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i had no intention of talking politics in this space
I recently read an opinion piece that suggested semantics was the first step in combatting Indian Ocean piracy -- that if we started calling them "maritime terrorists" it would strip away the romanticism from the concept. Please. Please. Terrorism isn't about economics, and piracy isn't about ideology.
Somalia has been without a practically functioning government for almost 18 years. (If any concept needed to have its romanticism stripped away, it's anarchy.) The men and boys who turn pirate in Somalia don't do it because they're trying to prove something, to influence or to frighten or control. They don't do it because they hate America or Israel or any idea or construct. They do it because they are just that desperate. They do it because there are literally no other viable options on land. You can't get a job when there is no economy to offer one.
Bombing Somalia would be a horrific mistake, and I don't want to even dream that President Obama would make it. President Bush invaded and occupied sovereign nations -- that was bad. Really bad. If this administration authorizes air strikes on people whose main crime is poverty? Catastrophic. I like Obama a whole damn lot, but I wouldn't forgive him for that.
It's an unfortunate coincidence that Somalia is the only Muslim country in sub-Saharan Africa. Reprisals against the nation would almost certainly be read as reprisal against Islam by the rest of the Islamic world, and we do not need that shit. The repercussions would be global, and Ms. Dickinson is right that al Shabaab would retaliate against the Somali people, leading to further conflation in the minds of Westerners that this is about terrorism and not about economics.
The answer is stepping up support for the Somali government. Not necessarily in terms of financial aid (google Dambisi Moyo for an eloquent explanation) although Somalia is an exceptional case that could use some funding to aid in stabilization, but in terms of political support. Somalia needs to break down al Shabaab. Somalia needs to rebuild its economy. What specific kind of support would assist in its ability to do those things, though, I can't quite say. It's almost three in the morning, and I'm just a writer.
Somalia has been without a practically functioning government for almost 18 years. (If any concept needed to have its romanticism stripped away, it's anarchy.) The men and boys who turn pirate in Somalia don't do it because they're trying to prove something, to influence or to frighten or control. They don't do it because they hate America or Israel or any idea or construct. They do it because they are just that desperate. They do it because there are literally no other viable options on land. You can't get a job when there is no economy to offer one.
Bombing Somalia would be a horrific mistake, and I don't want to even dream that President Obama would make it. President Bush invaded and occupied sovereign nations -- that was bad. Really bad. If this administration authorizes air strikes on people whose main crime is poverty? Catastrophic. I like Obama a whole damn lot, but I wouldn't forgive him for that.
It's an unfortunate coincidence that Somalia is the only Muslim country in sub-Saharan Africa. Reprisals against the nation would almost certainly be read as reprisal against Islam by the rest of the Islamic world, and we do not need that shit. The repercussions would be global, and Ms. Dickinson is right that al Shabaab would retaliate against the Somali people, leading to further conflation in the minds of Westerners that this is about terrorism and not about economics.
The answer is stepping up support for the Somali government. Not necessarily in terms of financial aid (google Dambisi Moyo for an eloquent explanation) although Somalia is an exceptional case that could use some funding to aid in stabilization, but in terms of political support. Somalia needs to break down al Shabaab. Somalia needs to rebuild its economy. What specific kind of support would assist in its ability to do those things, though, I can't quite say. It's almost three in the morning, and I'm just a writer.