Interview with a Pirate

Somali pirates: more political awareness, less yo-ho-ho

You may have been following the saga of the Ukranian weapons ship that was taken by pirates off the coast of Somalia. The ship contained military arms, including tanks, that were to be delivered to the government of either Kenya or Sudan. The pirates now find themselves being tracked at sea by the American and Russian navies, and they are demanding millions of dollars in ransom in exchange for the safe release of the ship's crew and cargo.

Now the New York Times has an interview with the pirates who took that ship:

The Somali pirates who hijacked a Ukrainian freighter loaded with tanks, artillery, grenade launchers and ammunition said in an interview Tuesday that they had no idea the ship was carrying arms when they seized it on the high seas.

“We just saw a big ship,” the pirates’ spokesman, Sugule Ali, told The New York Times. “So we stopped it.”

The pirates quickly learned, though, that their booty was an estimated $30 million worth of heavy weaponry, heading for Kenya or Sudan, depending on whom you ask.

In a 45-minute-long interview, Mr. Sugule expounded on everything from what the pirates want — “just money” — to why they were doing this — “to stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters” — to what they have to eat on board — rice, meat, bread, spaghetti, “you know, normal human-being food.”

He said that so far, in the eyes of the world, the pirates had been misunderstood. “We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits,” he said. “We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.”
...

Mr. Sugule said that his men are treating the crew members well (the pirates would not let the crew members speak on the phone, saying it was against their rules). “Killing is not in our plans,” he said. “We only want money, so we can protect ourselves from hunger.”

When asked why the pirates needed $20 million to protect themselves from hunger, Mr. Sugule laughed over the phone and said: “Because we have a lot of men.”

The problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia is so widespread that the pirates now number in the thousands.

Read the whole fascinating article here.

(cross posted at appletree)

This Old Nigerian: Nutter or Not?

Holy men's mobiles, Batman!



We wonder whether this sort of silly stuff is starting to become unstoppable?

You know, regularly gabbing to you good buddy, God.

Apparently it's not just George Bush, Tony Blair, the pope and the barmpot above who have a hot line to Him inhabiting heaven.

Suddenly, it appears almost everybody's at it.

We've just read that for some considerable time now, far away in far off Africa the same sodding shit's been practised (seemingly, super-sucessfully), by an ancient Nigerian nutter.

Or is he?

(Cross posted at 'appletree')

The Latest on Zimbabwe, Mugabe, Tsvangirai, Mayhem, Maiming, Murder and More ...

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This time, our questions are definitely NOT rhetorical.

If our own dear leaders here in the west are, as they consistently tell everyone who's sufficiently stupid enough to swallow their shit, are remotely interested in spreading true democracy -- why aren't they zeroing in on Zimbabwe? And why aren't they practising what they preach?

You know, like giving ordinary everyday people their freedom.

Like enforcing regime change(s) where and when they're so obviously needed

Like ousting, without delay, some of the world's worst, w*nkers of despised dictators of the day.

Like actively working at making the world a better place, by rapidly removing from power all (patently) mad, monstrosities of men like Robert Mugabe.

Eh?

We'd really like to hear some (sensible) answers this time.

Honestly. Truly. We want to know.



For example, why don't they help, in every possible way, people like Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai ? Indeed, why haven't they already?



And why in the world won't they take some genuinely serious, steps to stop such scandalous stuff as is increasingly being suffered in certain areas of Africa?

Mugabe rival quits election race

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he is pulling out of Friday's presidential run-off, handing victory to President Robert Mugabe.

Mr Tsvangirai said there was no point running when elections would not be free and fair and "the outcome is determined by... Mugabe himself".

He called on the global community to step in to protect Zimbabweans.

The decision came after opposition supporters heading to a rally in the capital Harare came under attack.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says at least 70 supporters have been killed in recent months.

Incidentally, the brave Mr Tsvangirai himself knows only too well, from past painful personal experience, what it's like to even be 'lucky' and to get off lightly, when it comes to being on the receiving end of madman Mugabe's evil enforcers. As is shown below.



Read the rest of this latest BBC report on the fast worsening situation in Zimbabwe.



Then shudder at the sight of the sick, sadistic, soulless, despotic scumbag shown above.

Then strive -- strive and strive again -- to shame some of our own 'dear leaders' into some sort(s) of appropriate action -- soon.

(Cross posted at 'appletree' )

Babies seized by Robert Mugabe's forces as Zimbabwe hounds voters

What will be the next horror that Robert Mugabe unleashes on his country?

Now that it's become clear that Robert Mugabe has lost Zimbabwe's presidential and parliamentary elections, his supporters are employing extraordinary tactics in an attempt to win an anticipated runoff through voter intimidation. They are calling their efforts Operation Where Did You Put Your Cross?

Scores of children and babies have been locked up in filthy prison cells in Harare as Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, sinks to new depths in his campaign to force the opposition into exile before an expected run-off in presidential elections.

Twenty-four babies and 40 children under the age of six were among the 250 people rounded up in a raid on Friday, according to Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Yesterday they were crammed into cells in Southerton police station in central Harare. The families were rounded up from MDC headquarters, where they had sought refuge from violence in the countryside.

Thought to be directed by top military officers, Operation Where Did You Put Your Cross? has prompted thousands to flee. They are trying to escape the so-called war veterans, who are attacking people and burning down hundreds of houses for voting “incorrectly” in last month’s elections.

“The only game in town is a run-off,” said George Sibotshiwe, Tsvangirai’s spokesman. “The recount was just to buy them time to smash people’s heads in, so when they go for a run-off nobody will even be thinking of voting.”

The regime’s strategy is to ensure that by the time of the run-off, Mugabe would have a clean sweep in rural areas, where 70% of Zimbabweans live. A police officer admitted yesterday that he had been instructed not to interfere with war veterans as they carry out their campaign of terror.

(Cross posted at Liberal Avenger and appletree)

Clinton/Obama Photo Furore: Seriously Hilarious Or Sickeningly Serious?

Surely, this whole sordid slagging-fest's just a sick joke.

Right?

Right??

Clinton Fury Over Obama Photo Claims

At least mad old McCain's got a good excuse -- senile decay started setting in some time ago.

And as for ....



... oh, never mind.

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US Warship's Missile Attack Against Mogadishu, Somalia, Africa ...

MOGADISHU, Somalia - At least one U.S. warship bombarded a remote, mountainous village in Somalia where Islamic militants had set up a base, officials in the northern region of Puntland said Saturday.

The attack from a U.S. destroyer took place late Friday, said Muse Gelle, the regional governor.

The extremists had arrived Wednesday by speedboat at the port town of Bargal.

Gelle said the area is a dense thicket, making it difficult for security forces from the semiautonomous republic of Puntland to intervene on their own.

A local radio station quoted Puntland's leader, Ade Muse, as saying that his forces had battled with the extremists for hours before U.S. ships arrived and used their cannons. Muse said five of his troops were wounded, but that he had no information about casualties among the
extremists.

A task force of coalition ships, called CTF-150, is permanently based in the northern Indian Ocean and patrols the Somali coast in hopes of intercepting international terrorists. U.S. destroyers are normally assigned to the task force and patrol in pairs.

(snip)

A Pentagon spokesman told The Associated Press he had no information about the incident.

"This is a global war on terror and the U.S. remains committed to reducing terrorist capabilities when and where we find them," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

"We recognize the importance of working closely with allies to seek out, identify, locate, capture, and if necessary, kill terrorists and those who would provide them safe haven,"

So, suddenly the US decides it's time for missile strikes against the evil 'Islamofascists' who've infiltrated Somalia, sat square on Africa's horn.

We wonder why the wonderful (self proclaimed), US international-freedom-spreaders waited all this time?

Read the rest of the AP report.

Cor! Can you believe it? Talk about coincidence - again.

Everywhere those terrible terrorists need to be taken out, it transpires they're 'acting up' atop one ocean of oil or another.

See this excerpt extracted from Znet; they 'get it'; as do many more of us.

Last week came the news that the U.S. now imports more oil from Africa than the Middle East, with Nigeria, Angola and Algeria providing nearly one-fifth of it -- more than from Saudi Arabia.

While the rulers in Addis Ababa claim the invasion was a preemptive attack on a threatening Somalia and the Bush Administration says giving a wink and a nod to the attack was only a chance to capture a few terrorist holed up in Somalia, for most of the media and diplomatic observers outside the U.S. it was another strategic move to secure positioning in the region where there is a lot of oil.

On file are plans - put on hold amid continuing conflicts - for nearly two-thirds of Somalia's oil fields to be allocated to the U.S. oil companies Conoco, Amoco, Chevron and Phillips. It was recently reported that the U.S. - backed prime minister of Somalia has proposed enactment of a new oil law to encourage the return of foreign oil companies to the country.

Salim Lone, spokesperson for the United Nation mission in Iraq in 2003, now a columnist for The Daily Nation in Kenya, recently told
Democracy Now: 'the prime minister's attempt to lure Western oil companies is on a par with his crying wolf about al-Qaeda at every turn. Every time you interview a Somalia official, the first thing you hear is al-Qaeda and terrorists. They're using that. No one believes it. No one believes it at all, because all independent reports say the contrary.'

I spoke with Kidane last week and she allowed that the situation in Somalia might seem complex to many in the peace and social justice movements. However, she said it is impossible to overlook the parallel with the situation in the Iraq. 'It's aggression, that is undeniable, and the same language is being used to justify it,' she said. Kidane is on target in insisting that the movements for peace and justice in the U.S. - and elsewhere - must take up the issue.

The unlawful U.S.- Ethiopian invasion and occupation of that country and the accompanying human suffering and human rights abuses constitute a new - and still mostly hidden - war in many ways similar to that in Iraq. And, waged for the same reason.

All that eye-opening article's here. Assess & analyze it's content, claims and (foregone) conclusions for yourself.
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