Much of America’s self-image as a “city on a hill” comes from our love of justice. We see this clearly in the righteousness we bring to foreign affairs.
“The Audacity of Rope — Crush all the Pirates — Now“, Ralph Peters, New York Post, 14 April 2009 — Excerpt:
Attack their harbors with land, sea and air power. Kill pirates, sink their vessels (including those dual-use fishing boats) and wreck their support infrastructure. The clans behind the pirates must feel sufficient pain to rein in their young thugs. The price for piracy should be stunning. And we don’t need to stay to rebuild Somalia. End the fix-it fetish now. We need to leave while their boats are still burning down to the waterline.
“Pirates in the Gulf of Aden”, Herschel Smith writing at The Captain’s Journal, 1 October 2008 — Excerpt:
“This is easy. We tell the LOAC and ROE lawyers that they’re special and that they should go to their rooms and write high-sounding platitudes about compassion in war so that they’re out of the way, we land the Marines on the ship, and we kill every last pirate. Then we hunt down his domiciles in Somali and destroy them, and then we find his financiers and buyers and kill them.”
“Kill them all” is the advice of the usual suspects, since giving psychopathic advice is a career asset for America’s geopolitical experts. God only knows what the rest of the world thinks when reading these things. Perhaps they note that folks like Ralph Peters and Herschel Smith are silent when trawlers rape — almost sterilize — Somalia’s fishing grounds. No call for our navy to take action then, as they believe the goddess of Justice sleeps quietly.
But when Somalia fishermen-turned-pirates demand ransom for some sailors — gravel in the machinery of western commerce — then let fly our bombers! Let Somalia’s mud huts, their wives and children, feel our wraith.
I recommend that every American pray on New’s Year Eve that God show mercy — not justice — to America. For we have too often used our power neither wisely nor justly.
For more information from the FM site
Reference pages about other topics appear on the right side menu bar, including the Naval warfare and strategy reference page.
Posts on the FM site about pirates:
- All about Pirates!, 12 December 2008
- More about pirates: why we no longer “hang them high”, 5 January 2009
- A Piracy SitRep, 12 May 2009
- What is this “justice” that war-loving Americans speak of?, 31 December 2009
- More about those pirate demons in Somalia, 2 January 2009
- The real pirates sailing the seas, in whom we have no interest and from which we will suffer massive damage, 4 January 2010
- New research about pirates!, 3 March 2010
Afterword
Please share your comments by posting below. Per the FM site’s Comment Policy, please make them brief (250 word max), civil and relevant to this post. Or email me at fabmaximus at hotmail dot com (note the spam-protected spelling).
@BGS comment #37: “I have made no such argument.” [that Somalies are genetically inclined to being theiving scoundrels. (rune)] What I argue is that whatever these fellows did before, they are pirates now, and not likely to go back to an honest trade if indeed they ever had one.”
FM: “After all, they were fishermen before their fisheries were destroyed.”
BAG’s comment #34: “Were they now? Or were they just bandits looking for a score? Somalia is full of those.”
Strange, to me it seems you have the viewpoint that Somalis are born thugs, as you in your first post makes sure to mention how Somalia are full of bandits stating that as a given. As this is in response to FMs assertion that the Somali pirates were fishermen before turning to piracy. Now, in your answer to me, you assert that your point is ‘once a pirate, allways a pirate’ but your need to emphasise once again your doubt that they ever practiced an honest trade, which is beside the point of what you claim to be your argument, you do not really have me convinced that you are not of the belief that thuggery, banditry and scoundrelhood runs in the Somali blood. If this misconception of mine stems from you not being able to construct an argument, then perhaps a debate 101 or logic 101 class is in order?
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FM reply: You are too kind. BSG’s repeated questioning of Somalia’s fishing industry shows a remarkable lack of knowledge about the subject he’s so confidently discussing.
It’s true what you say about “kill them all, let God sort them out” an all too typical American reaction. I’ve heard it more often as “bomb them back to the stone ages”, or “nuke Mecca now”. When I hear such remarks crop up in casual conversation among friends or co-workers, it gives me the creeps. I have the impression that this is the product of the happy chance that America was able to fight a World War with virtual impunity. There is no collective memory of suffering; America has never suffered a Dresden, a Tokyo, or a Nagasaki, nor has it experienced a Stalingrad, or had to rebuild a wrecked infrastructure amid general starvation and a currency collapse. It’s a shame that being lucky doesn’t seem to improve the character.
“We tried the aid approach to Somalia before, it got a lot of our folks killed in the process.”
It got many more Somalis killed than our guys. Read the book Blackhawk Down—it’s got a bit more background than the movie; background that goes to explain why those folks were so mad at us.
Meanwhile, we’ve done our best to make sure that Somalia remains without an effective government, because the last one that had a good shot at establishing law and order with popular backing had the word “Islamic” in its name. So now we’ve got chaos and pirates. What did anyone expect?