Blackwater Lite - Somali Mercenaries Free Hijacked Ship

From: Nick McGuire

A group of Somali mercenaries serving as an impromptu coast guard freed a hijacked Indian dhow off the northern Somali coast this past Tuesday. After a short firefight, four of the hijackers were captured while the remaining four escaped. None of the ships thirteen crew members were wounded. Somalia does not have a designated coast guard and many local leaders do tend to rely on heavily armed militia groups to patrol the coast especially in high risk areas. In total, 30 ships have been hijacked this year in Somali waters with nine still remaining in the hands of pirates. The United States along with many other nations in the international community have been attempting to curtail the attacks as much as possible but as of yet have not come to a consensus on the proper course of action to accomplish that goal.

This raises an important question concerning the effectiveness of international intervention. Clearly, the situation in Somalia has become extremely unstable to the point where it is negatively affecting international trade. Yet the other nations involved have done very little to deter these brazen attacks. Merely sending ships to patrol the coast is simply not a deterrent when the opposition is almost always more mobile and more adaptable. And guarding ships that have already been hijacked or paying off the hijackers to avoid conflict? It's a waste of manpower and capital. Personally, if I was a Somali official, I would rely on mercenaries too because these attackers do not respond to anything except force. Pander to them and they always return to steal again as we've seen over the past year. The international community's feeble actions and horrific response time have only emboldened these pirates to the point where the only recourse is to start taking them out of the equation. 

It's obvious that NATO or the U.S. or any other international player is not going to get the job done so I say let the mercenaries roam free. Let them use whatever means necessary to maintain order. They may not be willing to give up that authority once the waters are safe again...but that's a problem for another day.