Basic Info

   The country now known as Somali wasn’t always a major pirate country. In late 1800’s to mid 1900’s Somalia used to be a stable country. It all changed when Italy and Britain were fighting over Somali or “Somaliland” as it used to be called. After WWII the Italians had control of Somalia. In early 1950’s the Somali citizens revolted against the Italian government. Later in 1991 the Somali government collapses and sends the whole country into civil war. The cause and effect of the war was two warlords wanted control over Somalia, and the effect was the war caused a country-wide famine.

History Of The Conflict

   The Somali piracy problem hasn’t always been as high as it is right now. In the early 1950’s the land now known as Somalia was originally a protectorate of Britain called Somaliland. The citizens of present day Somalia rebelled and gained independence from Britain in late 1956. But before they rebelled against Britain they had to fight of the Italians and British caused by an on and of war against the two powers. In 1981 a group of Isaaq immigrants living in London formed the Somali National Movement was later to become the leading insurgent group in Somalia. All the Somali National Movement tried to accomplish was to impeach Siad Barre’s dictator ship. It was three years later that the ex-spokesman went insane and declared war on another warlord.The citizens also had a democratically elected government. The citizens elected Abdi Rashid Ali Shermarke as president (www.bbc.co.uk).  

The Civil War

    During the twenty first century the land of Somalia shifted more out of control than ever. In 2001 Somali warlords were backed by the Ethiopian government as a result to try and gain complete power. On February of 2006 what’s known as the “Islamic advance” starts to happen. Later that same year the “Islamic Courts Union” (which is an Islamic militia formed by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys) start fighting and later gain much of southern Somalia and use that land as a base to help start training fighters. As a cause to help with the war to control all power of Somalia the warlords had to steal ships for money. The civil war caused all of Somalia to fall in to chaos. The guilty and the innocent all have to face the same trouble of the war and the famine that is striking Somalia (www.bbc.co.uk).

Possible Solutions

    As a solution to the piracy problem the European Union sent a seven ship fleet to Somalia in 2008 to prevent more attacks on ships. In the end the attack failed after 2 years. The European Union is now trying to pass a bill that lets them attack using ground troops to stop pirates at the source. If the bill is passed and if it works out they plan on putting a puppet government in power. Also the U.S. assault plan was a failed mission where U.S. army rangers were killed. The U.S. failed mission was caused by Somali militants who shot down 2 black hawk helicopters, whose mission as to find and kill the Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid and also eliminate his top officers (http://www.ithaca.org/). Also as another possible solution the U.S. and the European Union have both help train Somali government troops to fight off the two rebel forces. Also the U.S. government have long worried that al-Qaeda will rebuild its army in south Somalia along with the Islamic extremists.

Works Cited

"Somali Piracy." Bbc.co.uk. Bbc.co.uk, 15 May 2012. Web. 30 May 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/.

Bbc.co.uk. "Q&A:Somali Piracy." Www.bbc.co.uk. 21 Jan. 2011. Web. 30 May 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10349155.

Gettleman, Jeffrey. "Suddenly a Rise in Piracy's Price." Www.nytimes.com. Nytimes.com, 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 30 May 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/.

Drury, Ian. "Somali Pirate Boat Blown UP." Www.dailymail.co.uk. 15 May 2012. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2144798/Somali-pirate-boat-blown-chopper-Navy-frigate-crew-arrest-12.html>.