Thank You, Business Is Booming Here In Somalia

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September 30th, 2010

Take your AK-47 and head for Mogadishu and the money
For the past 19 years we have been submerged by civil war. The country is virtually ungovernable and is in a state of lawlessness. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The latter heavily outweigh any positive factors. Under advantages, read that foreign money flows in from countries, states and other sources that support the various factions who are fighting each other.

Mercenaries and armor
Mercenaries, men who will fight for money without taking sides, are all over the country, teaching us how to fight and fighting as long as they get paid. Sophisticated armor is flowing in to Somalia. The country has not had an effective central government since 1991, when the former government was toppled by clan militias that later turned on each other. For decades, generals, warlords and warrior types have reduced this once languid coastal country in Eastern Africa to rubble. Somalia remains a raging battle zone today, with jihadists pouring in from overseas, intent on toppling the transitional government. Children, some as young as 9, are being recruited to become soldiers by Somalia’s government.

Strategically placed
Somalia doesn’t sit on the Horn of Africa. Somalia is the Horn of Africa. In addition to projecting out into the Indian Ocean, it guards entry to the Suez Canal and ships headed towards the Canal come within range of the notorious Somali pirates, a very successful but highly illegal organization. Somali pirates are currently holding at least 16 ships and more than 300 crew members captive for ransom. The ship-owners pay hefty ransoms to get their ships and their cargoes back. The Somali pirates race around the seas in rubber dinghy armed with small to medium arms.

The ransom note is in the mail
This lawlessness allows piracy to thrive off Somalia’s Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden coastlines because the weak U.N.-backed government is too busy fighting an Islamist insurgency. Today a ship, luckily carrying no cargo, was headed from Kenya to South Africa when it was attacked about 110 miles southeast of the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam. The ship lost contact with its owners on Tuesday night, said a EU spokesman. So far there are further details of the incident. No doubt the ransom note is in the mail.

The center of the action
The attack is the second most southerly hijacking this year, said Dryad Maritime Intelligence, a private maritime security company. There have been four attacks off the Tanzanian coast in the past week, the company said.

Piracy or kidnapping?
A British couple, the Chandlers, a retired couple from Tunbridge Wells were enjoying a yachting holiday last October when they were kidnapped by pirates in the Indian Ocean just off the Seychelles, hundreds of miles from Somalia. They have been held captive in Somalia for 7 months. The pirates are demanding a $2 million ransom. The British government does not negotiate with kidnappers. The Chandlers, sit and wait… This war is all about money.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 30th, 2010 at 5:57 am and is filed under Economy, Finance, Personal / Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Thank You, Business Is Booming Here In Somalia

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