I believe that the current situation in Annam is bad enough for an Annamishman to really care of the outside world. Besides, Annamish foreign trades and commercial benefits – humble as they are – are not badly affected by piracy of the Horn of Africa. However it doesn’t prevent a good-for-nothing lad like me to discuss nonsense stuffs in his blogs, isn’t it?
Observing the recent situation of increasing piracy off the coast of the Horn of Africa, one might conclude that the force currently used to deal with pirates are not at all understrength, but really ineffective. It’s totally hopeless to station powerful fleets to patrol vast spaces of the ocean, with occasional encounters and defeats of small pirate squads on tiny boats. The bulk of multi-thousand strong pirate forces still remain intact in their bases on the long coast of Puntland, refilled with new recruits everyday, and ready to launch new raids at any time and any place at will on the ocean surface. What such those large fleets of nations can do against them?
I know there are many reasons for those fleets to keep patrolling the ocean without conducting campaign on the shores Puntland in order to weep out the pirates once for all. However, it is sad but true that the piracy off the coast of the Horn of Africa can only be eliminated with determination, not hesitation. The navies can keep stationing their fleets off the coast for centuries and it is unlikely that the situation will someday become better by itself, without any intervention on land, either from the West or from Ethiopia or any other forces. What is badly need right now, is to overcome those mental obstacles and to conduct warfare against pirates on their land.
I really think that the countries who want to maintain a safe trade route in the Indian Ocean right now really need a competent general and leader like the Roman Pompey the Great, who knew well the right way to deal with pirates, who had strength, will, and especially power enough – not only at sea but also at land – to pursue the ultimate goal, who “made his preparations for the war at the end of the winter, entered upon it at the commencement of spring, and finished it in the middle of the summer”. Above all, he should have know the necessity of crushing the pirate ashore, destroying their bases and supplies, while at the same time being able to ignore destructive complains and attacks from useless politicians, pacifists, and kinds of idiots. And last but not least (although it seems not to be at the same level of urgency), he should also take care of the welfare of the people on the coast, like Pompey the Great did with the ex-pirates who surrendered to him, to be sure that poverty will not push them into piracy again. Only then would the piracy problem be able to come to a quick end. The trouble is, who can be that Pompey the Great? I think Obama could potentially be one, or at least he could find one, but let us see then… (I myself never really trust in that Kenyan).
13/04/2009 – on hearing the news of MV Maersk Alabama.
