Big Picture has another post of Somalia photos, this time showing activities in Mogadishu. There are some really amazing - and some very heartbreaking - shots in there, including a particularly remarkable portrait of a Somali policeman (#16). Roughly half the images are of young men and younger men holding guns, and only some of them are government soldiers. Where are all these guns coming from? I honestly don't know. Anyone feel free to jump in on that one (and please cite your source if you do, if you can).
A commenter on a previous post asked why some Somalis are becoming pirates. I'd suppose there's no one answer. According to this article, many are fishermen who are losing job opportunities due to illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping. Other than that, it's a way to make big money, quick, during a time when life everywhere is dangerous and employment opportunities are wanting. Just another illegal business.
I checked out said commenter's site (she has many blogspots, actually, but only one seems to be a blog; the rest are something like product placements), and there's a Malaysian site called "Ya Aba 'Abdillah," with the address hezbollah-asia.blogpsot, which is, uh... interesting... and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm a bit concerned, honestly. There's a content warning when you click on it, which gave me pause, but I went ahead and there are a lot of videos that I have not watched, some Malay posts and some English posts. Google can't translate Malay for me, and I can't find a decent translation site, so I don't really know what's going on in those posts, though overall it appears to be a Shi'a site, judging from the references to Imam Hussein and Fatima Zahra.
It's things like this that bring home the fact that anything you put on the internet is thereafter spat out to the world, and there's no telling who may stumble upon you, or whom you may stumble upon.
It's things like this that also make you wonder whether or not the government is watching you...
A commenter on a previous post asked why some Somalis are becoming pirates. I'd suppose there's no one answer. According to this article, many are fishermen who are losing job opportunities due to illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping. Other than that, it's a way to make big money, quick, during a time when life everywhere is dangerous and employment opportunities are wanting. Just another illegal business.
I checked out said commenter's site (she has many blogspots, actually, but only one seems to be a blog; the rest are something like product placements), and there's a Malaysian site called "Ya Aba 'Abdillah," with the address hezbollah-asia.blogpsot, which is, uh... interesting... and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm a bit concerned, honestly. There's a content warning when you click on it, which gave me pause, but I went ahead and there are a lot of videos that I have not watched, some Malay posts and some English posts. Google can't translate Malay for me, and I can't find a decent translation site, so I don't really know what's going on in those posts, though overall it appears to be a Shi'a site, judging from the references to Imam Hussein and Fatima Zahra.
It's things like this that bring home the fact that anything you put on the internet is thereafter spat out to the world, and there's no telling who may stumble upon you, or whom you may stumble upon.
It's things like this that also make you wonder whether or not the government is watching you...
1 comments:
(Sorry for the length of my comment)
I am not knowledgeable about conditions in Somali to be able to come up with a solution to the "piracy" problem, that I have any confidence in.
I found an op-ed piece on the Worldpress site, by Abukar Arman, that sounds persuasive. I could not find any info on Wikipedia about him, so I don't know his bias. Some conservative Ohio papers refer to him as a "Piracy Apologist".
http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/3342.cfm#down
From the article:
"Make no mistake, the proliferation of piracy in the Somali coast is a serious problem — not only for the international community but for Somalia in general, and more specifically, for the current Islamist-led unity government. After all, Islamic law has zero tolerance for banditry, whether sea-based or land-based."
"The reckless greed of this "fishing mafia" has been dangerously depleting sea life in that part of the world. In due course the local fishermen were joined by others, including some of the profiteering elements of the Somali civil war, for reinforcement"
"However, while the grievances that they put on center stage are real and deserving of serious attention, there is practically zero evidence to indicate that these pirates are driven by altruistic objectives."
"Today, piracy is not only disrupting international trade, it is preventing the flow of the humanitarian aid to several million Somalis on the verge of starvation, and is perpetuating the very culture that has kept Somalia in the abyss of anarchy."
"How many warships are needed in order to carry out surveillance operations on Eyl and Harardheere, where the Somali pirates are based? We are talking about two bone-dry coastal villages that even a rat couldn't find a place to hide."
"To adequately understand the piracy situation would require a contextual framework beyond the illegal activities. Albeit that in the past eight years, America and much of the world has been inculcated with an ill-advised notion that context is obsolete and that an official statement is all that matters when grappling with complex issues such as extremism, terrorism and piracy."
For a solution to the piracy dilemma, the Obama administration should:
1) Distance itself from anything that reminds the world of the last eight years.
2) Ensure safe passage for humanitarian aid.
3) Introduce a U.N. resolution banning the dumping chemical waste in Somali waters and banning the illegal hyper-fishing off of the Somali coast
4) Introduce a U.N. resolution that mandates a massive international effort to clean the countless barrels and containers of radioactive materials dumped in Somali waters
5) Sign a security treaty with the Somali unity government. This would not only mark the first time the United States signed any treaty with Somalia, but it would send a peace message to the rest of the Muslim world that America is indeed ready to establish formal relationship with anyone on issues of mutual interest.
6) Help build a Somali navy to protect its own waters.
7) Use legal actions in order to freeze and confiscate assets.
"There is no military solution to this problem, as it will only win the pirates more support and sustain the current state of lawlessness."
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