Contain Somalia’s problems to spare Yemen

BY YUSUF M. HASSAN AND ROBERT S. WEINER
Three hijackings by pirates already this year highlight the profound weakness of the international naval force tasked with patrolling the waters along the coast of lawless Somalia. Pirates kidnapped and now hold at least 100 crewpersons from just those ships—and over 300 hostages since April. The pirates’ release Thursday, after receiving a ransom, of the 30-person crew of a Taiwanese fishing boat, held for 10 months, again puts the issue into the headlines.The charged Detroit-bound failed airline bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was allegedly trained in Yemen, an Arab country located directly across from Somalia over the Gulf of Aden, at the entrance to the Red Sea and gateway to the Indian Ocean. Yemen’s oil supply is estimated to run out in seven years, and its potable water in five. Yemen’s government is in danger of becoming a failed state, as weak as neighbor Somalia.Riad Kahwaji, founder of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai, told NPR that Yemen’s “position, if it becomes a failed state, will turn the piracy problem into a nightmare.” For Yemen not to become an even larger source of piracy than Somalia, it’s time to learn from and address the Somali piracy issue. U.S. and European Union warships have been patrolling Somali waters for a year now. Somali pirates are responsible for 39 of the 41 successful hijackings by pirates worldwide in 2009. They made an estimated $150 million in ransom in 2008. As certain as there is more money to be made, more hijackings will occur. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said: "The world must come together to end the scourge of piracy." During his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo on Dec. 10, President Barack Obama stressed the need to “confront” pirate attacks, but added that we must assist “failed states like Somalia, where terrorism and piracy is joined by famine and human suffering.” Obama is right. There is more to Somalia than piracy and terrorism. It is a land of citizens devoted to protecting their families and working hard in the country’s key industries, including livestock, agriculture and fisheries. The fight against piracy must be focused on land. A long-term solution must be approached within the context of stabilizing Somalia. The answer is more complicated than throwing money at the country, a common American strategy. Delivering food aid to the 3 million people who need humanitarian assistance is only the beginning. The current transitional federal government is domestically weak and has no navy. It is politically marginalized and paralyzed by chronic corruption and infighting. Somalia needs a comprehensive political settlement. Such a resolution can be reached at a new international conference where all legitimate parties are represented, with foreign diplomats and international media present for maximum visibility. The conference should be held within Somalia in the peaceful and stable provinces in the north, Somaliland or Puntland. Delegates representing a wide spectrum of Somali society, including political leaders, intellectual and religious figures, traditional elders, the business community, and civil society groups, should be among the attendees. The purpose of the conference must not be to assert international control over the country. To succeed, its mission would be to enhance political and economic development within Somalia while expanding law enforcement action against piracy and terrorism. Piracy in the Somali seas did not come from nowhere. Due to the protracted conflict on land, there are thousands of young men in Somalia who are unemployed, armed and desperate from impoverishment. This generation of young males found easier access to pistols than pens. Somalia has suffered from political anarchy for two decades. The extreme poverty and desperation drives youth in Somalia to join pirate gangs, drug traffickers or extremist groups linked to Al Qaeda. With no solution, Yemen may not be far behind. On Dec. 8, U.N. drug czar Antonio Maria Costa warned that the continued instability in Somalia is transforming East Africa into “a free economic zone for all sorts of trafficking – drugs, migrants and guns.”The U.S., the European Union and a dozen countries are spending $200 million to $350 million dollars annually to fund an international naval force with 35 warships. Their task is to patrol one million square miles of ocean. Rear Adm. Peter Hudson, commander of the E.U. naval force patrolling waters off Somalia, conceded that the warships can never fully protect merchant ships “in an area as large as the Indian Ocean with the short assets we have." We will not stop piracy just by the military chasing bad guys on the high seas. It is time for a comprehensive approach that incorporates a genuine, lasting political and economic solution for Somalia. Success there would also pay dividends against piracy and terrorism in Yemen and the region.

Yusuf M. Hassan, former speechwriter and staff for the president of Puntland State of Somalia, is a Somali affairs analyst. Robert S. Weiner was spokesman for the White House National Drug Policy Office and the U.S. House Government Operations Committee under Chairman John Conyers (D-Detroit). Commentary