The present on-going situation (is reminiscent of the wild west without borders where horses have been replaced by power-boats, Smith & Westons by AK47s and cowboy-outlaws by sea-bandits in a real-life swash-buckling Hollywood movie), concerning gangs of pirates who operate in the ‘international shipping routes’ off the coast of Somalia, which is far from acceptable for international travel and globalized marine business. Moreover there is a worrying and continuing trend by ship owners who pay huge ransoms for freeing the hijacked shipping vessels, which in turn encourages this type of organized crime to become a profitable niche in the international business market. Needless to say, what goes round comes round, Its inevitable that releasing of arrested criminal gangs of pirates operating off the coast of Somalia, with the subjective mandate of selective wanton maritime guidelines or for political reasons of appeasement at home-base, shall come home to haunt the same vessels and their owners, and the next time, inevitably accompanied by gradually higher benchmark ransoms.
15(+ and counting) shipping vessels have been hijacked, and the plight of the remaining shall continue unless they are Caucasian victims. Judging by the recent events, there is no consistency in policing and prosecuting the captured pirates who in real are 21st century bandits. The French and the Americans pursue and prosecute the captured pirates but the Dutch, Portuguese and Canadians have an opinion that if the victims are not Dutch or Portuguese or Canadians respectively, than a crime has not been committed. This raises the question that, do the Dutch and or Portuguese and or Canadians believe that their own kind are relatively more important and or valuable than other international citizens, and so no international crimes have been committed unless the victims are Dutch or Portuguese or Canadians respectively ?
How many more International ships have to be hijacked before there is a common consensus (by the international community) on multi-lateral intervention actions, which should be urgently taken against these criminal gangs of Somali Pirates who are operating free-style off the Somali coast ? Its beggars belief, to ask the sixty four million dollar question, what is the next symbolic or ceremonial role for UN (United Nations ?) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization ?) and ICC (International Criminal Court ?) in the present globalized risky business world, so as to justify these beautiful, impressive and ornamental (pearls, ivory and marble) showcase organizations’ own existence and sunk costs ?

By Small Brother | June 23, 2009 12:27 PM