Just as there are many reasons for how the country got to that point. There are lots of answers, many equally good. There is seldom one right answer for fixing problems. I’ve never experienced piracy, thank God, but I have spent enough time in failed states to understand that reality seldom fits a tidy narrative. Pirates don’t wear eye patches (I’m so disappointed). Identification with family and clan is important. Bribery is viewed differently in Somalia than it is here. He does all of this while also capturing the nuances of cultural differences. But they are also keenly aware that piracy doesn’t have a great future and would gladly jump to another job if they could just get one. On the flip side, yes these are young men who have addictions and little respect for the law. A failed state - brought on by clan warfare - was the biggest contributor to a system of lawlessness in the country. But neither substantially increased piracy. Yes, Somalia fishing reserves were violated and abused. Fishermen had no choice but to resort to piracy, and we’re blaming the victim.īahadur cuts through a lot of that and shares the truth. The other narrative said that Somalia has been a victim of international abuse, a victim of overfishing, and dumping ground for both toxic and nuclear wastes. This narrative said we have to stop them and stop them now, with brute force and no regard for international boundaries. One said that Somali pirates are cruel, greedy, drugged up young men who have no respect for the law. When piracy became front page news, I heard two narratives. It came with some risk but the payoff is significant because it shares the full story that few hear. This is a book that uses journalism tools the way they should be used, allowing the story to tell itself instead of inserting the authors slant on things. Bahadur allows the pirates to speak for themselves, as well as government authorities who battle the pirates.
What I really like is that the book is written without a lot of the author’s bias. Nevermind.Īnyway, Bahadur has written the compelling The Pirates of Somalia and it’s fascinating. Oh … wait … our kids have run off to crazy places. Is he nuts? Does he have a death wish? Did he pack clean underwear?Īctually, I don’t know the answer to those questions, but they are the kind D’Aun and I would ask if our kids ran off to crazy places. In his mid-20’s, about the same age as my kids, he heads off to Somalia to investigate modern piracy.
0 kommentar(er)
