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

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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