AlterNet condoning pirates in Somalia?

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4-16-2009 @ 9:59AM

Shawn said...

I would wager that the vast majority of folks watching these stories on TV don't understand the situation. I half agree with this article, because the situation is complicated. Or maybe instead of complicated it would be more accurate to say that it's a bloody mess.

In short - somalian govt is non-existant/corrupt/busy/a mess, so countries around the world jump in to help by dumping their toxic waste off the unguarded coast. And law abiding big fishing trawlers that are tired of regulated fishing limits in their waters come to Somalia and fish the hell out of it. Somalia's fishing industry collapses. Some fisherman decide to take up arms and try to chase off some of the illegal fishing boats... the lightbulb goes off and they realize they're on to a good thing here. Through a rapid escalation from fishing boats to freighters over a couple years and here we are.

Of course we only get to hear about it on mainstream news because Americans were involved this week. It's terrible to think about all the staycation, obama's dog, and affordable spring fashions news stories the pirates may have bumped.

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