3 ms·

Regardless of any legitimate grievances you may have against illegal fishing or dumping in your waters, hijacking ships full of international goods owned by peo

by ajju 18y ago

Regardless of any legitimate grievances you may have against illegal fishing or dumping in your waters, hijacking ships full of international goods owned by people and companies having nothing to do with this (hell one of the hijacked ships was carrying aid to Somalia) is neither right nor prudent.

mahmud 18y ago
No doubt, but what you don't hear is that these "pirates" pretty much trained on catching offending ships. This has been going on since 1992, and you didn't hear much about it because the ships they attacked had no reason what so ever to announce the matter and attract publicity. I wonder why? hmmmmm.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- mahmud 18y ago
  One more thing, the pirates are nearly all from the Majeerteen tribe. They are Abdulahi Yusuf's tribe, and he was the former transitional Somali president and American Ally Extraordinaire. Yusuf is the guy who made the war on terror happen in Somalia, and Bush Jr flooded him and his tribe with moolah. He invited Ethiopians into Somalia and did his best to catch and kill Islamists .. Except one thing; Yusuf is a war criminal and made no effort what so ever to separate his for-profit conquests from the American mandated attacks on Jihadis. He dragged the name of the U.S. through the mud and cashed up while he was in power. He was eventually defeated in a fair election by the same Islamists he was fighting on behalf of the U.S. [Just had to inform the dough-eyed voting American with a little bad news about foreign policy that might just ruin his TiVoed episode of tonight's PBS Frontline ;-]
  - ajju 18y ago
    America's (and mostly W's) short sighted foreign policies are legend, although Obama seems to be turning that tanker around slowly, as he says. Looks like you guys are stuck between a rock and a hard place if the word Islamists carries the same connotations there. But at least you had a fair election. Also, while the allegation that a majority of Americans are ignorant about the shortcomings of American foreign policy may be true, I think you will find that 1) It is less true on HN 2) When people on HN don't know something, they listen with an open mind, even to criticism of their country 3) (In my experience) Americans are the most open to discussing criticism of their country So your repeated use of cliches to bash Americans is counterproductive here. FWIW I am not a US citizen.
    - mahmud 18y ago
      You don't need to tell me about Americans ajju, after all, I'm one :-) I understand what you're saying yar, but deeko, things are not as cut and dry as they seem. The story I'm replying to had a phoney "pirates be ware, we have sophisticated guns" vibe to it. The so called pirates couldn't give a shit what you type of guns you have. To them death is secondary, because they have little to live for. We have to understand their motives to combat their piracy (not to kill them): The pirates have two sources of income, cattle and fish. They used to export cattle, but their produce is no longer sold in any international market, because Somalia lacks the federal institutions to certify meat quality and oversee health issues. But they can't fish anymore, because foreign fishing boats have pretty much whipped out their coasts. None of these pirates are committing crime in someone else's backyard. Nearly every ship they took was in Somali waters. I have no sympathy for the pirates, but I understand their cause as much as I understand an Inuit who bombs an oil refiners because, say, the Alaskan oil extraction industry is killing whales and sea lions, which the Inuit needs to hunt for food and fur.
      - ajju 18y ago
        Well, the "as a Somali" part in your first comment tripped me up and I forgot that one can be both Somali and American! I do see your point. Military force is never a solution against extremism bred out of injustice and desperation. Maybe the current US administration will act based on this understanding. And nice use of Hindi/Urdu over there. Where did you pick it up? :)
        mahmud 18y ago
        >And nice use of Hindi/Urdu over there. Where did you pick it up? :) I grew up with Amitabh and Dharmendra movies, from Sholay to Silsila to all the classics. The soundtrack of my childhood has been Mohamed Rafi, Asha and Lata. Then came the Khans, Sharuh, Amir and Salman. We loved them in Somalia more than anything else. Then in my teens I moved to Pakistan to study for my O-levels and A-levels and now I sing with the best of them "Sindhi hum, balochi hum, punjabi hum puttani hum .." :-) And my fiancee is Sri Lankan :-P Maaf karnaa yar, didn't mean to be a jerk.
- tjic 18y ago
  I entirely support your point that folks shouldn't dump waste in Somali waters. However, I'm not prepared - without evidence - to accept the assertion that the acts of piracy are explicitly aimed at ships that dump waste. In fact, all the evidence I've read says the opposite - the pirates attack ships with high value cargos (food, machinery, etc.) Also, if the pirates are political freedom fighters, why are they asking for bags of unmarked cash, instead of asking for a resolution condemning dumping? Care to provide any evidence ?

by ajju 18y ago

mahmud 18y ago

No doubt, but what you don't hear is that these "pirates" pretty much trained on catching offending ships. This has been going on since 1992, and you didn't hear much about it because the ships they attacked had no reason what so ever to announce the matter and attract publicity. I wonder why? hmmmmm.

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
mahmud 18y ago
One more thing, the pirates are nearly all from the Majeerteen tribe. They are Abdulahi Yusuf's tribe, and he was the former transitional Somali president and American Ally Extraordinaire. Yusuf is the guy who made the war on terror happen in Somalia, and Bush Jr flooded him and his tribe with moolah. He invited Ethiopians into Somalia and did his best to catch and kill Islamists .. Except one thing; Yusuf is a war criminal and made no effort what so ever to separate his for-profit conquests from the American mandated attacks on Jihadis. He dragged the name of the U.S. through the mud and cashed up while he was in power. He was eventually defeated in a fair election by the same Islamists he was fighting on behalf of the U.S. [Just had to inform the dough-eyed voting American with a little bad news about foreign policy that might just ruin his TiVoed episode of tonight's PBS Frontline ;-]
- ajju 18y ago
  America's (and mostly W's) short sighted foreign policies are legend, although Obama seems to be turning that tanker around slowly, as he says. Looks like you guys are stuck between a rock and a hard place if the word Islamists carries the same connotations there. But at least you had a fair election. Also, while the allegation that a majority of Americans are ignorant about the shortcomings of American foreign policy may be true, I think you will find that 1) It is less true on HN 2) When people on HN don't know something, they listen with an open mind, even to criticism of their country 3) (In my experience) Americans are the most open to discussing criticism of their country So your repeated use of cliches to bash Americans is counterproductive here. FWIW I am not a US citizen.
  - mahmud 18y ago
    You don't need to tell me about Americans ajju, after all, I'm one :-) I understand what you're saying yar, but deeko, things are not as cut and dry as they seem. The story I'm replying to had a phoney "pirates be ware, we have sophisticated guns" vibe to it. The so called pirates couldn't give a shit what you type of guns you have. To them death is secondary, because they have little to live for. We have to understand their motives to combat their piracy (not to kill them): The pirates have two sources of income, cattle and fish. They used to export cattle, but their produce is no longer sold in any international market, because Somalia lacks the federal institutions to certify meat quality and oversee health issues. But they can't fish anymore, because foreign fishing boats have pretty much whipped out their coasts. None of these pirates are committing crime in someone else's backyard. Nearly every ship they took was in Somali waters. I have no sympathy for the pirates, but I understand their cause as much as I understand an Inuit who bombs an oil refiners because, say, the Alaskan oil extraction industry is killing whales and sea lions, which the Inuit needs to hunt for food and fur.
    - ajju 18y ago
      Well, the "as a Somali" part in your first comment tripped me up and I forgot that one can be both Somali and American! I do see your point. Military force is never a solution against extremism bred out of injustice and desperation. Maybe the current US administration will act based on this understanding. And nice use of Hindi/Urdu over there. Where did you pick it up? :)
      - mahmud 18y ago
        >And nice use of Hindi/Urdu over there. Where did you pick it up? :) I grew up with Amitabh and Dharmendra movies, from Sholay to Silsila to all the classics. The soundtrack of my childhood has been Mohamed Rafi, Asha and Lata. Then came the Khans, Sharuh, Amir and Salman. We loved them in Somalia more than anything else. Then in my teens I moved to Pakistan to study for my O-levels and A-levels and now I sing with the best of them "Sindhi hum, balochi hum, punjabi hum puttani hum .." :-) And my fiancee is Sri Lankan :-P Maaf karnaa yar, didn't mean to be a jerk.
tjic 18y ago
I entirely support your point that folks shouldn't dump waste in Somali waters. However, I'm not prepared - without evidence - to accept the assertion that the acts of piracy are explicitly aimed at ships that dump waste. In fact, all the evidence I've read says the opposite - the pirates attack ships with high value cargos (food, machinery, etc.) Also, if the pirates are political freedom fighters, why are they asking for bags of unmarked cash, instead of asking for a resolution condemning dumping? Care to provide any evidence ?