Who's really to blame for Somali Pirates?

This is the post on Somalia that I talked about in my last blog. Maybe it will have more of an effect here then it did on Facebook."

"Who's really to blame for Somali Pirates?"

Grayson Kelley

April 24, 2009

Welcome to my latest edition of "Its midnight, I'm bored, and I can’t stand the intellectual black hole that is formed by the collective brains of the American masses.” Also commonly referred to as “sometimes I pretend to be a political scholar”

I was recently at a dinner held in honor of an over commercialized Christian holiday which, in some odd way, incorporates both the resurrection of Christ and bunnies who lay chocolate eggs. It was a typical American Easter complete with people who eat too much, drink too much, and then talk too much.

Somehow, the conversation at the table ended up on the subject of the Somali pirate conflict. As a political science major with a strong interest in the UN and Africa, I was tingling with anticipation. Alas, I was sorely disappointed. The conversation was less an examination of foreign relations and more a rant full of strong language and empty threats towards the Somalis and overblown patriotic praises for the highly trained marine marksmen who used 50 caliber armor piercing rounds to blow the heads off three impoverished, uneducated, untrained, and unarmored men on an inflatable life boat.

First I want to be very clear that I support the American troops who executed a flawless conflict resolution strategy and I DO NOT support terrorism in any way shape or form.

Ok so lets get to the heart of the matter. Though many of you will disagree with me, I can’t help but think that a lot of the blame belongs in the hands of the top eight most powerful countries in the world (aka G8), mainly the US and Russia. We can break this down into two different sections.

Section 1) Weapons:
Google “Somali Pirates” and take a good look at the weapons they’re holding. Russian AK-47s and the American equivelant, the M16 assault rifle. Wanna know how they got these weapons? Well it happened two different ways:

1. After every war that the United States has been involved in since the Golf War (the first one) US military forces has had a surplus of weapons which pretty much just sat in warehouses thousands of miles away from American borders. As it turns out, it costs more money to transport those weapons home then it does to just replace them. This left a nice little treasure troves for black market arms dealers who don’t have to pay attention to silly formalities like weapons sanctions. Making them free to sell those arms at a fraction of there price to anyone who has money i.e. drug cartels, unruly religious clans, peoples liberation armies…. And pirates, ARRRRRGH MATEY!!



2. For the last 40 years or so, the United States has spent a total of 1.6 billion dollars on weapons and supplies which was spoon fed to almost every African country plagued with conflict… mainly for financial benefit. Need proof? The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the most mineral rich regions in the world. It is also one of the most war torn regions in the world. Wars fought with American and Russian weapons. How does this provide financial benefit to the US? Well its a lot easier to exploit a countries resources when it’s in the middle of a brutal civil war and who’s centralized government is nothing more then a pile of rubble.
   To make matters worse Uganda and Rwanda, armed with US arms as well, invaded and occupied the northern region of the DRC. So basically the United States fuelled both sides of an ugly and long African conflict while exploiting the region of all its resources (sound familiar? Yeah, the US has a nasty habit of repeating itself)
   The US isn’t the only country that has done this; in fact the Russian Federation and The Peoples Republic of China are infamous for the billions of dollars worth of weapons put in the hands of Africans in unstable regions of the continent.

Section 2) Ignorance is NOT bliss:

In 1991 the Somali government run by General Mohamed Siad Barre collapsed around itself. What was to follow was a series of half baked IGO organizations led by the US and the UN. These “interventions” included the Unified Task Force (UNITAF) and the United Nations Operations in Somalia (UNOSOM 1 and UNOSOM 2… apparently UNOSOM 1 was so popular the made a sequel). After about four years the UNITAF and the UNOSOM twins did very little both the UN and the US withdrew all personnel and terminated peace-making operations by the end of 1995. From that point on, the United States ignored Somalia and so did the rest of the G8. That is until the Somali pirate cove affected international commerce, then the US State Department dealt with conflict the only way they know how, they got pissed and started shooting people. More often then not, ignoring a problem won’t make it go away.

So, we probably supplied the weapons and then let the whole thing fester. That just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Does anyone even care anymore?

"Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen" -Bob Dylan

As a 20 year old college student with an intense romantic relationship with idea that I may one day change this world, I am worried about the dedication and passion my generation has regarding political change. After reading the recent Op-Ed Column by Bob Herbert entitled "Changing the World" a steady stream of emotion ran over me. I was deeply moved by the hope in Andrew Goodman words and his sense of conviction and his confidence in helping change the world. But I was also insanely envious of the political climate that he grew up in. Andrew Goodman was a 20-year-old man making is mark in the world during the age of the peoples voice. The mid-60's and 70's were a time unlike any other for this country. Protests were a valued tool of democracy and it seems like everyone who was awake cared enough to speak out. It was such an influential time in the world that some of the greatest artist of all time like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Kurt Vonnegut, and Arthur Miller created the greatest masterpieces of the 20th century in the name of political protest.

Bob Dylan was right. The times were changing. It's 40 years later and the brave soldiers of change have long put away there banners and signs. The songs that used to run the radio stations that screamed with the anger of a generation who was fed up, have retired to music history only to be played by the few who remember and the few who care. Vonnegut has passed on and his words struggle to keep there meaning among the trash that fills the bookshelves. And here I am, a young college student ignited by my mothers generation and disgusted with my own.

Recently I organized a protest against FOX News' "Tea Party Express". I posted it on Facebook to try and get the support of my peers, thinking that there must be at least one other person out there that felt the same way I did. Or at the very least disagreed and would challenge my efforts. I got two comments on the event posting: "i say just dont watch it. the end." and "Get a fucking life Grayson". To be fair, the second one was my rambunctious friend attempting humor.. but you get the point. Needless to say, no one showed up for the protest.

In April of this year I posted a Facebook note entitled "Who's really to blame for Somali Pirates" which was a comprehensive look into current events in Somalia that blamed the USA instead of the Somalian. I had expected a huge response since my stance was very controversial... at least I thought it would be. That post received four comments. One which pointed out that I had said "marines" instead of "navy seals" and then two that attempted humor.

I have lived on this Earth for 20 years and have only met three people in my age group who cared about the world and the current status of our country in even the slightest sense. Two of these people I literally met only a month ago. Why?!! WHAT THE FUCK!?! What was in the tap water back then that has apparently been filtered out? Why does no one care?! Is it because life has become to easy? Is it because we have Facebook, iPods, and Gossip Girl? I know its not because we have nothing to stand for because I have been standing so fucking long my feet are bleeding. I don't want to but I can't help having almost no hope for the future of our country because no one gives a damn.

If you agree, good, thank you. But more importantly, if you disagree, please say something. Please prove me wrong. PLEASE convince me that my self centered and self interested generation will ever have anything more to say then "O-M-G, Brittany Spears is preggers again!".

[Not edited or proof read. Don't reply with typographical corrections. I will delete them]

Props to sen. Charles Schumer (NY D) and senate dens for pushing public option. I'm only now starting to believe that a democratic senate means anything. They're late in the game but better late then never.

Mobile Post

Ok so I'm trying my first mobile update. I hope this works. But even if it does, I really don't know what to say. I can't sleep so up watching fresh prince on TBS.

First Post!

So I was convinced recently to create this blog by a good friend of mine. It took me a while to actually give into the idea, but while reading a recent entry on my personal hero's blog (Arianna Huffington) I decided that I might actually be able to have fun with this.

So you're probably asking yourself: "Self, I wonder what I will be reading on The Hamilton Review" well wonder no more! THR is the best place to get your fill of liberal political, social and economic editorial written by yours truly.

I cant tell you how many times I have just happen to be up at around 5am PST watching FOX News when I have the sudden urge to rant about something that I see. By the way, I cannot think of another more entertaining network out there... Its a lot like watching a real life SNL skit.

ANYWAYS... I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I hope to enjoy using it.