Apparntly the pirates are actually helping a small part of the country with their influx of money.
So they buy machines for counting money from their partners in other countries including Dubai which they then use to count the money they recieve as ransom from Hijacking ships that are run out of Dubai..?
Someone seems to be on the losing end of this deal here.
Seriously, I realize the only way to eliminate piracy is to install some viable government in Somolia. But, the accelerated deaths of pirates at the hands of the world's navies could help some of the other pirates decide that, well, perhaps they haven't made the best career choice.
But then... what other career choice is there in Somolia?
Seriously, I realize the only way to eliminate piracy is to install some viable government in Somolia. But, the accelerated deaths of pirates at the hands of the world's navies could help some of the other pirates decide that, well, perhaps they haven't made the best career choice.
But then... what other career choice is there in Somolia?
Seriously, I realize the only way to eliminate piracy is to install some viable government in Somolia. But, the accelerated deaths of pirates at the hands of the world's navies could help some of the other pirates decide that, well, perhaps they haven't made the best career choice.
But then... what other career choice is there in Somolia?
Seriously, I realize the only way to eliminate piracy is to install some viable government in Somolia. But, the accelerated deaths of pirates at the hands of the world's navies could help some of the other pirates decide that, well, perhaps they haven't made the best career choice.
But then... what other career choice is there in Somolia?
I imagine there is more then one pirate group and the ones who are organized and equipped to a scary degree are still busy with their captured supertanker.
Perhaps they need to organize up with the Dread Pirate Roberts and Captain Jack Sparrow.
But then... what other career choice is there in Somolia?
Bullet stopper, land-mine finder, and poor fisherman who's hot daughter gets kidnapped by warlords and then has to gather together the wealth of the entire village to hire the A-Team. Don't tell BA that you have to get on a plane to go to Africa.
I imagine there is more then one pirate group and the ones who are organized and equipped to a scary degree are still busy with their captured supertanker.
Perhaps they need to organize up with the Dread Pirate Roberts and Captain Jack Sparrow.
But then... what other career choice is there in Somolia?
Bullet stopper, land-mine finder, and poor fisherman who's hot daughter gets kidnapped by warlords and then has to gather together the wealth of the entire village to hire the A-Team. Don't tell BA that you have to get on a plane to go to Africa.
Zing!
Edit: From the article
Somalia has done very well for itself in the 15 years since its government was eliminated. The future of peace and prosperity there depends in part on keeping one from forming.
This, written with neither bitter irony nor sarcasm, has to be the funniest damn thing I've read in some time.
Somalia has done very well for itself in the 15 years since its government was eliminated. The future of peace and prosperity there depends in part on keeping one from forming.
This, written with neither bitter irony nor sarcasm, has to be the funniest damn thing I've read in some time.
My favorite tag? Lolbertopian. Sometimes you need a new word to describe a new kind of stupid.
But then... what other career choice is there in Somolia?
Bullet stopper, land-mine finder, and poor fisherman who's hot daughter gets kidnapped by warlords and then has to gather together the wealth of the entire village to hire the A-Team. Don't tell BA that you have to get on a plane to go to Africa.
Somalia has done very well for itself in the 15 years since its government was eliminated. The future of peace and prosperity there depends in part on keeping one from forming.
This, written with neither bitter irony nor sarcasm, has to be the funniest damn thing I've read in some time.
My favorite tag? Lolbertopian. Sometimes you need a new word to describe a new kind of stupid.
But then... what other career choice is there in Somolia?
Bullet stopper, land-mine finder, and poor fisherman who's hot daughter gets kidnapped by warlords and then has to gather together the wealth of the entire village to hire the A-Team. Don't tell BA that you have to get on a plane to go to Africa.
Thanks. Now I have to clean my monitor off.
This made me look up Somalia on Wikipedia.
Since the collapse of the state, Somalia has transformed from what Siad Barre referred to as "Scientific Socialism" to a free market economy.
I know if I were African, no sight would be as pleasing as a bunch of white Europeans headed my way in warships. Nothing bad ever happens when European militaries go to Africa.
I know if I were African, no sight would be as pleasing as a bunch of white Europeans headed my way in warships. Nothing bad ever happens when European militaries go to Africa.
What? Are you saying you think this is a bad idea?
The problem is that the shipping companies end up paying the ransoms, encouraging more piracy. At least the French have the right idea about this.
April 4, 2008: 22 Frenchmen taken hostage by pirates aboard the MY Le Ponant.
The FS Commandant Bouan, a French D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso, and the HMCS Charlottetown, a Canadian Halifax-class frigate, were dispatched to the yacht. On April 12 the crew and the ship were released, apparently after the owner, CMA CGM, paid a ransom. After the crew was released, French soldiers tracked the pirates, who were then on land. According to the French military a sniper in a helicopter disabled the engine of a car transporting the pirates, while another helicopter landed and captured six pirates and recovered some ransom money. On April 13 the six appeared in a French court in Paris and were charged with, among other things, hostage-taking, hijacking, and theft.
September 2, 2008: The Carré d'As, a 50-foot yacht, was hijacked and its two occupants, a French couple, were taken captive. The pirates demanded a million euros in ransom, and the liberation of the six Somalis captured during the Le Ponant incident.
On September 16, French commando frogmen from the Commando Hubert unit, operating from the frigate Courbet, stormed the yacht as it was being taken to Eyl. The two captives were freed, while one pirate was killed and six captured.
Actually, reading over the list of piracy incidents in the past year, apparently they aren't the brainiest bunch. Exploits include:
- Firing on British Royal Marines. Three Dead Pirates, More captured. No injured Marines.
- Trying to capture a North Korean ship. One dead Pirate, Six captured. Three injured Sailors.
- Capturing a United Arab Emirates Vessel. They made this mistake twice. Five dead Pirates, Seventeen captured. Two dead Somali Islamic militants hired as gunmen by the Emirates.
Two days ago: Opening fire upon and trying to ram an Indian Navy Frigate armed with Cruise Missiles. Many dead Pirates, no injured Indians.
I know if I were African, no sight would be as pleasing as a bunch of white Europeans headed my way in warships. Nothing bad ever happens when European militaries go to Africa.
To be fair, I don't think they're planning on getting off their boats this time.
I know if I were African, no sight would be as pleasing as a bunch of white Europeans headed my way in warships. Nothing bad ever happens when European militaries go to Africa.
What? Are you saying you think this is a bad idea?
I'm saying it's not going to win over any of the local public opinion that's actually needed to stop the pirates. All the piracy that's going on in Africa was going on in Southeast Asia before, in the Malacca Strait.
It was greatly reduced not because the West sent in destroyers, but because insurance companies raised the rates of ships passing through the Strait. Loyd's of London declared it a "war zone" and raised rates by 1% of total cargo value. That pissed off businesses, which led to local governments in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand getting together and purging the corrupt local officals who were allowing safe havens for the pirates, as well as coordinating patrols.
Now, those countries don't have ships with anywhere near the tech of what the EU has, but they're locals. What they do have is knowledge of the geography, the culture, the language, etc. You don't need some AEGIS cruiser to take out a pirate's shabby little boat, nor will it help you find whatever inlet they disappear to. This whole armada thing is reminiscent of thinking a bunch of high-tech weapons was going to win Afghanistan or Vietnam.
Contrast that to the response last April when Somali pirates hit a French yacht and abducted 22 French nationals. Sarkozy sent in a Special Forces strike team with 4 helicopters to chase down and catch 6 of those pirates. There was no coordinated effort with the local rulers, or with neighboring countries that do have functional governments. It was basically, "Whatevah! We're the French, we do what we want! Whatevah!"
You'll have to forgive the Africans, they're a bit suspicious when giant European armadas come floating down the coastline.
I don't know what the Brits are doing. The Foreign Office told the Royal Navy to stop capturing pirates, because they were claiming asylum on grounds that they would be tortured and and killed if returned to Somalia. I guess they felt it was better than dealing with an influx of Somalis, but hardly a strong anti-piracy move.
I hope there's a plan to address the root problem (Somalia's lack of a government) coming along with this fleet, because otherwise it's just the sort of move that'll make them look like hubris-filled dumbasses a few months later.
It feels like one of those things where the public is first learning about a problem, and politicians going "we'll deal with it, and hard. Oh yeah!"
The pirates get to pick their targets in a wide open & busy space while operating in vessels that look like any other fishing boats. It's not like there isn't naval presence there already; there are limits to what you can do in a reactionary mode.
I hope there's a plan to address the root problem (Somalia's lack of a government) coming along with this fleet, because otherwise it's just the sort of move that'll make them look like hubris-filled dumbasses a few months later.
It feels like one of those things where the public is first learning about a problem, and politicians going "we'll deal with it, and hard. Oh yeah!"
The pirates get to pick their targets in a wide open & busy space while operating in vessels that look like any other fishing boats. It's not like there isn't naval presence there already; there are limits to what you can do in a reactionary mode.
At the moment....no. Unless you count Ethiopia. And I don't see anyone doing it anytime soon. The U.N. has failed once, Europe's history of "fixing" area's doesn't have a stellar track record and the U.S. is committed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. So unless China wants to try it, there isn't anyone left who can do a job of nation building.
I know if I were African, no sight would be as pleasing as a bunch of white Europeans headed my way in warships. Nothing bad ever happens when European militaries go to Africa.
What? Are you saying you think this is a bad idea?
I'm saying it's not going to win over any of the local public opinion that's actually needed to stop the pirates. All the piracy that's going on in Africa was going on in Southeast Asia before, in the Malacca Strait.
It was greatly reduced not because the West sent in destroyers, but because insurance companies raised the rates of ships passing through the Strait. Loyd's of London declared it a "war zone" and raised rates by 1% of total cargo value. That pissed off businesses, which led to local governments in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand getting together and purging the corrupt local officals who were allowing safe havens for the pirates, as well as coordinating patrols.
So the idea is the Somali government should purge it's corrupt officials who are allowing piracy? The fact that the government in Somalia has little to no control over it's own coutry makes this idea ridiculous. The problem isn't corrupt officials. The problem is absolutely powerless officials.
The vast majority of Somalians probably couldn't care less about warships, European or otherwise, heading their way. The last time warships showed up there they ended up leaving after accomplishing virtually nothing. On top of which I'd guess they're a little busy worrying about being killed or kidnapped by their countrymen.
Two days ago: Opening fire upon and trying to ram an Indian Navy Frigate armed with Cruise Missiles. Many dead Pirates, no injured Indians.
Are you implying ordinances were used to dispatch the pirates? 'cause like, that ordinance is ridiculously expensive, -- and I don't mean just the cruise missiles, which obviously weren't used :P -- and if piracy is necessitating the use of, really, any kind of man/firepower, it's still an absolutely enormous financial drain.
The money isn't going to the pirates, no, but it's still coming from the coffers of the nations being harassed. Being able to handily dispose of assailants is treating the symptom, not the problem; so long as piracy remains a seemingly-profitable venture, the attacks will continue.
Honestly, from where I'm sitting, this is just one rotten pickle. I have no idea how this one gets solved.
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ThomamelasOnly one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered Userregular
Two days ago: Opening fire upon and trying to ram an Indian Navy Frigate armed with Cruise Missiles. Many dead Pirates, no injured Indians.
Are you implying ordinances were used to dispatch the pirates? 'cause like, that ordinance is ridiculously expensive, -- and I don't mean just the cruise missiles, which obviously weren't used :P -- and if piracy is necessitating the use of, really, any kind of man/firepower, it's still an absolutely enormous financial drain.
The money isn't going to the pirates, no, but it's still coming from the coffers of the nations being harassed. Being able to handily dispose of assailants is treating the symptom, not the problem; so long as piracy remains a seemingly-profitable venture, the attacks will continue.
Honestly, from where I'm sitting, this is just one rotten pickle. I have no idea how this one gets solved.
You strike a blow against libertarianism and impose a government. Then over the long term you help provide stability. But this requires someone with a will to do it. And while an overall long term deployment is expensive, not every kind of ordinance is. You're talking about speed boats and fishing boats. You don't need big heavy rounds to deal with either of them. They did put a Indian Marine contingent on board the vessels they deployed to the area. I'm fairly sure they have a weapon equivalent to a .50 machine gun with them.
A few hundred rounds expended don't cost that much and you can skip part of your live fire training if your budget is that tight.
I hope there's a plan to address the root problem (Somalia's lack of a government) coming along with this fleet, because otherwise it's just the sort of move that'll make them look like hubris-filled dumbasses a few months later.
It feels like one of those things where the public is first learning about a problem, and politicians going "we'll deal with it, and hard. Oh yeah!"
The pirates get to pick their targets in a wide open & busy space while operating in vessels that look like any other fishing boats. It's not like there isn't naval presence there already; there are limits to what you can do in a reactionary mode.
At the moment....no. Unless you count Ethiopia. And I don't see anyone doing it anytime soon. The U.N. has failed once, Europe's history of "fixing" area's doesn't have a stellar track record and the U.S. is committed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. So unless China wants to try it, there isn't anyone left who can do a job of nation building.
The problem with the history of Western "interventions" in Africa is that they were either noble but half-hearted attempts or grand efforts to exploit the mineral wealth and cheap labor of the continent. China is pretty much doing the latter now. I don't know how the hell this situation can be fixed other than providing an environment that allows a workable government to grow organically. But that'd take time. Otherwise, if we go in with even a little bit of self-interest (other than the interest of stopping piracy) then we fail.
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ThomamelasOnly one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered Userregular
I hope there's a plan to address the root problem (Somalia's lack of a government) coming along with this fleet, because otherwise it's just the sort of move that'll make them look like hubris-filled dumbasses a few months later.
It feels like one of those things where the public is first learning about a problem, and politicians going "we'll deal with it, and hard. Oh yeah!"
The pirates get to pick their targets in a wide open & busy space while operating in vessels that look like any other fishing boats. It's not like there isn't naval presence there already; there are limits to what you can do in a reactionary mode.
At the moment....no. Unless you count Ethiopia. And I don't see anyone doing it anytime soon. The U.N. has failed once, Europe's history of "fixing" area's doesn't have a stellar track record and the U.S. is committed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. So unless China wants to try it, there isn't anyone left who can do a job of nation building.
The problem with the history of Western "interventions" in Africa is that they were either noble but half-hearted attempts or grand efforts to exploit the mineral wealth and cheap labor of the continent. China is pretty much doing the latter now. I don't know how the hell this situation can be fixed other than providing an environment that allows a workable government to grow organically. But that'd take time. Otherwise, if we go in with even a little bit of self-interest (other than the interest of stopping piracy) then we fail.
The only other option is a massive long term naval presence in the area and a restructuring of the shipping to allow that naval presence to cover it. At which point you pray Somalia's experiment with libertarianism finally makes it clear that they need a real government and they impose it themselves.
The problem is that the shipping companies end up paying the ransoms, encouraging more piracy. At least the French have the right idea about this.
April 4, 2008: 22 Frenchmen taken hostage by pirates aboard the MY Le Ponant.
The FS Commandant Bouan, a French D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso, and the HMCS Charlottetown, a Canadian Halifax-class frigate, were dispatched to the yacht. On April 12 the crew and the ship were released, apparently after the owner, CMA CGM, paid a ransom. After the crew was released, French soldiers tracked the pirates, who were then on land. According to the French military a sniper in a helicopter disabled the engine of a car transporting the pirates, while another helicopter landed and captured six pirates and recovered some ransom money. On April 13 the six appeared in a French court in Paris and were charged with, among other things, hostage-taking, hijacking, and theft.
On September 16, French commando frogmen from the Commando Hubert unit, operating from the frigate Courbet, stormed the yacht as it was being taken to Eyl. The two captives were freed, while one pirate was killed and six captured.
So, if a brutal strongman takes over and sets shit straight, do we accept that as a better alternative to the rampant piracy?
It's not just a piracy issue. Right now Somalia is a bunch of brutal strongmen combined with some crazy Islamic fundamentalists. One brutal strongman would be a step up, a tiny one but it would at least reduce shooting on the streets. Is it ideal? Not really. But the question is, who does something about it? The EU isn't going to. The US can't. China could, but no body likes the idea of them projecting military force anywhere outside their borders.
Sometimes in life you have to accept less then ideal solutions. Somalia may end up being one of those times.
But Somalia had a single brutal strongman prior to all this mess. Strongmen don't solve anything, they just winnow the opposition until the only ones left are the meanest, most well armed groups. Who eventually overthrow the strongman and then the whole place is right back where it started.
I am all in favour of sending Ron Paul to Somalia though.
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ThomamelasOnly one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered Userregular
But Somalia had a single brutal strongman prior to all this mess. Strongmen don't solve anything, they just winnow the opposition until the only ones left are the meanest, most well armed groups. Who eventually overthrow the strongman and then the whole place is right back where it started.
I am all in favour of sending Ron Paul to Somalia though.
It tends to depend on the smarts of the strongman in question. Bad ones get toppled. Okay ones manage to achieve dictatorships, and the smart ones become kings. It's a somewhat flippant answer, but it's also true.
My retirement plan was to move to a third world and live like a king on my meager savings. My new plan is to set myself up as an actual king. With a pirate army. Or maybe a ninja army to fight the pirates and I'll just blame everything that goes wrong on the pirates. I haven't decided yet.
I'll probably have to read up on sharia law so I don't offend the locals. God damn religion is the last thing I wanted to have to deal with in my old age. oh well.
According to this article ships may start carrying armed guards, it doesn't go into detail of how many and where they would be supplied from though. It does however talk about training normal crewmembers ways of shaking off pirates without using force.
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So they buy machines for counting money from their partners in other countries including Dubai which they then use to count the money they recieve as ransom from Hijacking ships that are run out of Dubai..?
Someone seems to be on the losing end of this deal here.
Why would you want to do that? Didn't you hear? Without government weighing them down, Somalia is practically a libertarian utopia.
Maybe those people who were so distraught by the McCain/Palin loss that they were going to move to Canada should move to Somalia instead!
Talk about wearing some rose colored contact lenses underneath your rose colored sunglasses with a rose colored helmet and visor on.
Somalia, Utopia, TOTALGODDAMNNONSENSE
Heh. :^:
Then all they'll need to do is draw along the hull of the ship with magic markers.
Sometimes you just gotta go for that big retirement score.
Perhaps they need to organize up with the Dread Pirate Roberts and Captain Jack Sparrow.
Bullet stopper, land-mine finder, and poor fisherman who's hot daughter gets kidnapped by warlords and then has to gather together the wealth of the entire village to hire the A-Team. Don't tell BA that you have to get on a plane to go to Africa.
Zing!
Edit: From the article This, written with neither bitter irony nor sarcasm, has to be the funniest damn thing I've read in some time.
My favorite tag? Lolbertopian. Sometimes you need a new word to describe a new kind of stupid.
Thanks. Now I have to clean my monitor off.
I know if I were African, no sight would be as pleasing as a bunch of white Europeans headed my way in warships. Nothing bad ever happens when European militaries go to Africa.
What? Are you saying you think this is a bad idea?
April 4, 2008: 22 Frenchmen taken hostage by pirates aboard the MY Le Ponant.
September 2, 2008: The Carré d'As, a 50-foot yacht, was hijacked and its two occupants, a French couple, were taken captive. The pirates demanded a million euros in ransom, and the liberation of the six Somalis captured during the Le Ponant incident.
The Somalis don't fuck with the French anymore.
- Firing on British Royal Marines. Three Dead Pirates, More captured. No injured Marines.
- Trying to capture a North Korean ship. One dead Pirate, Six captured. Three injured Sailors.
- Capturing a United Arab Emirates Vessel. They made this mistake twice. Five dead Pirates, Seventeen captured. Two dead Somali Islamic militants hired as gunmen by the Emirates.
Two days ago: Opening fire upon and trying to ram an Indian Navy Frigate armed with Cruise Missiles. Many dead Pirates, no injured Indians.
I'm saying it's not going to win over any of the local public opinion that's actually needed to stop the pirates. All the piracy that's going on in Africa was going on in Southeast Asia before, in the Malacca Strait.
It was greatly reduced not because the West sent in destroyers, but because insurance companies raised the rates of ships passing through the Strait. Loyd's of London declared it a "war zone" and raised rates by 1% of total cargo value. That pissed off businesses, which led to local governments in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand getting together and purging the corrupt local officals who were allowing safe havens for the pirates, as well as coordinating patrols.
Now, those countries don't have ships with anywhere near the tech of what the EU has, but they're locals. What they do have is knowledge of the geography, the culture, the language, etc. You don't need some AEGIS cruiser to take out a pirate's shabby little boat, nor will it help you find whatever inlet they disappear to. This whole armada thing is reminiscent of thinking a bunch of high-tech weapons was going to win Afghanistan or Vietnam.
Contrast that to the response last April when Somali pirates hit a French yacht and abducted 22 French nationals. Sarkozy sent in a Special Forces strike team with 4 helicopters to chase down and catch 6 of those pirates. There was no coordinated effort with the local rulers, or with neighboring countries that do have functional governments. It was basically, "Whatevah! We're the French, we do what we want! Whatevah!"
You'll have to forgive the Africans, they're a bit suspicious when giant European armadas come floating down the coastline.
I don't know what the Brits are doing. The Foreign Office told the Royal Navy to stop capturing pirates, because they were claiming asylum on grounds that they would be tortured and and killed if returned to Somalia. I guess they felt it was better than dealing with an influx of Somalis, but hardly a strong anti-piracy move.
I hope there's a plan to address the root problem (Somalia's lack of a government) coming along with this fleet, because otherwise it's just the sort of move that'll make them look like hubris-filled dumbasses a few months later.
It feels like one of those things where the public is first learning about a problem, and politicians going "we'll deal with it, and hard. Oh yeah!"
The pirates get to pick their targets in a wide open & busy space while operating in vessels that look like any other fishing boats. It's not like there isn't naval presence there already; there are limits to what you can do in a reactionary mode.
At the moment....no. Unless you count Ethiopia. And I don't see anyone doing it anytime soon. The U.N. has failed once, Europe's history of "fixing" area's doesn't have a stellar track record and the U.S. is committed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. So unless China wants to try it, there isn't anyone left who can do a job of nation building.
Not unless you're referring to those wooden football fields they play basketball on.
The vast majority of Somalians probably couldn't care less about warships, European or otherwise, heading their way. The last time warships showed up there they ended up leaving after accomplishing virtually nothing. On top of which I'd guess they're a little busy worrying about being killed or kidnapped by their countrymen.
The money isn't going to the pirates, no, but it's still coming from the coffers of the nations being harassed. Being able to handily dispose of assailants is treating the symptom, not the problem; so long as piracy remains a seemingly-profitable venture, the attacks will continue.
Honestly, from where I'm sitting, this is just one rotten pickle. I have no idea how this one gets solved.
You strike a blow against libertarianism and impose a government. Then over the long term you help provide stability. But this requires someone with a will to do it. And while an overall long term deployment is expensive, not every kind of ordinance is. You're talking about speed boats and fishing boats. You don't need big heavy rounds to deal with either of them. They did put a Indian Marine contingent on board the vessels they deployed to the area. I'm fairly sure they have a weapon equivalent to a .50 machine gun with them.
A few hundred rounds expended don't cost that much and you can skip part of your live fire training if your budget is that tight.
It was interesting.
The problem with the history of Western "interventions" in Africa is that they were either noble but half-hearted attempts or grand efforts to exploit the mineral wealth and cheap labor of the continent. China is pretty much doing the latter now. I don't know how the hell this situation can be fixed other than providing an environment that allows a workable government to grow organically. But that'd take time. Otherwise, if we go in with even a little bit of self-interest (other than the interest of stopping piracy) then we fail.
The only other option is a massive long term naval presence in the area and a restructuring of the shipping to allow that naval presence to cover it. At which point you pray Somalia's experiment with libertarianism finally makes it clear that they need a real government and they impose it themselves.
Thats the way shit should get done. :^:
Of course not. We have to set up the brutal strongman and give him aid because he isn't a dirty commie.
It's not just a piracy issue. Right now Somalia is a bunch of brutal strongmen combined with some crazy Islamic fundamentalists. One brutal strongman would be a step up, a tiny one but it would at least reduce shooting on the streets. Is it ideal? Not really. But the question is, who does something about it? The EU isn't going to. The US can't. China could, but no body likes the idea of them projecting military force anywhere outside their borders.
Sometimes in life you have to accept less then ideal solutions. Somalia may end up being one of those times.
I am all in favour of sending Ron Paul to Somalia though.
It tends to depend on the smarts of the strongman in question. Bad ones get toppled. Okay ones manage to achieve dictatorships, and the smart ones become kings. It's a somewhat flippant answer, but it's also true.
I'll probably have to read up on sharia law so I don't offend the locals. God damn religion is the last thing I wanted to have to deal with in my old age. oh well.
That's such a hack political comic, but it made laugh.