tagged w/ Somalia
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Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food - Hippocrates
Candy, Soda, potato chips, and cookies are not what Gazans, or any other community trying to rebuild, need more of. This is an attempt to negatively affect the minds and bodies of the people of Gaza. Sugary foods are being used as a tool to block connections to the greater changes in consciousness taking place across the globe, changes taking place for the benefit of ALL humanity.
May the minds and bodies of slaves be freed, along with the minds and bodies of slave masters...Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food - Hippocrates
Candy,... more
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SHIRLEY SHEPARD/AFP/Getty Images
Correspondent Christof Putzel has reported from Somalia for Vanguard. This season he investigates the recruitment of American Muslims by terrorist groups.
Two New Jersey men in their early 20s, Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos Eduardo Almonte (shown above, left to right, in a sketch from a courtroom appearance Monday), were arrested this weekend at JFK airport as they began making their way to Somalia with the stated intention of joining Al-Shabab, an Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group.
From The New York Times coverage of the arrest:
The emergence of homegrown terrorists — highlighted by the recent arrest of Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized United States citizen born in Pakistan who attempted to set off a car bomb in Times Square, and the arrest of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an American-born Muslim and an Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas — has alarmed officials.
But these are just the stories of the men who have been caught, in this case by an extensive and ongoing joint effort between the FBI and the NYPD.
In the summer of 2006, I traveled with Kaj Larsen to the Somali capital of Mogadishu to report on the momentous, if brief, measure of order that was instilled by an Islamic insurgency that had just seized control of the capital. Kaj and I were arguably the first Americans to enter the city after 15 years of anarchy, but not long after we got there another young American arrived. He came to Somalia for very different reasons.
Four years later, for this season of Vanguard, I began my own investigation into videos posted online of a jihadist fighting on the battlefields, leading militants, and lecturing them—in English. The man who arrived in Somalia soon after I had was Omar Hammami, raised in Alabama, now known as Abu Monsoor Al-Amriki. As a high ranking member of Al-Shabab, he has become a potent propagandist with an increasingly familiar target audience: disaffected young Muslims in the West.
These two men from New Jersey—and Shahzad, and Hasan—are unlikely to be the last suspected “homegrown terrorists” we see in the headlines. But we’re still trying to glean answers to the more complicated questions of how and why those raised in America—often in innocuous, assimilated communities—instead turn to extremist leaders and ideas.
Vanguard’s “American Jihadi” airs Wednesday, June 30 at 10/9c.SHIRLEY SHEPARD/AFP/Getty Images
Correspondent Christof Putzel has reported from... more
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Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh is warning that Somalia's Western-backed transitional government may not survive the intensified conflict with armed insurgents.
Guelleh appeared before the United Nations Security Council in New York to plead for action, saying “I cannot see how we can avert the possibility of Somalia's plunge into an avoidable disintegration.”Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh is warning that Somalia's... more
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Getting up close in the fight against pirates and people trying to stop rich countries from dumping nuclear waste off their coast.Getting up close in the fight against pirates and people trying to stop rich countries... more
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May 18-19, 2010 - Eyewitness reporting from Somaliland, the unrecognized country, on it's 19th year of independence.May 18-19, 2010 - Eyewitness reporting from Somaliland, the unrecognized country, on... more
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Hundreds of Somali soldiers trained with US funding have deserted, with some crossing over to the insurgents they are supposed to be fighting.Hundreds of Somali soldiers trained with US funding have deserted, with some crossing... more
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On the new season of Vanguard, there are stories that must be told. Stories that matter.
Vanguard's fourth season starts Wednesday, May 26 at 10/9c. Go to http://current.com/vanguard for more.
Vanguard, airing Wednesdays at 10/9c on Current TV, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.On the new season of Vanguard, there are stories that must be told. Stories that... more
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April 27, 2010
Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS - Russia has proposed a new court for prosecuting Somali pirates under the auspices of the United Nations.
The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a Russian proposal Tuesday asking Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to look into how such a regional or international tribunal might be set up and to report back within three months.
The move comes in reaction to Kenya's recent decision to stop prosecuting suspected Somali pirates because of the strain on the country's justice system.
Somali pirates accounted for over half of last year's more than 400 piracy attacks around the horn of Africa.April 27, 2010
Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS - Russia has proposed a new court... more
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Eleven suspected Somali pirates have been charged in a US court over two attacks on US naval vessels.
The charges include piracy, attacking to plunder a maritime vessel, and assault with a dangerous weapon.
The men did not enter a plea and spoke only to say they understood proceedings against them, AP news agency reported.
After they were captured, the group was kept aboard US Navy vessels off the Somali coast while officials decided what to do with them.
At the Virginia courthouse, one suspect was on crutches and had his head bandaged, while another was in a wheelchair and had one leg bandaged because it had been amputated below the knee, AP said.
The US government said the injuries resulted from the men's alleged battle with the Navy.Eleven suspected Somali pirates have been charged in a US court over two attacks on US... more
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This week, most Somalian radio stations abruptly stopped playing music or international news programs.
According to the New York Times:
At least 14 radio stations...stopped broadcasting music on Tuesday, heeding an ultimatum by an Islamist insurgent group to stop playing songs or face "serious consequences." ...
The insurgent group, Hizbul Islam, issued its ultimatum 10 days ago and set Tuesday as the deadline to comply, saying that music was “un-Islamic.” In other parts of the country, insurgents have taken over or shut down some radio stations. Last week, the Shabab, the country’s most powerful insurgent group, said it was banning foreign programs like those broadcast by the BBC and Voice of America, calling them Western propaganda that violated Islam.
I interviewed the leader of Hizbul-Islam, Sheikh Hassan Aweys, back in 2006 when Kaj and I were in Somalia shooting "Mogadishu Madness" for Vanguard.
Back then he was the spiritual leader of the Islamic Court Union. In the piece, we covered his earlier attempts at helping the ICU implement Sharia law and the reaction from the Somali community when he did so.
We captured exclusive footage of the uneasy peace that prevailed, albeit briefly, and interviewed other Islamist leaders who held the city, exposing the stated goals and fears of people the U.S. government branded as terrorists.
Shortly after we returned to the U.S. to show viewers what we had seen, Ethiopian troops, backed by U.S. forces, invaded Somalia and drove the Islamists into hiding. The country returned to a state of war. In retrospect, was the U.S. justified in backing Ethiopia to invade Somalia so they could overthrow the Islamic government that Aweys had helped establish?
Things certainly got a whole lot worse. As a journalist, of course I cringe at the idea of banning a free press. But if 20 years of fighting has taught us anything, its that its time to start thinking outside the box when it comes to bringing stability to Somalia.
I wonder if Aweys would grant us an interview today or if we’d be banned along with the rest of the press. Certainly makes me look at this whole radio ban differently.This week, most Somalian radio stations abruptly stopped playing music or... more
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Piracy in the Gulf of Aden has increased too much for the past few years. International community is trying to stop piracy in the region by taking several measures. NATO is currently operating its frigates in the Gulf for patrol, search and rescue missions as well as some other countries. However, this is not enough itself to stop the ships being hijacked.
When the pirates get on board a ship, they first deactivate the crew, take control of the ship, look at the cargo and ship’s safe and see if it’s worth taking the ship to their home port to ask for a ransom. Many shipping companies had to pay millions of dollors to get their ship and many sailors have been kept prisoner for months in bad conditions. The area is too wide and it is not easy to control the whole region.
So here are some tips for the captains who want to navigate their ships safely through the Gulf of Aden.
1.Adjust fuel gauges in the pilot house to show low fuel at all times, keep a real gauge some where else. The pirates will leave your ship if they see there is not enough fuel to take the ship to the port.
2.Hide your ship’s safe in a secret place in one of the black water tanks. The smell would not keep them away but they would not think a white person would keep his money in shit.
3.Do not renew the exterior paint of the ship, try to keep it as old as possible. This will also cut your costs. They may think it is not worth while to hijack such an old ship.
4.Install an “emergency pirate reaction button” which will drop the propellers immediately into the ocean. Their boats will not be able to tow the ship all the way to their home port.
5.Deploy dummy US Marines on the main weather deck with wheels on a track. They should have fake guns and move on the tracks at all times.
6.Alternatively, you can deploy fake KKK members with their white hoods on their heads and a gallows tree with a hanging dummy.
7.Keep a fake consignment note in the ships files which lists ship’s cargo as “chemical and biologic toxic waste”.
8.Write “Slave Ship” in huge white letters on both topsides of the ship.
9.Raise the “Whisky” / “Requiring Medical Assistance” flag. They suffered enough from Aids, they would be scared to get on a ship with another epidemic.
10.Construct a second engine room with very old and broken engines and equipment installed. Label the real engine room hatch as “LIBRARY”.
11.All crew, including the captain should wear old and torn pants and shirts. Everyone must have beard at all times. Tell the pirates that you are not getting paid for 2 years, you have actually hijacked this ship and operating it illegally. This is a little tricky, they can ask you to be partners.
These are what I have come with. Try to think what else could be done and add them in your comments on http://www.gpexaminer.com/?p=88Piracy in the Gulf of Aden has increased too much for the past few years.... more
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Suspected Somali pirates fired on a U.S. Navy warship off East Africa early Thursday in what appeared to be a ransom-seeking attack on an American guided missile frigate, officials said.
The USS Nicholas returned fire on the pirate skiff, sinking it and confiscating a nearby mothership. The Navy took five pirates into custody, said Navy Lt. Patrick Foughty, a spokesman.
International naval forces have stepped up their enforcement of the waters off East Africa in an effort to thwart a growing pirate trade.
Last May, pirates chased a U.S. Navy warship and fired small arms fire at it. The ship, which had recently served as a prison for captured pirates, increased speed and evaded the attack. French and Dutch naval ships also have been attacked by pirates, said Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at the British think tank Chatham House.
"If you think of the kind of young men who are doing this, they go out into the middle of the ocean in a tiny boat. They might not always make rational decisions, and they often attack things that are bigger than they should (attack)," said Middleton.
"It's also quite possible that they don't have a full understanding of the targets they are attacking. Perhaps they just see a big ship they think is a worth a lot of money," he said.Suspected Somali pirates fired on a U.S. Navy warship off East Africa early Thursday... more
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My next Vanguard special due out Dec 2, is called Remote Control Warfare. Without giving too much away the premise is simple. As warfare evolves its becoming increasingly sophisticated, and now technology is allowing us to conduct over the horizon warfare in a way we never could before. One of the technologies we look at is the Predator drone. The Predator is becoming an increasingly famous player on the battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But one of the interesting things I found when I was researching this story, with producer Lauren Cerre, is that the Predator is actually being employed in over a dozen countries right now. And sure enough it related to two of my old stories, Pirates and Mogadishu. They are using the predator to patrol over 2.1 million square miles of ocean in the Gulf of Aden which has become a hotbed of maritime piracy.
What Lauren and I found on our journey around the country looking at the changing face of warfare, was that war is rapidly is starting to more and more resemble a video game. In one scene we even go to a military recruiting center that uses video games to solicit tech savvy gamers into the Army to fight future wars. Since the Predator is kind of the mother of all remote control technologies, and they are actually employing it against pirates right now, I couldn’t help but think that the gaming industry cant be far behind. There is actually a blurring of the line between actual war, and video games that depict it. Although I'm not a gamer at all (as is very obvious in the story as I crash about everything they have me play), I am pretty sure that a counter-piracy video game would be pretty cool, and realistic too. So, pirates, video, games, remote control warfare; that’s got to be a winning combination. Thank you EA, you know where to send the commission check to.
Recently on the Vanguard Blog:
- Christof’s Doc, the Porn Community, and Obscenity… - Mitch Koss
- You Have a College Degree: So What? - Tracey Chang
- What Transformers 2 has to do with Japan's falling population - Adam Yamaguchi
- Why Should You Trust Us? - Mitch Koss
- My Second Tour of Sri Lanka - Mariana van Zeller
- Chinese Mobsters and Megacities - Joanne ShenMy next Vanguard special due out Dec 2, is called Remote Control Warfare. Without... more
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Yesterday my colleague Darren wrote about how the world is becoming increasingly dangerous for journalists. While the recent high profile events that Darren mentioned (Roxana Saberi, Laura Ling) have put a spotlight on the perils of journalism, there is an interesting corollary trend that has largely escaped mainstream attention. Slowly but steadily the world is becoming a more dangerous place for humanitarian organizations.
Non-profits, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), aid agencies all used to be afforded a larger degree of protection in the countries and conflicts in which they operated. It’s difficult to define when the trend started occurring, but there has been a rapid escalation in the last two decades of violence against aid organizations. Perhaps the most notable example is the withdrawal of Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF, or known commonly as Doctors Without Borders in the US) from Afghanistan in 2004. Doctors Without Borders had been providing medical services in Afghanistan since 1980. They fearlessly worked throughout the bloody confrontation with the Soviets, the brutal civil war that followed, and the repressive regime of the Taliban in the 1990s. But, after 24 years of operating in one of the most difficult places on earth, coupled with an incident in which five of their staff members were killed, MSF decided that it was too dangerous to operate in the country. This left a major void and a population without access to basic medical treatment at a time it was desperately needed.
Similarly, last year in Somalia, MSF was forced to halt all operations and withdraw 87 staff members after three of its people were killed in a roadside bomb. This was on the heels of an incident in which two staff members were kidnapped. I was in Somalia in 2006 and could see the rampant escalation of violence against what used to be perceived as neutral actors. When I was in Mogadishu, the UN had pulled out all international staff, using only local Somalis as proxies to conduct their activities.
These are but a few examples. The general trend line is that more and more aid organizations are being targeted in conflict zones. The humanitarian space is rapidly shrinking. Even in places where NGOs can still operate, they have to devote a larger and larger portion of their resources to security, thereby diminishing the care they are able to give to the local population, which in turn makes them perceived less as allies and more as foreigners, which makes the aid organizations more vulnerable. It’s a vicious cycle.
Its reasonable to ask why the humanitarian space is rapidly disintegrating. There is a combination of factors. One component is that in both Iraq and Afghanistan the insurgency style conflict has blurred the lines between combatant and non-combatant. This has had spill-over effect to the NGO community. The UN peacekeeping branding has lost some of its perception as a strict peacekeeping force as well. Blue Helmets with .50 cals don’t exactly scream peace, and it is likely that the NGO community as a whole has been impacted by the changing perception of the UN. Finally there is a more worrisome reason that has been whispered about in the aid community. It has been suggested that the military itself is blurring the line between military action and humanitarian action. In an effort to win hearts and minds, the military is engaging in many of the same types of missions that have traditionally been the domain of humanitarian organizations. Detractors say that when the missions are the same, it makes it less important for combatants to distinguish between the motivations of different organizations. For example when I was in Afghanistan in 2005, I was embedded with the US military when they went on a mission called a MedCap. The purpose was to provide medical care in rural Afghanistan. Some in the humanitarian world claim this is exactly the kind of thing that pollutes the line between aid and military action, and puts providers at risk.
The military disagrees with this analysis and believes it is critical to their efforts to engender good will among the civilian populace. Its difficult to know the answer, but it is troubling that an organization like MSF which survived the Russians, a Civil War, and the Taliban in Afghanistan, couldn’t survive the American occupation.
What is clear though is that what (and who) were once considered safe in some of the most difficult areas in the world are no longer so. Aid workers joke with the gallows style humor that the famous red cross plus sign, used to act a bullet proof vest. A vehicle emblazoned with it on the side could drive through the middle of a fire fight and the shooting would stop. Now its considered a bulls-eye.
Whatever the reasons, the shrinking humanitarian space is a reality with fairly severe consequences. In many places organizations like MSF are the only people operating there. Without them, the populations, become less healthy, more impoverished, and increasingly isolated from the outside world; exactly the root conditions that make them ripe to become conflict zones in the first place.
Recently on the Vanguard Blog:
- The world: A dangerous place for reporters - Darren Foster
- Sometimes that which seemed impossible actually comes to pass - Mitch Koss
- Doctors Wanted: no experience necessary! - Cerissa Tanner
- All you ever needed to know about Vanguard, and then some. - Mariana van Zeller
- Kentucky Targets “The OxyContin Express” - Mariana van ZellerYesterday my colleague Darren wrote about how the world is becoming increasingly... more
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President Obama made his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa this week. In his speech in Ghana, he called for a renewed relationship between the US and the continent. But he also sprinkled in a little tough love (fast becoming a trademark of the new president's overseas appearances). While accepting some blame on behalf of the West for some of Africa's problems, Obama also held up the mirror, calling on Africans to rid themselves of the corruption, conflict, dependence on oil and other commodities, etc that have stood in the way of meaningful growth. Here's a few Vanguard pieces that cover some of the issues that Obama addressed in his speech:
Oil and Corruption
HIV
Conflict
And for good measure, we'll throw in a little China...
President Obama made his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa this week. In his... more
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Cuba rocks to huge peace concert
Havana has hosted the biggest open-air concert since the 1959 revolution, featuring some 15 top Latin American, Spanish and Cuban performers.
An estimated one million people - many wearing white - attended the free event in Revolution Square, Havana.
Colombian singer Juanes, who organized the Peace without Borders concert, received death threats from Miami-based critics of the Cuban regime.
But he had the support from 20 high-profile jailed dissidents inside Cuba.
Air America: Republican revives racist Obama-as-monkey campaign themeAccording to a post over on the Air America blog, former Minority Whip Roy Blunt crossed the line, sharing an anecdote at a Values Voter Summit on Friday, in which President Obama is ultimately compared to a monkey. It feels like we've gone over this at least once or twice before. Anyway, here's what he had to say:
"Almost from the day the first ball was hit on this golf course something happened they didn't anticipate: monkeys would come running out of the jungle and then grab the golf balls. And if it was in the fairway, they might throw it in the rough. And if it was in the rough, they might throw it -- they might throw it back at you! And I can point to great and long detail about how many things they tried to eliminate the monkey problem, but they never got it done.
So finally for this golf course and this golf course only, they passed a rule and the rule was, you have to play the ball where the monkey throws it. And that is the rule in Washington all the time."
Parents sue Wal-Mart after children taken away over bath time photos
"Our family is very open and comfortable. We don't want our children to feel inhibited in their own house," A.J. Demaree said. "If they want to run around in their underwear, if they want to go run and grab an old Halloween costume and throw that on and run around the house, or if they want to run around the house naked and play around, that's what we encourage."
The police and Child Protective Services saw it very differently.
The three children, ages 1½, 4 and 5 at the time the pictures were taken, were removed from the home and placed into the care of Child Protective Services. It would be a month before A.J. and Lisa could regain custody of them.
From the Demarees perspective, the damage was already done.
"We went on a central registry of sex offenders. Our names went on that registry," Lisa said.
Atheists in America are the most widely mistrusted groupOver on Psychology Today, Gad Saad Ph.D digs into a recent article published in the American Sociological Review in which atheists favored poorly in the "trust" department.
In a recent article published in the American Sociological Review, Penny Edgell, Joseph Gerteis, and Douglas Hartmann reported their findings, on how atheists are perceived, based on data from a national survey. To the question, "This group does not at all agree with my vision of American society," ten groups were listed as options: religious groups (Muslims, conservative Christians, Jews), racial groups (Hispanics, Asian Americans, African Americans, and White Americans), homosexuals, recent immigrants, and atheists. By far, the most "detested" group were the atheists. To the question, "I would disapprove if my child wanted to marry a member of this group," eight of the latter groups were included (homosexuals and recent immigrants were excluded). Again, the least desired group were the atheists. This might be one of the saddest scientific findings that I have ever read.
Scandinavia steps up the fight against female genital mutilation
"When she was 11, a Swedish-born girl was taken on vacation to her mother’s native Somalia. The mother wanted to “make her daughter clean” and paid a man to cut off her daughter’s clitoris and labia while two women held her down. Afterward, the girl was stitched to her urethra. No anesthesia was used."
Vanguard's Mariana van Zeller has covered the practices of female genital cutting in Africa before, specifically in Sierra Leone while on assignment. If you haven't had the chance to see her report, give it a view:
Vanguard's Mariana van Zeller on Female Genital Cutting
Cuba rocks to huge peace concert
Havana has hosted the biggest open-air concert... more
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Here's another Current TV host top favorite stories countdown. This time around we pulled together Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller's top 14 Current TV videos, and gathered them here, for your delight.
Mariana's countdown is going to air today, at 6pm E / 3pm P on Current TV, so be sure to tune and join Mariana as she walks you through each story. What? You can't make it tonight? Don't worry, her countdown will re-air on Monday 9/21 at 1pm E / 10am P, so you could always set your DVR(s) to record.
For now, get a sneak peek at what she'll be covering in the special. These are some pretty memorable stories, and they've obviously left an impression on Mariana. Feel free to add links to some of your own favorite moments in Current TV in the comments.
Living Library
Here's Mariana's top 14 -- enjoy!
Living Library
The Internets Dumbest How To Videos -- Viral Video Film School on infoMania
Sierra Leone AAA from Vanguard
Kenya from Vanguard
F*ck My Facebook on Tech Report on infoMania
Ode to a Toothpaste from Vanguard
Toxic Seas from Vanguard
Medicine from Target Women on infoMania
War Wounds from Vanguard
Suicide in Japan
Camel Milk Bar from Vanguard
Old Lady Hip Hop
African Gun Market -- Wanna Buy an AK-47? from Vanguard
African Exodus from Vanguard
Here's another Current TV host top favorite stories countdown. This time around... more
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An awesome confluence of rogue actors:
The MV Rim was seized in the Gulf of Aden, outside the internationally recommended transit corridor patrolled by the anti-piracy naval coalition, said Cmdr. Anders Kallin of the EU Naval Force.
The MV Rim has not had any communication with maritime authorities, but Kallin said an American warship, the USS Porter, and a helicopter from American warship USS Farragut confirmed the seizure of the ship to the EU.
The 4,800-ton ship is owned by White Sea Shipping of Libya. It is carrying unknown cargo and the number and nationalities of the crew are not known. The seized ship was heading toward the Somali coast and warships were monitoring the situation, the EU Naval Force said.
It really kind of can't get any better than that, can it? The old Axis of Evil vs. the new Axis of Instability. Even Libya is involved! I mean maybe we could add "They announced it on Twitter and submitted a YouTube question to Obama from the open ocean." But no seriously, the only way this story could get any better was to throw a little Al Qaeda in it.
Oh, what's that? A link between Somali pirates and Al Qaeda? Do tell, Foreign Policy magazine:
Somalia has two big scourges these days: Islamist milititas the run most of the country (and are linked to al Qaeda) and piracy off the coast....But what if the two scourges are linked?...Last December, a Canadian intelligence report indicated that Shabaab was in fact training pirates for their "duties." Further reporting from Jane's (summarized here) notes how taxes are levied on the pirates' booties. Yes, the pirates and the Islamists are definitely in cahoots.
All kidding aside, these sorts of links are worrisome. As global connectivity becomes more accessible, it's not hard to imagine a world in which there truly is an "Axis of Instability" aligning terrorists, religious militants, pirates, drug gangs, etc. It's a concern the DEA has put forward in their (alebit dubious) theories about Al Qaeda and the FARC. Let's just hope that the hostage negotiations between North Korea and the Somali pirates don't turn into partnership talks.
Recently on the Current News Blog:
- California Draws New Lines
- Did Israel assassinate a member of Hamas in Dubai?
- Mr. President, your patient is waiting: A Doctor's Commentary
- What's your State of the Union wishlist?
An awesome confluence of rogue actors:
The MV Rim was seized in the Gulf of Aden,... more
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