special to mike beidler
is the present reformatting & truncation what you are suggesting
not a bad idea if so
thanx
& to david phillips
very nice parallel there up to a point
pirates as an affront to the dignity & authority of rome & turtle bay alike
for both of them
each in its own way
were built on rapine plunder captivity terror warlordism exploitation & piracy too
moreover
for some reason
then as now
it is considered more immoral & more of an outrage for darker skinned people to so hideously abuse lighter skinned ones than vice versa
but the one really outstanding difference seems to lie just where we began this free ranging discussion
about territorial integrity & self determination in general & somaliland in particular
which has proceeded under a series of various rubrics
for there is today no place outside the international territorial & boundary system
to resettle & rehabilitate pirates as pompey could so easily do
except perhaps for marie byrd land & a few guano rocks
since we today simply have nowhere left
to go
thanx to our
profligate & exhaustive system of territorial allocation
ask boat people or those whose lands are disappearing beneath rising seas
you know
territorial integrity of states & all that
plus
21st century technical prowess
has simply surrounded & closed off practically the entire land area of the planet
& after all
pirates are driven by the same economic necessity as everyone else
for piracy may be more exciting & glamorous than fishing or farming or shopkeeping
but it is far more difficult & dangerous too
& enough to give one pause before deciding to make a career of it
in the present case the piracy is just the familiar petty warlordism transferred to a maritime venue
by former fishermen & other unemployed & devastated people of a warlord nation
whose legitimate livelihoods in every case were first despoiled & plundered by outsiders
next to whom btw
they &
their onshore warlord counterparts are sweetness & light by comparison
really
long live ambition industriousness ingenuity & the spirit of venture capitalism
& heaven help anyone who gets in the way of it
aye matey
& the political will to clean up somalian piracy must begin in somalia or it just wont wash
so
once again
self determination to the rescue
meanwhile some more recent somaliland takes
first just for local color & esprit if you will indulge me
http://www.ahmedguedi.com/MyFile/?p=195
& then to properly pin the tail on the donkey of territorial integrity & uti possidetis etc
at foggy bottom
http://medeshi-medeshi.blogspot.com/2008/12/losing-somalia-us-eyes-somaliland.html
--- On Fri, 12/26/08, [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [INT-BOUNDARIES] more details emerge from the horn
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Friday, December
26, 2008, 11:43 PM
Message
By "better" I
meant that there is now at least UN authority to go after the pirates at sea and
arrest them, not of course that any such new authority is needed, but it might
help buck up the timorous Europeans who prefer to set pirates gently on the
beach with a box lunch and a thermos of cooling drinks rather than hang them
from the yardarms as was traditional. Not of course that modern warships
have yardarms any more.
But you are
quite right, Aletheia, to suggest that laughing at all this is an appropriate
and creative response. It is rather easier for us on this list to do that
than it would be if we personally had ships in the region, or worse if we were
on a hijacked crew, sweating it out below decks in broiling Eyl or the
entertainingly named Xaafuun, waiting for the check to clear. And I'm not
sure this is "not a morality play" -- hijacking a merchant ship and holding it
and its crew hostage for ransom seems pretty clearly immoral by any standard,
and arresting the pirates and then letting them go seems almost as
immoral.
I keep coming
back to Pompey. This was the situation in 67 BC, according to Plutarch's
"Life of Pompey," §24.
The power of the pirates first
commenced in Cilicia, having in truth but a precarious and obscure beginning,
but gained life and boldness afterwards in the wars of Mithridates, where they
hired themselves out, and took employment in the king's service. Afterwards,
whilst the Romans were embroiled in their civil wars, being engaged against
one another even before the very gates of Rome, the seas lay waste and
unguarded, and by degrees enticed and drew them on not only to seize upon and
spoil the merchants and ships upon the seas, but also to lay waste the islands
and seaport towns. So that now there embarked with these pirates men of wealth
and noble birth and superior abilities, as if it had been a natural occupation
to gain distinction in. They had divers arsenals, or piratic harbors, as
likewise watch towers and beacons, all along the sea-coast; and fleets were
here received that were well manned with the finest mariners, and well served
with the expertest pilots, and composed of swift sailing and light-built
vessels adapted for their special purpose. Nor was it merely their being thus
formidable that excited indignation; they were even more odious for their
ostentation than they were feared for their force. Their ships had gilded
masts at their stems; the sails woven of purple, and the oars plated with
silver, as if their delight were to glory in their iniquity. There was nothing
but music and dancing, banqueting and revels, all along the shore. Officers in
command were taken prisoners, and cities put under contribution, to the
reproach and dishonor of the Roman supremacy. There were of these corsairs
above one thousand sail, and they had taken no less than four hundred cities,
committing sacrilege upon the temples of the gods, and enriching themselves
with the spoils of many never violated before …
And so
on. The power of the pirates extended over the whole area of the
Mediterranean (§25). After fierce opposition in the Senate, a law was
passed that gave Pompey unlimited power at sea, and to a distance of 50 miles
inland, in order to suppress the pirates. He was given lots of money and
the power to raise a large force of troops and sailors. He divided the sea
and its coasts into 13 districts, each assigned to a subordinate commander
(§26), and set out with wide publicity. He arrested pirates and
confiscated their ships wherever he found them. Most of the pirates
gave up or changed professions soon after his campaign started. No vast
bloodbaths were necessary because the pirates knew Pompey had the force to
annihilate them and the will to do so if
necessary.
And so the war was brought to
an end. In less than three months piracy had been completely driven from
the seas. Among the many ships surrendered to Pompey were ninety
warships with brazen rams. There were more than 20,000 prisoners.
As regards the prisoners, Pompey never even entertained the idea of putting
them to death; on the other hand there were great numbers of them, they were
poor and used to war; so that he did not think it would be wise to let them go
and allow them to disperse or else to reorganize themselves again in
bands. (§28)
So he relocated them in devastated and underpopulated regions
and ruined cities, of which there is no shortage in the region we are talking
about now, "to give them a taste of civilized life and to get them used to
living in cities and cultivating the land." And more than 2000 years
later, people are still talking about how well that all worked
out.
I'm just saying. With massive support, all necessary
authority, good organization, a clear program and overwhelming force,
Pompey cleaned up the whole Mediterranean in a season. Surely the
modern navies of the world, with their vast superiority in technology, weaponry,
communications, reconnaissance and air power, could do the same in
this small corner of the seas if there were the political will to do so.
David Phillips
San Francisco
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