[Reader-list] More of Sea Piracy

Tue Jan 6 18:58:30 IST 2009

dear All,

Following on Sanjay's post on the somialian pirates, i am mailing a  
series of readings on the same.

warmly

Jeebesh

"The Floating Dungeon: A History of the Slave Ship"

To find the ghost and let them live again Marcus Rediker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I2xGTXB8tc&NR=1

Off the coast of Somalia: 'We're not pirates. These are our waters,  
not theirs'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/off-the-coast-of-somalia-were-not-pirates-these-are-our-waters-not-theirs-1017962.html

To foreign ships, they're a scourge but Daniel Howden and Abdinasir  
Mohamed Guled discover that Somalia's pirates see things very  
differently

Friday, 14 November 2008
Two boats from HMS Cumberland intercept a suspected pirate vessel in  
the Gulf of Aden after Russian and British forces repelled an attack  
on a cargo ship

When Bile Wadani is not counting his money, he counts his wives. So  
far he has three – but he promises there will be more to come. "I  
didn't ever dream I would marry three wives but I have that dream now  
because I can get as much money as I want."

As he speaks, waves can be heard crashing in the background. Bile is  
speaking by mobile telephone from the deck of a captured ship  
somewhere off the mountainous coast of northern Somalia, near the tip  
of the Horn of Africa. His words are interrupted by the crackle of  
gunfire.

Bile will not reveal his exact location or identify the captured  
vessel as he claims he is being hunted by foreign warships.

He is one of the new generation of pirates who have turned the Gulf of  
Aden into the most dangerous shipping lane in the world. The success  
of their rough and ready tactics has been such that insurers are  
warning that shipowners may have to use alternative routes, which  
would have tremendous ramifications for global trade and commodity  
prices.

International governments are committing millions of pounds to  
fighting the pirates. The Royal Navy's HMS Cumberland joined forces  
with a Russian frigate to kill three pirates as they attempted to  
seize a Danish vessel in the latest incident on Tuesday.

Despite the fact that warships from Denmark, France, Russia, Japan and  
the US have joined the Royal Navy in patrolling the gulf, little  
attention has been paid to the roots of the problem.

Both the risks and the rewards of Bile's chosen career are colossal.  
And along with an increasing number of his compatriots in the anarchy  
of Somalia, he has chosen to embrace them. The lure of vast sums of  
money is transforming the coast of this country and turning the  
pirates into the heroes of a shattered land.

Millions of dollars in ransoms are being paid by desperate ship owners  
– an estimated $30m (£20.5m) so far this year. That is one and a half  
times the annual budget for authorities in the northern region of  
Puntland. One captured vessel can fetch up to $2m.

The epicentre of this piracy is the port town of Eyl, in the Nugal  
region. It is off limits to the outside world, a safe haven for the  
pirates and a base for their attacks. It now functions, according to  
residents, almost completely on the proceeds from piracy.

Much of the rest of Somalia has been destroyed by the seemingly  
endless wars that have washed across the country in the two decades  
since it last had a functioning government. The capital, Mogadishu,  
lies mostly in ruins.

In Eyl, the streets are lined with new buildings and awash with  
Landcruisers, laptops, satellite phones and global positioning systems.

Almost everyone in Eyl has a relative or husband among the pirates.  
Fatima Yusuf, who has lived her whole life in Eyl, describes the  
intense involvement of the whole community in the fortunes of the  
young men who set out in crews of seven or eight armed with AK-47s and  
rocket launchers to take on the tankers on the high seas.

The planning is rigorous, Bile insists: "When we want to kidnap a  
ship, we go with not more than six or seven men because we don't want  
to be a mob, this is a military tactic."

Fatima says the people will gather to pray for the pirates and that  
when they set sail sacrifices are made in traditional ceremonies where  
a goat will be slaughtered, its throat cut."

An industry has grown up around the pirates, with restaurants to feed  
the kidnapped crews who as potentially tradable assets must be looked  
after. The pirates have become glamorous figures. Like most of the  
girls in Eyl, Sadiya Samatar Haji wants to marry a pirate. "I'm not  
taking no for an answer," she says. "I'll tie the knot with a pirate  
man because I'll get to live in a good house with good money."

Twelve-year-old Mohamed Bishar Adle, in nearby Garowe, the regional  
capital of Puntland, knows what he wants to do with his education.  
"When I finish high school, I will be a pirate man, I will work for my  
family and will get more money."

Beyond the bravado, Bile acknowledges that the danger is increasing.  
He will not say how many attacks he has participated in but he does  
claim to have been one of the pirates who clashed with French forces  
in April this year after the capture and ransom of a luxury yacht.  
French commandoes pursued a band of Somali pirates en route to Eyl  
after a ransom had been paid. Bile says nine of his compatriots were  
taken and that only he and one other friend were able to escape. Six  
of those caught face prosecution in Paris after being transferred to  
France.

He also remembers the terror of his first mission. "You don't know if  
it's a warship. You have to open fire and if it doesn't respond you  
know."

Bile did not grow up dreaming of being a pirate. He comes from a  
family of fishermen whose livelihood was destroyed, he says, by the  
arrival of industrial trawlers from Europe.

At some 3,300 kilometres, Somalia has the longest coastline in Africa.  
With a fertile upswelling where the ocean reaches Africa's Horn, the  
seas are rich in tuna, swordfish and shark, as well as coastal beds of  
lobster and valuable shrimp.

With the overthrow of Siad Barre's government in 1991, the territorial  
waters off Somalia became a free-for-all. Trawlers from more than 16  
different nations were recorded within its waters – many of them  
armed. EU vessels flying flags of convenience cut deals with the  
illegitimate authorities in Somalia, according to UN investigators.

Clashes between large, foreign fishing interests and Somali fishermen  
in the late 1990s were the prelude to the upsurge in piracy.

Bile, like many of the pirates, calls himself a "coastguard" and  
insists he has more right to these contested seas than the foreign  
forces now patrolling them. He says many of his friends' boats were  
destroyed in these battles and stocks of a fish known locally as  
"yumbi" have all but disappeared.

Like many in Somalia, Bile is angry that outside powers are seeking a  
military solution to a more complex problem. He rejects the tag of  
"terrorist" and denies links to Islamic militias, like the Al-Shabab,  
which are in control of large areas of Somalia. He insists that the  
pirates would not give "one AK-47" to the Islamists.

While admitting that the influx of foreign navies is making his life  
more dangerous, he remains defiant: "We will keep carrying out  
attacks. We are ready for long distance attacks as far as the coast of  
Yemen."

  Pirates Turn Villages Into Boomtowns
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN and ELIZABETH KENNEDY
http://news.aol.com/article/pirates-turn-villages-into-boomtowns/253992

AP

MOGADISHU, Somalia (Nov. 19) - Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates  
are building sprawling stone houses, cruising in luxury cars, marrying  
beautiful women — even hiring caterers to prepare Western-style food  
for their hostages.
And in an impoverished country where every public institution has  
crumbled, they have become heroes in the steamy coastal dens they  
operate from because they are the only real business in town.
Armed pirates guard a beach Oct. 16 in Hobyo, Somalia. Piracy is on  
the rise on Somalia, a result of the nation's extreme poverty and  
unstable government. Pirates have pumped $30 million into Somalia's  
economy this year, thanks to ransoms that owners pay to get their  
ships back.

"The pirates depend on us, and we benefit from them," said Sahra Sheik  
Dahir, a shop owner in Haradhere, the nearest village to where a  
hijacked Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying $100 million in crude was  
anchored Wednesday.
These boomtowns are all the more shocking in light of Somalia's  
violence and poverty: Radical Islamists control most of the country's  
south, meting out lashings and stonings for accused criminals. There  
has been no effective central government in nearly 20 years, plunging  
this arid African country into chaos.
Life expectancy is just 46 years; a quarter of children die before  
they reach 5.
But in northern coastal towns like Haradhere, Eyl and Bossaso, the  
pirate economy is thriving thanks to the money pouring in from pirate  
ransoms that have reached $30 million this year alone.
"There are more shops and business is booming because of the piracy,"  
said Sugule Dahir, who runs a clothing shop in Eyl. "Internet cafes  
and telephone shops have opened, and people are just happier than  
before."
In Haradhere, residents came out in droves to celebrate as the looming  
oil ship came into focus this week off the country's lawless coast.
Businessmen gathered cigarettes, food and cold bottles of orange soda,  
setting up kiosks for the pirates who come to shore to resupply almost  
daily.
Dahir said she even started a layaway plan for them.
"They always take things without paying and we put them into the book  
of debts," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.  
"Later, when they get the ransom money, they pay us a lot."
Residents make sure the pirates are well-stocked in khat, a popular  
narcotic leaf, and aren't afraid to gouge a bit when it comes to the  
pirates' deep pockets.
Dangerous Waters
Tian Yu 8: In this photograph supplied by the U.S. Navy, Somali  
pirates hold the crew of a Chinese fishing vessel hostage as the ship  
passes through the Indian Ocean on Nov. 17. The ship was seized Nov.  
16 and was forced to anchor off the Somali coast.
"I can buy a packet of cigarettes for about $1 but I will charge the  
pirate $1.30," said Abdulqadir Omar, an Eyl resident.
While pirate villages used to have houses made of corrugated iron  
sheets, now, there are stately looking homes made of sturdy, white  
stones.
"Regardless of how the money is coming in, legally or illegally, I can  
say it has started a life in our town," said Shamso Moalim, a 36-year- 
old mother of five in Haradhere.
"Our children are not worrying about food now, and they go to Islamic  
schools in the morning and play soccer in the afternoon. They are  
happy."
The attackers generally treat their hostages well in anticipation of a  
big payday, hiring caterers on shore to cook spaghetti, grilled fish  
and roasted meat that will appeal to Western palates.
Somali Pirates Strike Again
Pirates hijacked another cargo ship the coast of Somalia making it the  
7th ship to be hijacked in less than two weeks. Shelia MacVicar reports.
And when the payday comes, the money sometimes literally falls from  
the sky.
Pirates say the ransom arrives in burlap sacks, sometimes dropped from  
buzzing helicopters, or in waterproof suitcases loaded onto skiffs in  
the roiling, shark-infested sea.
"The oldest man on the ship always takes the responsibility of  
collecting the money, because we see it as very risky, and he gets  
some extra payment for his service later," Aden Yusuf, a pirate in  
Eyl, told AP over VHF radio.
The pirates use money-counting machines — the same technology seen at  
foreign exchange bureaus worldwide — to ensure the cash is real. All  
payments are done in cash because Somalia has no functioning banking  
system.
"Getting this equipment is easy for us, we have business connections  
with people in Dubai, Nairobi, Djibouti and other areas," Yusuf said.  
"So we send them money and they send us what we want."
Despite a beefed-up international presence, the pirates continue to  
seize ships, moving further out to sea and demanding ever-larger  
ransoms. The pirates operate mostly from the semiautonomous Puntland  
region, where local lawmakers have been accused of helping them and  
taking a cut of the ransoms.
For the most part, however, the regional officials say they have no  
power to stop piracy.
Meanwhile, towns that once were eroded by years of poverty and chaos  
are now bustling with restaurants, Land Cruisers and Internet cafes.  
Residents also use their gains to buy generators — allowing full days  
of electricity, once an unimaginable luxury in Somalia.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of pirates operating in  
Somalia, but they number in the thousands. And though the bandits do  
sometimes get nabbed, piracy is generally considered a sure bet to a  
better life.
NATO and the U.S. Navy say they can't be everywhere, and American  
officials are urging ships to hire private security. Warships  
patrolling off Somalia have succeeded in stopping some pirate attacks.  
But military assaults to wrest back a ship are highly risky and, up to  
now, uncommon.
Associated Press writers Mohamed Olad Hassan reported from Mogadishu  
and Elizabeth Kennedy from Nairobi, Kenya.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the  
AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise  
distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated  
Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-11-19 10:24:20

ALSO SEE: The Politics of Pirates (Should Johnny Depp be a Founding  
Father?)

http://engagepodcast.blogspot.com/2008/05/politics-of-pirates-should-johnny-depp.html

VIDEO ON PETER LINEBAUGH

Magna Carta Manifesto 1 of 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDg2p3krPKQ&feature=related

"The Floating Dungeon: A History of the Slave Ship"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I2xGTXB8tc&NR=1

  Democratic Pirates
The History of Decapitating Commoners
by Nic Veroli

 From the Oct 11 – Oct 17, 2001 issue

The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden  
History of the Revolutionary Atlantic by Peter Linebaugh and Markus  
Rediker
(Beacon Press) $18

The history of the movement against neoliberal globalization did not  
start in 1999 in Seattle. It did not even start on January 1, 1994,  
that legendary day when "subcommandante insurgente" Marcos led an army  
of Zapatista indios down the slopes of Chiapas' mountains into battle  
against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). No, the war  
on neoliberal globalization began much earlier--on the afternoon of  
July 25, 1609, on an English ship.

Such is the thesis of Peter Linebaugh and Markus Rediker, probably two  
of the most daring American historians writing today. Their new book  
chronicles the history of the first two centuries in the history of  
what they call "the Atlantic working class," from the birth of  
capitalism in the early 17th century to the aftermath of the American  
and French revolutions in the early 18th and 19th centuries. That is  
the "many-headed hydra" they invoke: a planetary monster with  
innumerable heads in all parts of the world, linked together by a  
diaphanous, almost intangible trunk.

According to Linebaugh and Rediker, the revolt against capitalist  
globalization begins not simply as a struggle against property-title- 
clutching aristocrats, who in early modern times were trying to  
privatize lands held in common by English peasants. With a far more  
cosmopolitan vision than even Karl Marx, they argue that this revolt  
was also immediately global in scope, the product of transatlantic  
coalitions between European commoners, African slaves, and Native  
American societies.

The different constituencies were often brought together and kept in  
contact with each other by ethnically heterogenous crews of sailors,  
who glided from one end of the world to the other on ships that  
recalled a prison chain gang rather than merry shipmates. Those  
sailors frequently mutinied, threw their officers overboard, or worse,  
and joyfully converted to the faith of the pirate: Eat well, drink  
well, and above all, make decisions on every aspect of life "in  
common" or, as we would say today, democratically.

You'll have to read the book to find out what happened on that famous  
afternoon in July, 1609. Suffice it to say that neither then nor  
afterward did things always go smoothly for this "many-headed hydra"  
of a revolt. Indeed, the name itself was bestowed upon this multi- 
ethnic assemblage of peoples by elite intellectuals such as Francis  
Bacon and Walter Raleigh, who eagerly counseled their lords to  
decapitate the hydra whenever it reared one of its ugly heads.  
Apparently, then as now, these intellectuals were unaware of the  
mythical hydra's magical property: If ever one of its heads is cut  
off, it regenerates itself almost immediately.

Today, the hydra is again under attack. The Republicans in the White  
House, on Capitol Hill, and in the various right-wing think tanks are  
out to get the democratic hydra. Taking advantage of the recent  
terrorist attacks--acts which speak as much of the twistedness of its  
perpetrators as they do of the desperation of hundreds of millions of  
dispossessed peoples around the world--these stone-hearted crocodiles  
are using the shock and grief of many of us here in the States to put  
forward an agenda that surpasses in folly even the most obnoxious  
fantasies of Dr. Strangelove. In less than a month, conservatives have  
managed to take back the lead in defining the issues on the public  
agenda. From talking about the sweatshops, unemployment, and the  
consequences of a recession for working people, we have all been  
brought into dismal speculations on the possibility of World War III,  
how many of our civil liberties we'd have to give up for "security" at  
home, and the effects of the recession on the wealthy.

But neither a war abroad nor more police at home is going to make the  
problem go away: Global environmental degradation and poverty are not  
made better by uranium-depleted bullets or more phone taps.

So has the anti-capitalist hydra been decapitated in one fell swoop?  
No, for as Linebaugh and Rediker put it: "The globalizing powers have  
a long reach and endless patience. Yet the planetary wanderers do not  
forget, and they are ever ready from Africa to the Caribbean to  
Seattle to resist slavery and restore the commons."