haha

sorry for the typo

Hire Blackwater and other PMCs to help the Navy out on the seas. Ramp up OEF-Horn of Africa and pacify Somaliland. Help the Somali citizens by giving them food and support thereby limiting/eradicating the need to resort to extremist Islamic jihad--(aka surge tactics). Utilize Gen. David Petraeus as Senior Advisor in the East African region.

I haven't read through the whole thread, but I'm gonna try to comment on the Somali side of the conflict.

Anyways, corporate media will of course condemn the Somalis in this and true, many of the pirates are out to just that loot and pillage. But this is only half the story...

European vessels pass through this area for international trading purposes - and that's fine. However, there has been a huge lack of respect for the Somalia's waters for decades. In fact, all up and through the Gulf of Aden (and maybe the Red Sea), European vessels have treated these waters as undisclosed dumping grounds for nuclear waste. All this was exposed due to the tsunami in 2005.

I'm just sayin'... many of the so-called "pirates" are look upon as a Coast Guard by many Somalis on the ground. And rightfully so.

Here's an interesting article on the nuclear waste issue.
And here's what a Somali has to say about it all.

The sources provided are not objective or professional.  InfoWars and YouTube?  Come on.  The Gulf Aden is a vital worldwide economic sea lane and needs to remain open.  The question is not about whether it should be legal but what to do about the piracy situation.

The country was fine when UIC was in power, but Bush just couldn't take it - so he had his puppet (Meles Zenawi) go in and disrupt what little stability Somalia had in decades.  There is huge economic potential in Somalia and loads of untapped oil reserves that have yet to see full scale exploitation.  This is why the US has such an interest in the area.  That and the fact that they're operation in '91 was a total failure.  They lost.  Many times when western powers lose, they don't forget and come back for round 2!

As for the northern half of Somalia - Somaliland - that territory is well governed and pretty much autonomous.  The only thing missing really is international recognition.

InfoWars is certainly not objective, but I liked that article and you won't really get it anywhere else - Alex Jones and crew are radical and they don't hold back the facts - which is why I like them.  As for K'naan, I thought he summed up the situation pretty nicely.  It's always nice to get the perspective of the people and not just corporate media.

K'naan = a Somalian born rapper as stated on YT.  That gives me insight into his politics.  He will always defend his country due to nativist patriotism and as a rapper he would hold a sort of Liberal bias.  Correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Unfortunately he also quadrupled the structural adjustment shackles stipulations...

The africans didn't seem to mind much.  He had some unheard of approval ratings on the continent.

Like the 80% range.  I'm not even sure when the last time was that we liked our own president that much.

@ halogamer1989 - the fact that he's Somali born and raised was the reason I wanted to hear what he had to say. Like I mentioned, it's always good to get every angle.

Saying he'll always defend his country due to patriotism or that he'll hold a liberal bias because he's a rapper is a bit presumptuous. It assumes that everyone is a patriot and every rapper has a liberal bias - which I seriously doubt to be true.