"WAR ON PIRACY" WOULD BE A TRAGIC MISTAKE

Summary:

The Somali pirates cannot be defeated by the force of arms, and the International Community should try to find out the core reasons behind this dangerous situation.

Text:

Even as I was rejoicing at the successful operation to free the last remaining US captive in the hands of Somali pirates, the sight of the immense amount of naval and military hardware which was brought into play in a very short time inevitably led me to fear the possibility of an exaggerated military response on the part of the damaged countries to the undeniable threat posed by the growing number of Somali pirates and the growing sophistication of their methods.

Some historians, and I can recall, for example, Barbara Tuchman, have attributed the outbreak of the First World War principally to the tremendous build-up of modern armaments which, in a certain sense made war seem inevitable and even desirable. Some decades later, president Eisenhower, a source whose opinion was made all the more credible because of his brilliant military career, warned against the build-up of influence “whether sought or unsought” by the industrial-military complex.

Although I share the general feeling of confidence in the sagacity of president Obama, his Secretary of State and his other advisers, I felt apprehensive and feared that in the United States a momentum may be building up for a “war on piracy”, which would mirror, in its apparent ease and predestined doom, the ill-fated “war on terror” the consequences of which we have not yet ceased to suffer. Some symptoms in this direction are already emerging, indeed, this “war on piracy” has practically been declared. This is understandable within a culture which – more or less since the days of Theodore Roosevelt - has felt the need to identify an enemy, large (The Soviet Union, International Communism) or small (Cuba) on which to focus the country’s just wrath, and, therefore a move in this direction would probably arouse approval, perhaps even enthusiasm in some strata of public opinion, but it would constitute a tremendous military and political mistake.

The liberation of the American hostage was achieved through an extremely well executed “surgical” operation, which, however, could not be repeated with similar success for the hundreds of hostages, of diverse nationalities, currently in the hands of the Somali pirates.

A massive maritime operation, using modern and sophisticated naval hardware with the intent of knocking out the entire ramshackle Somali pirate “fleet” would be just as ill-advised, firstly because it would put the lives of all the captives at risk, and secondly because the very vastness of the maritime space involved, combined with the small size and uncertain number of pirate vessels would make any “search and destroy” mission almost impossible. Nor is there a viable land based alternative: of course, given the military means available, an invasion of Somalia by a “coalition of the willing” would be relatively easy, easier even than the famous “slam-dunk” operation in Iraq. Hunting out the pirates on land, however, would be no easier than hunting them out at sea, and the invading troops would be subject to growing hostility and violence which, in the long term, would force their withdrawal.

There are parallel reasons which can explain the current surge of piracy, and I think that the problem should be approached by analysing and tackling these issues, with an open mind and a willingness to admit past errors of judgement.

Somalia has been in a state of virtual anarchy since the early nineties. The reasons behind this are complex and unique, as I found out in the course of the years I spent as head of the Italian Diplomatic Delegation to Somalia and participated in the peace talks which were held in Kenya from 2001 to 2004.

Errors were doubtlessly committed by all, with no exception, during those long negotiations, but, in the end, for the first time in many years a Federal Constitution, an Assembly, a Government and a President did materialize with the full backing of the International Community.

The Institutions which emerged from the Conference proved, however, to be inadequate and, for many reasons which ought to be carefully analyzed, failed to bring about the stability and peace we all were hoping for. A state of total anarchy was circumvented by the appearance of the “Islamic Courts”, which brought about a semblance of order and social peace. Unfortunately the West has a tendency to knee-jerk reactions when it hears the term “Islamic”, and this autochthonous endeavour was violently subdued by the International Community, which added insult to injury by sending Christian troops to invade and subdue an Islamic Country, failing, moreover, to take into account the atavistic dislike and suspicion nurtured by the Somalis against the Ethiopians.

Recent events have brought the country back to a state of total anarchy, and I would not place excessive confidence of the present Government – certainly not representative and virtually devoid of authority – to restore order and to fulfil its tasks and obligations by actually governing the country. This weakness at the centre is, of course, the main cause of the current phenomenon, in that a Somali pirate can count on almost total immunity from any restraining or punitive action on the part of his Government.

It is certainly true that the growing number of young Somali men who have chosen this path are criminals, and dangerous criminals at that, but it must be borne in mind that they are also angry and desperate, and the causes of their anger and desperation ought to be examined and tackled. The cause of their anger goes well beyond the recent deployment of Ethiopian troops in Somalia, and has to do, on the one hand, with the massive and shameless exploitation of the waters they see as their own by foreign fishing fleets, and, perhaps principally, on the continuous use of their coasts as dumping grounds for toxic waste on the part of some European countries. In recent years an enterprising young Italian Journalist, Ilaria Alpi, was murdered, probably in connection with investigative reporting which she was carrying out on these and other subjects.

Their desperation is perhaps easier to understand, for there are few ways in which a young Somali can hope to make a living legally in his (or her) own country, as can be seen not only by the growing criminality, but also by the desperate and dangerous attempts to emigrate to foreign lands.

The problems caused by the Somali acts of piracy certainly constitute an immediate problem, and urgent measures have to be taken to protect the international shipping which legitimately uses those waters. This, however, would be useless without a serious attempt to resume intense negotiations with all the Somali interested parties – including the Islamic factions, which I frequently met and who are not (or should I say “not yet”) interested in acts of international terrorism.

I believe that a Conference should be convened as soon as possible, perhaps not in a neighbouring country, and a further serious attempt should be undertaken to eliminate the state of anarchy and to enable Somalis to undertake, with international help, the difficult task of reconstruction and reconciliation.