Not black and white
Posted by Michael.
Or should I say, not silver and black? But either way, I want to point people to this article pointing out that the piracy off the coast of Somalia is out of desperation and a direct result of Western neglect, not a simple case of greed and immorality.
The quick summary: In 1991, the government of Somalia – in the Horn of Africa – collapsed. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since – and many of the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country’s food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas….As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died.
According to the UN envoy to Somalia, “somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it.” Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to “dispose” of cheaply.
Combine that with severe overfishing by foreign supertrawlers, you have a sick, starving, and desperate population… and suddenly piracy and hostage-taking seems a lot more reasonable, even if not defensible.
