Did Western defense contractors train pirates?

Posted By Elizabeth Dickinson Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - 9:26 AM Share

For the last year, one question has been at the core of the piracy debate: Who or what made the Somali pirates into the real, armed, threat that they are? Chaos on land? Opportunity at sea? Poverty all around? Or the latest theory, from an Al Jazeera report: Western defense contractors trained them.

Before piracy spun out of control, Al Jazeera reports, contractors such as the Hart Group trained a Somali Coast Guard force in the semi-autonomous Pundtland region -- where piracy thrives. Those skills, one Somali tells the Al Jazeera reporter, were later helpful in hijacking ships and training others in his newly learned sea-faring ways.

Sounds like a big "oops" for the contracting world... though any experience helping the "other side" hasn't deterred them much from working to stop the pirates. Remember when Blackwater said they would help fight pirates? Better yet, about how winning a lucrative "ransom and release contract" for handsome $500,000 each.

EXPLORE:AFRICA, MILITARY, PIRATES

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SHACKELFORD

10:20 AM ET

September 8, 2009

Talk about snark

So, let me get this straight. When piracy becomes a problem in Somalia, critics decry the West not doing enough to support the local governments. When it is pointed out that they did try, they're accused of creating the problem.

But, mostly, it just highlights the transparent excuses that the pirates use to justify their actions, by decrying illegal fishing, etc. If they wanted to stop illegal fishing, they would be targeting fishing vessels like a real coast guard, and not supertankers. They're criminals, and ought to be shot. It is as simple as that.

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