What's it like to be a pirate? In dirt-poor Somalia, pretty good

[babylonsister]

From December 2008

What's it like to be a pirate? In dirt-poor Somalia, pretty good

By Shashank Bengali | McClatchy Newspapers


NAIROBI, Kenya — There's at least one job these days that's recession-proof, if you can handle shark-infested seas, outrun some of the world's most powerful navies and keep your cool when your hostages get antsy.

A pirate's life in Somalia isn't for everyone. However, nothing comes easily in one of the poorest and most unstable countries on Earth, and when you consider the dearth of career options for Somalis on land, a pirate's life starts to look more than cushy by comparison.

"Is there any Somali who can earn a million dollars for any business? We get millions of dollars easily for one attack," bragged Salah Ali Samatar, a 32-year-old pirate who spoke by phone from Eyl, a pirate den on Somalia's desolate northern coast.

Hundreds of pirates such as Samatar — zipping around in simple fiberglass speedboats and usually armed with nothing more sophisticated than automatic rifles — have turned the waters off East Africa into a terrifying gantlet for cargo vessels, oil tankers and even cruise ships sailing between Europe and Asia.

The International Maritime Bureau says that at last count 42 ships have been hijacked off Somalia this year, and experts in neighboring Kenya estimate that Somali pirates have pocketed $30 million in ransoms.

While their countrymen suffer through another political crisis and the looming threat of famine, pirates are splashing hundred-dollar bills like play money around the nowhere towns of northern Somalia.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/58111.html

[Arctic Dave]

1. The pirate made $350,000 and all he has is a Toyota

and ahouse being started? This is one of the poorest countries in Africa and this is all he has to show for it?


Side note: There seems to be a lot of kill the pirate talk being put forth. If this is acceptable, why is it not acceptable to do this to all the Wall Street people involved in stealing BILLIONS and ruining millions of lives?

[babylonsister]

2. I'm not advocating killing anyone, but I see the remarks

about killing, blowing up, etc. Is this what our culture has become? I'm not excusing the pirates, but there's got to be a way to resolve this without more bloodshed. We've had too much of that already, in so many ways.

[Arctic Dave]

3. I've seen what you are refering to. People need to realize this is a

police issue not a military one. All the naval ships in the world will not stop piracy. Never has, never will.

[babylonsister]

4. Or maybe a humanitarian issue that needed to be addressed

and is getting out of control.