Somalia: Progress on a Constitution

[Glaug-Eldare]

1. Your feelings about pirates should not be mixed.

Last edited Thu Aug 2, 2012, 07:17 AM - Edit history (2)

I have mixed feelings about Somalia. I'm definitely in favor of a move toward democracy and less violence. But I sort of support them sucking some money out of the oil industry by taking the tankers. As long as nobody is killed, go for it. The industry itself is basically highway robbery.

Current vessels held by Somali pirates:
Vessels: 11 Hostages: 174.

I'm a sailor, so I'm going to speak up for those 174 brothers of mine. One hundred seventy-four human beings held prisoner for months by violent criminals thousands of miles from their homes and families. These qat-crazy pirates are attacking innocent people with deadly weapons, kidnapping them at gunpoint, robbing them of their personal effects, cutting off their contact with their families, isolating them from each other, holding them for many months on end, torturing and degrading them, starving them, using them as human shields, threatening them with execution, and yes, murdering them. Thirty-five of us in 2011, according to Oceans Beyond Piracy. My brothers are not being kept in safety and comfort awaiting speedy release. These innocent sailors are nothing more than cattle to the pirates, and their living conditions are not humane. Some of their employers (and governments!) don't give a damn whether they're held hostage or not, and won't lift a finger to free them. That can't be supported, no matter how much the pirates are "sticking it to the oil companies."