In 1991, the government of Somalia collapsed. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since – and the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country’s food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas.

Yes: nuclear waste. As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: “Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it.” Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to “dispose” of cheaply. When I asked Mr Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: “Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention.” At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia’s seas of their greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish stocks by overexploitation – and now we have moved on to theirs. This is the context in which the “pirates” have emerged. Somalian fishermen took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least levy a “tax” on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia – and ordinary Somalis agree. The independent Somalian news site WardheerNews found 70 per cent “strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence”.

Interesting...thanks for your info! But I feel as if the "pirates" should decide who gets robed(trash dumpers) and who are left alone(food medical aid carriers). JMO They don't have to be pirates to all!

true but keep in mind they are pirates. they have been around for a very long time

But you'd think they would have a little reasoning about who/what they attack. I understand what you are saying..."once a dog, always a dog"! OK...again...thanks. I guess after a while, it just becomes a way of life for them. And now I wonder what they(the country)would do without the food/medical help.

I don't condone the hijackings, but being a veteran, I know what you can expect when you put a persons back against a wall. Expect trouble.

Actually the Europeans paid their then President to dump the waste there.
$8 a tonne if I remember correctly!

Beyond that I doubt the pirates are as concerned with that as much as they are the get rich quick oppurtunity hijacking unarmed merchant ships presents.

*side note* my step father believes he has traced my family back to the Irish pirate Grace O'Malley

Me either.

They tried to hijack another American flagged ship yesterday.
The attack was thwarted.

I know what you are saying...and I too, totally agree...but the operative here is "food and medical aid" for them(pirates)/their gov.

WOW! That is/would be interesting to backtrack your family history.

True...but now they claim to have a different agenda for the attack on us!

As with this thread, attention goes from a country that has been badly abused to ONLY dealing with the pirates, and I agree, that is nessessary, but will we put the same effort into helping the other "non-combatant" Somalis sort out the abuse issues and bring those responsible to answer the charges?

Will they continue the abuse under the escort of our armadas using the "pirate problem" to bring protection to continued actions?

I think there is much more at stake here than we will ever see on the mainstream media.

Good question!

I dont beleve the pirates motives stems from the dumping of the waste.
Which I believe was stopped years ago. (Im not for sure but I'll try to confirm that the dumping was indeed stopped.)

I think the actions of the pirates are solely motivated by the easy money involved from ransoming the cargo.

Im not sure what you mean by abused, but their problems are mostly self-inflicted!

So you think the average Somali asked to be poisoned and starved? Makes sense to me.

Pirates are pirates, they are responsible for their own actions, and hopefully they will get their day in court.

The source of my article was 4/12/09

Your statement misses my entire point. I'm sure the average Somali had no say on what their government officials approved of (sound familiar), the fact of the matter is there is a problem that needs to be addressed for them and such thinking as yours is probably what they have received in the past.

Excuse me.

What I mean by self-inflicted is their support for the various warlords who run their country and the inaction by their present government to do anything about it!
Not to mention that they are attacking ships far from their shores in International sea lanes. Many of which are attempting to bring aid to them directly in the form of Food from the World Food Program.
They hold one now that is carrying food for their people.

You keep going on about the dumping of medical and nuclear waste in the early 90's as being the cause, and yet these ships have nothing to do with that. Nor are they anywhere close to their shores.
I doubt these pirates are even smart enough to realize what damage they do to themselves. At the very least they care not about their fellow Somalians. They are in it for the ransom money!

Ould-Abdallah said piracy will not prevent waste dumping.

"The intentions of these pirates are not concerned with protecting their environment," he said.

"What is ultimately needed is a functioning, effective government that will get its act together and take control of its affairs."


A very good article.


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/10/2008109174223218644.html

I will agree with you in regards to the pirates, no contest, but the issue as a whole for the people should be an equal concern once the issue of the pirates is handled.

The average Somali has no defense against the heavily armed warlords of their areas. They are the real pirates, enslaving their own people, stealing their food and whatever wealth they do have.

I hope we will voice their dilemma as loudly as we voice ours when talking of the pirates. The dumping and fishing is criminal and needs to be stated and charged as such, the warlords need to be another matter of importance. Perhaps then the Somalis have a chance at developing with their own ideas for their country.

I agree!
If Clinton had had more balls, instead of worrying about bad press at home this would possibly be a non-issue!

Until a few days ago I was not even aware of the dumping. Ever since I have been pouring over material about it.

It is quite shocking!