Tread Carefully

On Sunday, April 12 U.S. Navy snipers fatally shot three pirates holding an American cargo-ship captain hostage, marking a change in U.S.-Somali pirate relations. The ship's captain, Richard Phillips, safely returned to the USS Bainbridge, and the operation was deemed a success. President Obama used the occasion to voice his intention to "remain resolved to halt the rise of piracy in this region" by holding pirates "accountable for their crimes".

President Obama’s new policy orientation is shortsighted. While rescuing an American citizen and reuniting him with his family is certainly joyous in and of itself, the ramifications from this episode and attached declarations will likely aggravate an already difficult situation.

The decision to kill the pirates redefines the stakes and endangers present and future hostages. Unlike such ideologically motivated enemies as al Qaeda, Somali pirates engaged in illicit activities for purely economic purposes. As long as they received ransom, the pirates actually treated their hostages quite well, “sometimes roasting goat meat for them and even passing phones round so they can call loved ones. The worst violence reported has been the occasional beating and no hostages are known to have been killed by pirates”.

Americans can now likely kiss such humane treatment goodbye. According to Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of Mombasa-based East African Seafarers Assistance Program, "This is a big wake-up to the pirates. It raises the stakes. Now they may be more violent, like the pirates of old”. Indeed, on Monday, April 13th, Abdullahi Ahmed, a member of a pirate group based in Harardhere, told a Somalia journalist, “We have decided to kill U.S. and French sailors if they happen to be among our future hostages.” Another pirate, Ali Nur, stated, “From now on, after the killings by the U.S. and France, we will add some harsher steps in our dealings with hostages, particularly American and French hostages”.

Thus, the new status quo taking shape appears to be Somali pirates intending to harm specifically American hostages and President Obama intending to confront and hold them accountable for their actions. Unfortunately for President Obama, this is a wholly untenable position.

Given the situation on the ground in Somalia, piracy appears for many to be one of few viable options for economic improvement. For some, piracy stems from necessity not choice. Take for example Mohammad a father of six children: "Tired of lacking prospects, living in a crumbling house and walking in fear of the ever-present militias in Galkayo...[he] plan[s] to join the pirates in Kobyo, who had sent him money for his travel, 'My children are dying of hunger,' he says. 'I no longer have a choice.' He dreams of marrying two new young, beautiful wives, and 'everyone knows that piracy is the only activity around here that pays well." President Obama must understand that Somali piracy is not some choice that a few bad apples are making – it is a rational act stemming from extreme desperation and a complete lack of any other viable option to improve one’s own life. Piracy is a function of a greater systemic problem – focusing on it is simply trying to combat a symptom while ignoring the disease. As such, piracy will last as long as Somalia remains a festering failed state.

Today (Tuesday, April 14th), Somali pirates hijacked two more freighters – one Lebanese and one Greek. Piracy in Somalia will not stop until there is real progress on land. Unless President Obama wants to introduce a large-scale operation (through aid and development) to address the most anarchic place in the world, his threats will remain misplaced, and American sailors’ lives will stay endangered.