Warm feelings towards rum and parrots, memories of Jack Sparrow and Blackbeard swashbuckling throughout a fantastical Neverland, have imbued an undeniable romance towards pirating.
Images of fierce sunsets flung over watery eternities have for centuries fascinated society and consequently, any piratical association is incorrigibly klunge. The recent epidemic of Somali bandits who prune international trading routes has again fuelled our infantine interest. It has gained momentous media coverage in our clamour for nautical fables and accordingly, unearthed some contradictory truths.
This collection of skirmishes, currently favoured by opportune conditions, evades most efforts. International relief is hindered by bureaucracy, ingenuity and the requirement for delicacy in this brutal and divided military theatre. Anchored around Mogadishu, the gun-toting capital of the rudderless nation, frequent raids, hostage takings and murders have angered the shipping industry and governments. Leaders have uniformly condemned the atrocities, with American, British and French forces shadowing the increasingly garrisoned merchant ships.
This has allowed the attention-seeking Sarkozy to play commander-in-chief and Special Forces to exercise their training. Casualty totals are rising and hostage numbers are at a constant high. Appalling interceptions of aid packages and security costs are increasing. Aggravation is soon sure to yield a violent riposte to this ‘naval terrorism,’ as it is being termed. Modern technology and weaponry has sharpened the potency of this anachronistic threat to innocent sailors, bringing the potential for a litany of abhorrent abuse at the hands of their eye-patched persecutors.
Yet literary delusion still commandeers my judgement. An image of lovable rogues, attired in plumed hats and boots, entertaining with rhythmical rhetoric and an affinity for spontaneous merriment. I was moved to congratulate the buccaneers for the capture of 33 Russian tanks, a most excellent haul, and forced to stifle a joyous cry at each installment of the undisclosed fortune pillaged.
In all seriousness, desperation necessitates demanding an immediate solution to end the inherent horrors that are often overlooked. This drama serves to reiterate the audacity and brutality of piracy. Only through fixing the underlying problem, lawlesness in Somalia, will the marauding swashbucklers be stopped.
Sam Hall
