Like the pirates of the ``golden age’’, today's Somali pirates see themselves as fighting for justice. As Sugale Ali told the October 1, 2008, NYT: ``We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.’’

``The truth is, if you ask any Somali, if getting rid of the pirates only means the continuous rape of our coast by unmonitored Western vessels, and the production of a new cancerous generation, we would all fly our pirate flags high. It is time that the world gave the Somali people some assurance that these Western illegal activities will end, if our pirates are to [cease] their operations. We do not want the EU and NATO serving as a shield for these nuclear waste-dumping hoodlums.’’

we would all fly our pirate flags high...

... And deserve adequate response for such attitude. One cannot fight for justice with violence and ransoms in pockets.

One cannot fight for justice with violence and ransoms in pockets.

Heck, western governments do it all the time. They just call it "intervention", war and sanctions. To understand why the Somali's react as they do, put yourself in their shoes. To me, it seems much like the battle the Palestinians wage against Israel, with sticks and stones against a mighty standing army. The Somalis battle is with guns and ransom, but also against a just as unequal "enemy" and against the plundering of their resources and destruction of their seas. There
are always two sides to a story and this is the Somali version and it
deserves to be heard just as much.

There are always two sides to a story and this is the Somali version and it deserves to be heard just as much.

How true, thisnamecantbetaken.

It seems that everyone is always right from their point of view.

Couldn't agree more.

Saddest thing about this all, is that we (media, enterprises, politics, western civilisation), seem to have lost any compassion with those who's options are reduced to fighting back or suffer in silence. That 'we' can only reason in terms of 'they' and 'threat', dispatching ourselves from any responsibility that might be in place because of our actions affecting other nations, their environment and their people's existences. That's something I find really shocking.

The indifference to the extent of our own actions, says more about our state of humanity and morality, than that of others.