This will not be an essay in which one starts Bush-bashing or even West-bashing.  One could fill up pages with rants regarding failed US and international efforts to save not Somalia, but save business interests in the region.  Instead, we'll attempt to, not excuse the "pirates" of Somalia, but simply to broaden the discussion on the current situation in the Gulf of Aden, and to briefly examine some of the events that perhaps have driven desperate men to sea and a life of crime.

If anyone needs an example of what a failed state is, you need not look much further than Somalia.  It's a large country and home to many, many rival clans and their warlords.  Somalia did not exist as a nation like we would like to think of it until after World War II.  Before that, it was divided in British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland.  And it has been divided ever since, whether the World wants to accept that or not.

Like most modern African nations, European colonizers may be blamed for starting all the trouble, but that may be a naïve and generalized view of the problem of Africa.  Little is known about Somalia before the Europeans arrived to carve up Africa, so it cannot be known whether or not Somalia was ever a united group of peoples.  To blame the constant fracture of Somalia on colonization may not be fully appropriate, but you certainly could not ignore that colonization may have exacerbated the situation.

And today, despite the fact that we no longer call it colonization, the "West" is still involved in keeping Somalia divided and fighting itself.  Unfortunately, Somalia is not that simple to explain.

A Brief Primer on Somalia

It's all about natural resources.  Somalia is located on the Horn of Africa.  For much of its history, Somalia was a strategic trading location between much of Asia and the interior of Africa, and as we see in the news everyday now, it is still a rather strategic point for international trade in the Gulf of Aden after going through the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean with the Indian Ocean. 

When it comes to the physical landscape of Somalia, there is not a lot of arable land available, and thus parts of the country are forced to the seas to supplement its diet and economy.  The dry, highland landscape that dominates the northern parts of Somalia forces a pastoral form of agriculture.  There are river valleys in the southern part of Somalia, which allows some cropland; however, as Somalia has been in nearly constant conflict for the last 18 years, there is little farming going on.  In fact, the World Food Programme estimates that there are more than 3 million Somalis that are entirely dependent on food aid.  Unfortunately, with the increase in piracy in 2008, food aid has been discontinued for security reasons.

So, a country with little has even less than it might if everything were peachy and stable.  Add to that the effects of climate change, in the form of torrential rains washing away entire villages, and you are starting to get a glimpse of the desperate situation in which many Somalis are finding themselves.

What Happens When No One is Watching

It was recently reported by Al Jazeera that a spokesman for the Puntland-based pirates claimed that the group was taking ships and their crews hostage for ransoms that will pay for clean up costs related to illegal dumping by European and Asian firms.  The Somalis claim that their perceived piracy is more of an ad hoc coast guard that seeks funds to clean up the toxic waste that has been hurting the fishing industry as well as causing illness among coastal dwellers.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy for Somalia confirmed to Al Jazeera the world body has "reliable information" that European and Asian companies are dumping toxic waste, including nuclear waste, off the Somali coastline.

"I must stress however, that no government has endorsed this act, and that private companies and individuals acting alone are responsible," he said.

Allegations of the dumping of toxic waste, as well as illegal fishing, have circulated since the early 1990s.

But evidence of such practices literally appeared on the beaches of northern Somalia when the tsunami of 2004 hit the country.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reported the tsunami had washed up rusting containers of toxic waste on the shores of Puntland.

Nick Nuttall, a UNEP spokesman, told Al Jazeera that when the barrels were smashed open by the force of the waves, the containers exposed a "frightening activity" that has been going on for more than decade.  –Al Jazeera

Nuttall goes on to say that hundreds of coastal residents are suffering from mouth and abdominal bleeding, as well as skin infections.

In the early 1990's, after the ouster of Somali dictator Said Barre, the government essentially broke down, and it was at that time that foreign fishing concerns and waste companies began signing contracts with dubious government officials and militia leaders in Somalia.  The situation has gotten worse as the Somali government teeters on non-existence.  Somali fisherman claim more than 700 fishing ships are operating in Somali waters, which little to no oversight regarding their methods and their take. 

Of course, anyone would cry out for international intervention.  Assess the situation and punish illegal fishing and dumping.  But again, Somalia is not that simple.  If research vessels will not be safe in the area, research cannot happen.  The UN may know about the dumping, but without hard, fast evidence, little can be done to curb it.

Desperate Times Calls for Desperate Measures

Despite rather romantic notions of piracy in the West, thanks to Disney, piracy is a crime.  The Somali pirates may be claiming to be protectors of the people, but that argument holds little weight.  Are the pirates using illegal dumping and fishing as a pretext for their actions?  Most likely, but it would be remiss to ignore the idea that these original crimes are creating a "two-wrongs-making-right" situation.  Some early pirated ships included fishing boats from Spain and Thailand.

However, most pirated ships are not fishing vessels or waste barges.  The pirates are somewhat indiscriminate when it comes to targeting ships, and because of this, the pirates could create their own environmental disaster. 

A Saudi supertanker full of oil was hi-jacked in November 2008, and just recently, they captured a German-owned tanker, as well as a vessel carrying arms from Russia.  Luckily during the attack, no damage was done to the tankers, but what if it had?  The pirates would be responsible for damage they claim to be fighting.

Not only that, but the pirates do not seem to be spending their ransoms on clean up efforts, but instead spend their millions on houses, cars, and girls, and in turn creating boom towns along the Somali coast.  This improvised economy is nearly the only viable economic activity in the country.  And as such, locals are happy with the pirates.  Fishing boats are fishing other waters, and maybe the dumping will stop as well.

It is hard to combat a "Robin Hood" in a poor country in which desperation fuels such fear inspiring acts.  To turn to piracy is to risk one's life, and obviously some of these men are of the mind set that if they do not take to the high seas, they will lose their lives anyway.  But for every pirate that is trying to feed his family, there are others that are in it purely for the money.

No Man is an Island

Solving the Somali piracy issue is not going to be a simple "send a bunch of warships into the Gulf of Aden" and maybe follow the pirates onto land, if necessary.  The West must understand this, and yet nothing seems to be on the table regarding an international response to help rebuild Somalia.  The UN/US embarrassment in that Black Hawk Down incident has left the West with little inclination to actively interfere in Somalia.

 Of course, there is the issue of security in the area for relief organizations and anyone that does want to help Somalia.  And unfortunately, the US and its allies have done little to fix the situation by aiding an Ethiopian invasion of Somalia in 2006, hoping to prevent a fundamentalist Islamic group from forming a central government.  The Islamic Courts Union failed in its attempt to impose Shari'ah law in Somalia because the US would rather work with a non-Islamic government in the country.

But despite the US's intentions to destabilize Somalia, another pro-Islamic law group, the Al-Shebabs, are gaining power, and the US is trying to claim that the pirates are funding this group, and this means that everything gets labeled as "terrorists" and US law prohibits assistance to terrorist-supporting nations.  It kind of seems like a Catch-22 in Somalia.  If you don't help the country rebuild and feed itself, you breed desperate men that turn to crime and "terrorism."  But once that happens, you cannot legally help that country anymore.

It would make more sense to address the root causes of the impoverished situation in Somalia, rather than send in more forces to protect Western business interests, but lately, that doesn't seem to be the way the world works.  But can we fully condemn the men behind the piracy?  Is it instead our desire for tuna and our NIMBY mentality in regards to toxic waste that has produced these pirates?

Related Reading:
Throbgoblins: Dead Man's Chest
Coming Together on Climate Change and Poverty