Pirates of Somalia

Pirates are misunderstood by most people. Sure everyone loves a good "argh", but, few understand the camaraderie and the honor of a pirate. See they had a very strong code of ethics and operated their ships as democracies. This model was very different from what was in use on the imperialist fleets that "owned" the waters.

In this new age the imperialists are corporatist and pirates are back again; what was old is new. Much like the pirates of old it is easy to assume the worst and send them to the gallows. I believe we should first ask: why have these men have chosen this path.

Most of the incidents of piracy can be seen as border protection, a coast guard stand-in. It seems that some see the broken Somali government as an opportunity to infringe on Somali waters.

Accusations of everything from illegal fishing to dumping have been made. These pirates are usually arm with small arms and fishing boats up against tankers. For the most part the worst that has come out these encounters is delayed ships and loss of money. Like any others ventures there are of course some bad apples who are not “nice guys” but such things are expected.

These pirates do not have the look and the lingo we are used to but they are nonetheless doing the good works for their countrymen. They are certainly upholding the spirit of the pirate code of ethics.