A Sailor's Life For Me

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The Heavy Hand Of Impatience

For years now America has been quietly concerned that their only weapon in the War On Terror (The Army) was ineffective in actually fighting it. You cannot fight terrorists with armed forces, the army is a blunt instrument for more adept at creating terrorists than eliminating them (Report: Iraq Air Raids Hit Mostly Women and Children). Terrorists are best fought with intelligence gathering, secret agents, and actions aimed at dismantling the social situations that breed terrorists in the first place. Sadly, it appears Americans do not have the heart for that kind of battle, and more proof of that lacking was provided last weekend off the coast of Africa.

The 20-man crew of the Maersk Alabama said that the 508ft (155m) container ship, carrying food aid to Mombasa in Kenya, had been harassed by pirates for a week before the vessel was boarded on Wednesday, April 8, more than 300 miles (500km) off the Somali coast. Four pirates in a fast-moving skiff boarded the cargo ship with grappling irons at about 7.15am local time amid a hail of gun-fire into the air.
[...]

The unarmed crew of the Maersk Alabama had been drilled by their captain on what to do in an attack. While Captain Richard Phillips and three other sailors met the pirates on the bridge most of the crew hid in sweltering safe rooms below. The power was cut and all the lights went out.

A bunch of Pirates tried to hijack an American ship, and for various reasons end up abducting the captain and cast themselves adrift on a lifeboat. Clearly not a good situation, but they at least had some insurance, which proved they were still looking for a way out. And how did it end?

The USS Bainbridge, on pirate patrol 300 miles away at the time of the attack, arrived on Thursday morning. As it stalked the lifeboat at about midnight Captain Phillips tried to escape by jumping into the sea and swimming towards the warship. Before the US Navy could react the pirates fired shots, leapt in after Captain Phillips and recaptured him. The incident was reportedly captured on video by a circling US drone.

On Friday night President Obama gave authority to use lethal force to save the life of Captain Phillips. The next night the Seals arrived.

At this point one of the Pirates comes aboard the Bainbridge. He’d been stabbed by the Americans during the initial assault and was basically surrendering and getting some medical attention. He also related a ransom demand from the other pirates, who of course still had the captain. At this point the Bainbridge is allowed to tow the lifeboat out to calmer waters, during which the lifeboat is reeled in close the the American warship. It’s fairly clear to me that at this point the decision had been made.

As darkness fell at 7.19pm on Sunday the snipers, watching through their night-vision rifle scopes, saw two pirates poke their heads out of a lifeboat hatch. The third, visible through a window, pointed his AK47 at Captain Phillips’ back.

ABC News reported that Captain Phillips had moved to one side of the lifeboat to relieve himself, giving the sharpshooters clean shots. Commander Frank Castellano, the captain of the USS Bainbridge, decided that the American hostage was in imminent danger andgave the order to fire. The snipers each took a single shot, killing all three pirates immediately, officials said.

- timesonline.co.uk/

It’s portrayed here, and everyone else, as if the pirates were about to kill their hostage. This makes absolutely no sense. In fact, since the hostage had already attempted to escape by jumping into the water and was currently relieving himself over the side of the boat, it makes perfect sense for one of the pirates to be aiming a gun at his back. Where else would you aim it? It also makes no sense if you think about the situation the Pirates were in. Tethered up next to an American warship in a small powerless lifeboat out in the Indian ocean, totally surrounded, killing their only hostage would have been an act of suicide. Ultimately, these men were not terrorists, they were thieves, and thieves are not suicidal. No, what this is is a desperate attempt to justify a crime, committed by “the good guys” in rescue of “an American hero.”

At the time everyone jumped for joy at this seeming victory against the evil pirates. That’s because everyone is stupid. Not only was this not a victory against the Somali pirates, it most likely has been a defeat. For with all their resources and money, the Americans could only wait impatiently for an opportune moment and then kill everyone. Now what do you think is going to happen the next time Somali pirates take someone hostage? Will they set themselves up for negotiation? Will they even take prisoners if they sense trouble? Up till now the pirates have been pretty good about looking after their hostages. I expect that’s going to change in a hurry now the killing has started.

So what insights do we have into these pirates off the coast of Somalia? Do we actually know who they are?

Of course, there are straight-up gangsters and criminals engaged in these hijackings. Perhaps the pirates who hijacked the Alabama on Wednesday fall into that category. We do not yet know. But that is hardly the whole "pirate" story. Consider what one pirate told The New York Times after he and his men seized a Ukrainian freighter "loaded with tanks, artillery, grenade launchers and ammunition" last year. "We don't consider ourselves sea bandits," said Sugule Ali:. "We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard." Now, that "coast guard" analogy is a stretch, but his point is an important and widely omitted part of this story. Indeed the Times article was titled, "Somali Pirates Tell Their Side: They Want Only Money." Yet, The New York Times acknowledged, "the piracy industry started about 10 to 15 years ago… as a response to illegal fishing."

Take this fact: Over $300 million worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are "being stolen every year by illegal trawlers" off Somalia's coast, forcing the fishing industry there into a state of virtual non-existence.

But it isn't just the theft of seafood. Nuclear dumping has polluted the environment. "In 1991, the government of Somalia collapsed," wrote Johann Hari in The Independent. "Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since -- and the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country's food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas."

According to Hari:

As soon as the [Somali] government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died. … This is the context in which the "pirates" have emerged. Somalian fishermen took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least levy a "tax" on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia -- and ordinary Somalis agree. The independent Somalian news site WardheerNews found 70 per cent "strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence."

- alternet.org/

There’s even more here and elsewhere, but of course since it doesn’t fit the narrative of “Pirates Evil, U.S.A Good”, then it gets overwritten by stories of the brave Americans and their latest victory.



Back To The Status Quo

For a moment there I thought Spain was going to go after the Americans for the whole torture thing, but reality has returned.

Spain's attorney general has rejected an attempt to bring a criminal case against six former US officials over torture allegations at Guantanamo Bay.

The officials, including former US attorney general Alberto Gonzalez, were accused of giving a legal justification for torture at the US detention centre.

But Candido Conde-Pumpido said the case had "no merit" as they were not present when the alleged abuse took place.

- truthout.org

Since when is it only the ones doing the torturing that are guilty? How does that make any sense?

But it not just the Spanish backing off from going after the torturers.

Washington - President Barack Obama absolved CIA officers from prosecution for harsh, painful interrogation of terror suspects Thursday, even as his administration released Bush-era memos graphically detailing - and authorizing - such grim tactics as slamming detainees against walls, waterboarding them and keeping them naked and cold for long periods.

Human rights groups and many Obama officials have condemned such methods as torture. Bush officials have vigorously disagreed.

In releasing the documents, the most comprehensive accounting yet of interrogation methods that were among the Bush administrations most closely guarded secrets, Obama said he wanted to move beyond "a dark and painful chapter in our history."

- truthout.org/

Well, that’s disappointing. Moving beyond "a dark and painful chapter in our history" is important, but before we go it makes sense to install a light bulb above it so we don’t trip over it again in the future. I would of thought Obama would have understood that already. Are we letting the CIA get away with it because they’re the only tool we have to defend us? If so, what does that make us?

More: Torture Memos Gave CIA Legal O.K. to Bring Detainees to Brink of Death




And Finally

- Danziger

- Peace out