Target Somalia: AFRICOM’s Expanding Mission Should Include Combating Piracy

[KLB]

The myriad of problems facing the African continent are complex. Triaging these problems is a difficult exercise, especially when the political undertones driving current problems will invariably change. Governments will realign their priorities, and allies, when neighboring governments fall, which is an all too common occurrence here; and one that makes diplomatic progress particularly challenging for the United States and other world powers. Being forced to reset their objectives, or renegotiate trade agreements, when new administrations take power, takes a heavy toll on progress. The regional focus that AFRICOM is establishing is an important first step towards stabilizing the problem while also providing a viable platform for advancing American and Coalition objectives by challenging the impunity of groups like al Qaeda who routinely operate as security escorts for drug cartels in exchange for cash. Once a bastion of refuge for terrorists and drug cartels that hid behind corrupt governments, today’s Africa is being steadily liberated by the cooperative efforts of special attachments working in concert, enabled by the foothold established by US Africa Command. Somebody finally got it right. AFRICOM’s footprint is big enough and diverse enough, to survive the changing political landscape and has enough resources and importantly, joint command authority that the job is getting done – finally. The World Health Organization (WHO) laid the early ground work, and created the first working model of multi-organizational cooperation, with their border-transcending medical missions in the face of the AIDS crisis; and the US Army played an important role in that effort.

And there’s a particularly popular fringe benefit that may soon be realized, in spite of official “denials” that the US has a direct role in Somalia; this doesn’t necessarily preclude other “special” or indirect roles or courses of action.

“U.S. military support to international efforts in Somalia was discussed during a media roundtable March 4, 2010, in Brussels, Belgium”,……. “During the roundtable, the two officials articulated current U.S. policy with regard to Somalia. They noted that the United States seeks ways to work with international partners to strengthen ongoing stability efforts in Somalia and other countries.” U.S. AFRICOM Public Affairs

With the joint command structure firmly in place, and growing international calls for action, there’s reason to hope that AFRICOM will at some point in the near future take action to combat the Somalia piracy problem. This will require regularly patrolling the skies and waters off the Somalia coast and establishing an emergency notification system for ships and private yachts. The world has grown tired of the “do nothing” approach advocated by liberal-minded diplomats who think we can correct the problem by addressing the economic factors that drive young Somali’s to piracy in the first place. The problem with this methodology is that it will take generations to correct the problem using this approach and the world isn’t willing to stand down when governments are being hijacked and innocent travelers are being robbed and killed while the liberal advocates are waiting for sprigs to grow into trees to solve the problem economically. Pirates should take notice that the resources needed to obliterate them are being assembled and that capable special operators will consider them no more formidable than range targets. If you’re a Somalian pirate, this might be a good time to consider a new line of work.