Piracy & Terrorism - Are They Linked? - Above Politics 61

Homer and Martin discuss a change in tactics for the pirates off the horn of Africa. Was the attempt to take a ship with US crew more than it seems. Then they discuss the latest terror threat, and how the student visa system may be used to get terrorists in to the UK, and then finally what is Pakistan doing to counter the terrorist threat. And to end, a Homer rant.







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ABOVE POLITICS Number 61, with Martin Bain and Homer Fife, from AboveTopSecret.com.
Show length is 32:49.
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[edit on 4/14/2009 by Dave Rabbit]

Martin, you do make a good link to the attack on the US crewed ship and the global terrorism threat. Just imagine the PR field day, the pirates could have had and the value of US crew.

The West does rely so much on shipping that who else is going to police this. Nato has to take the lead. None of the local countries seem capable and who among them has a blue water fleet?

The answer to piracy off Somali is a convoy system . Who ever dreamed up the current strategy has either never read or doesn't understand the Battle of Atlantic . Once a convoy system is in place with adequate escorts and air cover the pirates will have to find other things to do on land .

If they're not linked they should be. Pirates are scum that need to be thrown in jail for the crime they do.

Its so disappointing to see such a well informed community to still, 8 years later, be harping the propaganda that lead to 10's of thousands of American Deaths, both directly, and indirectly. As well as millions of dead civilians in foreign countries, trillions spent/wasted/lost all in the name of the Terrorism Fight.


All based entirely, on a monstrous myth.


How did they achieve mass believe, of a monstrous myth? Media. And this site is just as much in the blame for the perpetuation of propaganda and distractionary conversations.

Keep up the grrrreat work.

Homer and Martin, I have a paper delving considerably into the varying consequences and impacts of a nexus between piracy and terrorism in the Gulf of Aden regon, as well as with near current evidences indicating such a growing nexus.

I wrote it for one of my graduate seminar classes and is 27 pages in length. PM me if interested.

Wow Seeker, 27 pages!

All CBS has is this Al Qaeda Urges Somalis To Attack Ships article.

Fortunately though Information Dissemination noticed the CBS article and added considerable detail to the issue.

[edit-speeling]


[edit on 4/18/09 by makeitso]

The pirates themselves don't seem to be the murderous bastards of yesteryear, instead they seem desperate, ultimately forced into this trend of hijacking and thievery... Very few deaths and injuries, considering the scale....

Whereas terrorism is something completely different. Terrorism is hideous, a terrible act of human evil, where innocent people are caught up in some one elses terrible and merciless agenda.

I'm gonna say no... they are not connected.

Originally posted by Chovy
If they're not linked they should be. Pirates are scum that need to be thrown in jail for the crime they do.

Scum? Do you know why these pirates do this?

There are a number of reasons:

Firstly, some Western ships dump their nuclear waste into Somali waters. This leads to illness and even death amongst the Somali population. If someone done that to you would you sit there and take it?

Secondly, most of the ships they hijacked were European/American, this is because Somali people have a strong anti-America/West feeling, this is mainly because they think America is part of a Jewish plot to take over the world.

Thirdly, these pirates are young men who have no jobs and money to provide for their families. Piracy is an option to luxury and happiness for them.

So next time you use ''scum'' think about the reality and not what the bloody media feedes you. And I thought this was a place to ''deny ignorance''

I agree. I think there is some kind of link between terrorism and piratism. After all, Yemen is where OBL grew up right? Isn't that where the pirates are?

Also... I totally agree with you Homer about mandatory volunteerism. I've been hearing lately that it's not mandetory (which is a good thing... thank God)... but yeah you're totally right on that one. The fed needs to get out of our space.

And I don't want to vote Republican next election. They're all the same. We need to elect a third party candidate into our offices next time around.

reply to post by makeitso


Well, my offer still stands if Homer and Martin would like me to email them the paper I mentioned. Granted it was written from an academic perspective, the sources utilized, which some cannot be accessed or obtained unless via academic domains, could or would prove useful to their expose (i.e.: investigative journalism) on this topic.

My academic thesis and research runs counter/contrary to many within the academic community on this matter. In this paper, I argue, via numerous sourcings, that there is indeed a growing nexus/connection between piracy and terrorism. As such, apparently, this nexus/connection continues to be increasingly exposed. The job of an intelligence analyst is to obtain information, whether via public or secret intel, etc. and then to plausibly piece such together like a puzzle till a picture either emrges or does not. Accordingly, my own research, among a few others, have begun to make visible a picture.

Consider these few articles arguably indicating a link, an emerging nexus:

Somalia pirates shuttling al Qaeda terrorists and weapons for al-Shabab, sharing ransoms

Former Ambassador David H. Shinn recently claimed there was no direct connection between the two and then immediately cited a credible source to the contrary:

"Jane’s [Intelligence Review] has identified a close link between the pirates and the extremist al-Shabab group, which says it has links to al-Qaeda. The pirates in Kismayu coordinate with the al-Shabab militia in the area, although al-Shabab apparently does not play an active role in the pirate attacks. Al-Shabab requires some pirates to pay a protection fee of 5 to 10 percent of the ransom money. If al-Shabab helps to train the pirates, it might receive 20 percent and up to 50 percent if it finances the piracy operation. There is increasing evidence that the pirates are assisting al-Shabab with arms smuggling from Yemen and two central Asian countries. They are also reportedly helping al-Shabab develop an independent maritime force so that it can smuggle foreign jihadist fighters and 'special weapons' into Somalia."

Pondering Somali Piracy

"As I noted in this column two months ago, to date there has yet to be "evidence of anything other than opportunistic instances of cooperation between Somalia's Islamists and pirates – the latter have played no small role in the ferrying of the estimated 1,500 non-Somali jihadists into the country – the ongoing ascendancy of al-Shabaab and its allies does not bode well for efforts to stem the contemporaneous rise of the pirates." While that analysis still largely holds true, it does not mean that it will always be the case. As another one of my FDD colleagues, Dr. Walid Phares, pointed out earlier this week, the Somali pirates could easily be transformed into the tip of a far wider jihadist thrust in a geopolitically sensitive region, a move that, as I reported last month, Usama bin Laden, among others, earnestly seeks. Thus, recognizing the deadly potential of a common cause between the pirate gangs and al-Shabaab and other Islamist militants..."

Are Somali Pirates helping al-Qaeda?

"Lt. Gen. Maples touched upon the links between the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab and the more well-known al-Qaeda, stating that, 'Recent propaganda from both al-Qaeda and the Somalia-base terrorist group al-Shabaab highlighting their shared ideology suggests a formal merger announcement is forthcoming.'

Such an alliance would allow al-Qaeda to gain a more concrete base of operations in East Africa, within the territory that al-Shabaab already controls in the southern part of Somalia. Given that al-Qaeda has already carried a number of succesful terror attacks in the region, including the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and the seaborne assaults on the USS Cole and the MT Limburg, the transnational security risks this poses are great.

And since al-Shabaab is believed to receive at least some of its funding from pirate gangs operating within its sphere of control, this increases the reasons we have to both stem the tide of piracy off Somalia and address the land-based security issues."

[edit on 24-4-2009 by Seekerof]

Originally posted by Frankidealist35
I agree. I think there is some kind of link between terrorism and piratism. After all, Yemen is where OBL grew up right? Isn't that where the pirates are?

Yemen is feeding the problems in Somalia via human trafficking, arms trafficking, drug trafficking (i.e.: khat), etc.

Yemen is also the home of al-Qaeda in Yemen/Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, Yemen is a transit hub for al-Qaeda, Taliban, Salafist, and Jihadist elements (i.e.: operatives, fighters, etc.) migrating or transitioning from Iraq and Afghanistan back to training camps and havens in the Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africa region.

Accordingly, given the dubious nature of the Yemeni government’s long-term record of counterterrorism operations, and given the known presence of a small, but fairly powerful, "Salafist minority within the Yemeni military and intelligence apparatus" (via a Stratfor intel brief/article, 2008), the international community to can afford to continue to deny a) the resurgence of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa, and b) the growing convergence of piracy in the Gulf of Eden region (i.e.: specifically Somalia) and terrorism.

[edit on 24-4-2009 by Seekerof]