worth some money!!"
And yes indeed, it sure was.
The irony is that just like Bin Laden and good ole Saddam, these people where trained or groomed by the West.
First it was purely the fishermen people who took on this new and highly lucrative profession, and traditionally they took care of their hostages and their health. Of course they did, those are the main inventory after all. Most of the ransom is paid for the people and not the ships, unless it is one of those super tankers of course. So they made sure that their hostages were in good shape, and after a short time you could find restaurants along Puntlands beaches serving Russian, European and Asian food.
However, even so being a very large piece of beach, Somalia's community is rather small, obviously since most have been shot, hence news travelling really fast.
And just like with any good and clean racket, once it becomes public knowledge, every Tom, Dick and Harry tries to get into it and simply spoils the well kept and preserved image. So once the boys from Mogadishu got to know about a few millions to be made by simply jumping out in a slightly larger rowing boat with an RPG strapped to your back, there was no holding them back anymore. The bad elements of hostage taking had arrived and all the honourable Gentlemeness had all but vanished from a once respectable and distinguished profession that could make you very rich in the matter of 3 months. For that was how long it usually took for the ransom to arrive.
Not only that, now you had all those navies suddenly go mad for you too. Of course it makes one nervous. No more relaxing lunches or dinners with the captured crew on board a luxury yacht. No more relaxing hours in a Jaccuzzi with the scrumptious female service team while lazzily cruising thru the ocean. Oh no, now it is all stress and mental strain. You would be pissed of too!
But here is the best. A lot of the security companies making now millions by providing security for all those ships are the same chaps that trained those boys all that time ago in the first place!
Well, just like Bin Laden and Saddam I guess.