Pirate overkill

Posted By Joshua Keating Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 10:37 AM Share

Check out this video of smiling Somali ~~criminal mastermind~~ malnourished 16-year old Abdul Kadhir Muse arriving in the U.S. to face trial. I counted about 20 guards from the NYPD and FBI escorting him which, I must say, comes across as a bit excessive.

This makes me worried that the inevitable U.S. media circus around Muse's trial -- the first U.S. piracy prosecution in over a century -- is going to try to paint him as some kind of arch-terrorist of the seas. He's unlikely to fit the bill. Muse's country has been wracked by civil war and anarchy since before he was born and he's quite possibly smiling because he's happy to be out of it and getting enough to eat for once.

Muse should certainly be prosecuted for participating in a criminal act that endangered the lives of U.S. sailors, but it would be unfortunate if too much attention were paid to the trial of one teenage gang member while the hellish situation that produced him continues unabated.

Stephen Chernin/Getty Images

EXPLORE:PIRATES

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CURIOUS OBSERVER

2:08 PM ET

April 21, 2009

Too late

Too late. The piracy "movement" has a face now, a stand-in for all pirates, a convenient boogeyman for a complex phenomenon. The perp walk video of him will run in a loop anytime piracy is talked about on cable TV.

Speaking of which... Who would serve as Iranian boogeyman going forward if Ahmadinejad actually loses the election in June?

KAREN FROM ALTMEDNETWORK

10:44 PM ET

April 21, 2009

RE: The Pirates

This is a far bigger problem than this one mislead individual - the entire world needs to get involved to put an end to the pirates reign of terror and get safety back on the seas!

Karen
natural progesterone cream

ANDREWS

1:05 AM ET

April 23, 2009

Why bring him to NYC?

Bad idea from the beginning to prosecute this guy in the US. The govt is making theater out of the trial and it will make him a hero back home in Somalia, further romanticizing the pirates.

How does this look to people watching TV in Somalia? Here's an average guy who stood up to the US military, was brought aboard a US Navy vessel, flown to the States, has his image splashed across newspapers and television screens around the world, sits trial in NYC, and will probably spend a couple decades in a nice prison.

Why didn't we try him in Kenya? Quick trial, lock him up closer to home, and leave the sensationalism out of it.

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