'On Ending Piracy in Somalia' or 'Rebooting Max Boot' or 'It's time Kelly Rowland Got Hers'

 (This posting's title links to MAX BOOT's post today in commentary magazine)


Yesterday I posted my meandering commentary on the recent murders by the Somali pirates.  CFR retweeted a link to Max Boot's post on ending piracy ("Are we finally going to get serious about piracy? Here's what it would take: http://bit.ly/eapAAF").  I was excited and quickly clicked to read his article: Time to Stop Making Excuses When It Comes to Fighting Piracy.

And I must admit, that while I agree with his premise that the US needs to get serious about piracy off of the Somali coast, I find his 'solution' to be a superficial and short-sighted one.  


Before I go any further a DISCLAIMER:  

          Max Boot is WAY smarter than I am (he has impeccable credentials and has written of wealth of insightful and intelligent material that I have enjoyed)!  I, on the other hand, was an English major at the Naval Academy, graduated on the low end of the middle of my class and went on to fly helicopters in the Navy (admittedly not the smartest bunch, but always with the most beautiful wives) and have been published only here...on my blog.  So if Boot's article turns out to be a satirical one that went way above my head,  I withdraw my comments and will tuck my tail between my legs...but if not...then I must whole-heartedly disagree with the 'MaxBoot solution.'

Enough with the apologies now, on to my comments:

"We have sent our Navy to patrol the chaotic waters off Somalia but with such restrictive rules of engagement that apparently they can react only once a ship has actually been hijacked, and then use force only if Navy personnel or the hostages are directly threatened by the pirates."  The sheer and overwhelming numbers of merchant traffic off the coast of Somalia and around the Horn of Africa make it impossible for the US Navy to effectively patrol even 1/100 (that's generous) of the area.  I too would be curious to learn what the ROE is with regards to engaging the pirates...but so would the pirates.  Anyway, these pirates aren't stupid.  They hide their guns when they are out on the open waters.  The US Navy can't board every dhow out there.  What do you call a suspected pirate with a concealed weapon?  A Somali fishermen. 

"The result is that there is no effective deterrence to the predations of these ruthless outlaws of the seas, who have turned piracy into big business and are closely linked to the Islamist movement trying to take over Somalia."   Even if we boarded every suspected pirate vessel in the Indian Ocean this would never deter the pirates.  The deterrence of piracy begins ashore (and not just in Somalia, but in Kenya, and Dubai from what I have read in open source reporting) first and foremost with the money.  And then beyond that with the judicial and penal system in the affected countries.  If there aren't secure jails to house the pirates, there is no judge that is going to sentence someone and then have him get out and kill that same judge.  In the United States we often take a sound judicial and prison system for granted.  

   Finally, I'd be curious to see Max Boot's source that 'closely links the Islamist movement to these ruthless outlaws.'  I think any connection between radical islamists and Somali gang leaders is tenuous at best.  And more often this supposed 'link' is just an excuse to get funding...I have found that Al Qaeda loosely translates into 'funding' in Defense Speak.

"If we are serious about this threat, all we need to do is to authorize the Navy to sink any suspected pirate vessels that are sighted unless they surrender immediately;"  Surely you jest! Even with this authorization,we would need about 1000 more naval ships to prosecute and 'sink' suspected pirate vessels.  The time it would take to board every single little dhow or motorboat to see if they were pirates (and how do you legally determine this?) would be extend deployments for decades.  If you really want to go down this road, a more practical approach would be to get a fleet of armed UAVs and give a bunch of middle schoolers crushed up smarties to snort and let them have at it Ender's Game style.  
    Jokes aside, this type of  kill 'em all and let God sort out the rest mentality is one which underlies the our challenges in COIN and nation-building/helping.  If these 'suspected pirates' were Americans operating off the coast of Florida it would not be acceptable to shoot first.  As a military and as a nation we MUST value the lives of non-Americans as much as we would our own citizens!

"...and if they do surrender, to bring back the suspected pirates for trial in the U.S. even if they have not menaced a U.S.-flagged vessel."  This is the part of the article where I guffawed inadvertently.  Has Boot kayak.com'd flights from Mogadishu to NYC lately?  They aren't cheap.    So where would be try these pirates?  In what city?  In what court?  What would the charge be for the 'suspected pirates'?  The logistics of this are mind-boggling.    I agree that guilty pirates need to be prosecuted, but suspected ones? Really?  And we can't try everyone single one in the US regardless.  There needs to be a focus on the judicial systems in Somalia (one day) and the bordering countries (now).

 "All it requires is making more effective use of the force already in place and making use of legal authorities that have been in place for hundreds of years. "  There's a big different between legal authorities and legal abilities as I stated previously.

All this said, here's my .02 on how to end piracy in Somalia (if we are serious):

1.  Go after the money trails in Kenya and Dubai (and anywhere that we know it's happening) aggressively.  This means high profile press coverage in concert with international prosecution and embarrassment.  It also means proving the monetary connections.  In the press reports that I have read so far, I haven't seen any concrete evidence presented.  Ultimately, this means pressuring these governments.  It also means redoubling our efforts to help them build effective judicial and penal systems (the UNODC has already has some success in Kenya with this). 

2.  Go after the gang leaders (of course this won't work until there's an effective government in Somalia because more will sprout up) GTA: Mogadishu style.  This means an intelligence investment/upgrade (on our part and on the part of our partners) among many others.

3.  Establish an effective government in Somalia (Boot, now here's your chance to guffaw). 

4.  Teach the bordering East African countries to police their own waters.  This involves shifting money to our own Coast Guard (vice our Navy) to build these countries' capability and capacity.  It also involves showing them the connection between the maritime environment and the economy (through fishing and fines).  These fines and public coverage of them are important because illegal dumping and fishing is a HUGE and RAMPANT problem (in West Africa as well).   Ultimately this means concerted engagement across DOD and State Department.  The Navy/Coast Guard in most African countries plays a distant Kelly Rowland to the Army's Beyonce.  That means we need our Senior State Department and Defense Officials hammering home to the senior politicians that it's Kelly's turn to shine.

5.  Encourage South Africa to step up.  Engage India and our Arab partners to vastly step up their efforts (at least monetarily).

Okay, that's about all I can think of for now; I know I am missing a ton, but my wife just got home from work and she is much more beautiful than this screen!  Overall, I am disappointed in CFR's cronyism in pointing twitter followers to Boot's article...unless they knew it would inspire dialogue, in which case, mission accomplished CFR.