Arrrr!! Somali Pirates Pwn3d by Cruise Ship

[Dinner]

Old map.

[Winston]

DR Congo changed it's name back again.

Edit: Re: Yemen. No complaints, Sire!

[Colonâ„¢]

Originally posted by VJ
I'm not trying to play with you or anything, I'm just curious if you have any knowledge about this subject other than "well somaliland is more stable than other Somalia" within you. If yes, willing to share?

Try googling after "somaliland", and in a lesser extent, after "puntland".

[Colonâ„¢]

Trying to behave like a proper state

Sep 29th 2005 | NAIROBI
From The Economist print edition
Breakaway Somaliland has impressed the Americans by hitting al-Qaeda

THE breakaway northern bit of Somalia, Somaliland, struck a blow for full independence last week by busting an al-Qaeda cell. Embracing perhaps 3.5m of Somalia's 11m or so people, the former British Somaliland has long been a lot more secure than the country's anarchic, formerly Italian, south. If multi-party elections due this week in Somaliland are reasonably fair and open, the outside world, including the African Union and the United Nations, may have to start seriously reconsidering its status, which has been fudged since the collapse of unitary Somalia in 1991. All three of Somaliland's parties contesting the election are adamant about wanting outright independence.

A shoot-out on September 23rd in Hargeisa, Somaliland's capital, resulted in the arrest of seven men loyal to the al-Qaeda brand. Somaliland's president, Dahir Riyale Kahnin, said the men were mostly locals, trained at a camp outside Mogadishu, the still-chaotic capital of Somalia proper. Some had received training in Afghanistan; at least one was internationally known. Their aim, he said, was to destabilise Somaliland by killing leaders and foreign aid workers, four of whom have been murdered by Islamist radicals since 2003.
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There was a heady whiff of convenience about the arrests. What better, the week before an election in such a fervently patriotic fief, than to demonstrate a threat to Somaliland? Some in Somalia's fragile transitional federal government, which still lays claim to Somaliland, privately say the raid was contrived. They are probably wrong. The timing may have owed something to Somaliland politics, where voters are softened up with gifts of narcotic qat leaves, and people's votes are divided along clan lines. But western worries about al-Qaeda's penetration into the Horn of Africa are nonetheless genuine.
Perfect for Osama?

American counter-terrorism work, mostly in collaboration with local militias and the Ethiopian secret service, has gone some way to identifying extreme Islamists inside Somalia. Catching them is harder. A few operational figures are thought to be hiding in and around lawless Mogadishu, which is mostly off-limits to diplomats, UN types and aid-workers. Though a transitional government for the whole of Somalia was set up last year in Kenya, it has failed to establish an effective presence in any part of the country, and has already broken into factions. One lot has been trying in vain to run the show from Jowhar, north of Mogadishu. To complicate matters further between north and south, a self-proclaimed breakaway government of Puntland, with its capital at Bossaso, has been demanding autonomy within a federal Somalia. And the Puntlanders claim bits of eastern Somaliland.

Some of the Islamists scattered around Somalia's various parts have roots in the Egyptian bit of Islamic Jihad, others are closer to al-Qaeda. Those caught in Hargeisa may have been connected to al-Itihaad al-Islami, a group that wants to create an emirate of Somalia along the lines of Saudi Arabia's austere Wahhabi sect. They sound particularly hostile to Ethiopia, with which Somaliland's fledgling government has been cultivating friendlier relations. In July, the Ethiopians agreed to ship some of their goods through the Somaliland port of Berbera, on a road improved with European Union funds.

Even if magnified for political effect, the arrests are a powerful signal to Islamist radicals that Somaliland is no longer a completely safe haven for them—a fact underlined by the expulsion of some foreign mullahs after the raid. That is especially notable since the Saudi government's own crackdown on radical preachers means that more of them had been looking to Somaliland as a handy refuge.

The efficiency of the locally organised swoop and the steady march of democracy in breakaway Somaliland have impressed the Americans, who have a regional military hub next door in less democratic Djibouti. Expect them to give a puff to Somaliland's chances of attaining statehood proper.

[MOBIUS]

...the former British Somaliland has long been a lot more secure than the country's anarchic, formerly Italian, south.

Says it all really...

Wow, that VJ guy got well shredded by Colon in that one...

[RGBVideo]

Look guys -- we all know it's an old map. It's the first decent GIS I came across when I searched for "Africa". But Somalia, Alexandria, Suez canal and Kenya haven't walked away from their positions and moved to Florida for retirement during the last few decades, have they? So my curiosity is still valid, yes?

---

Try googling after "somaliland", and in a lesser extent, after "puntland".

Ok, let's try this once more:

YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT COUNTRIES. TED AND ME WERE TALKING ABOUT WATERWAYS. I DO KNOW THAT THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE CONTRY IS LESS STABLE THAN THE NORTHERN PART, BUT DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE WATERWAYS WHAT CONTRADICTS MY INITIAL STATEMENT? THE GULF OF ADEN IS FILLED WITH PIRATES SINCE IT'S A NARROW PASS WHICH A LOT OF COMMERCIAL SHIPS MUST PASS UNLESS THEY WANT TO GO AROUND THE WHOLE CONTINENT OF AFRICA, AND IT'S BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES WHICH ARE MESSED UP. WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT A RANDOM COASTLINE OF THE INDIAN OCEAN WHICH MAKES IT THE PIRACY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD?

There, understood?

I'm just curious, I'm always eager to learn new things.
Haven't learned anything new yet in this thread.

[Winston]

Haven't learned anything new yet in this thread.

I don't eat squirrels very often.

There.

[RGBVideo]

No information value

Do you have any Reagan trivia to tell me, Winston?

[Winston]

Originally posted by VJ
Do you have any Reagan trivia to tell me, Winston?

Miss him..

World War I came to America when he was six. He saw the flags, heard the songs, and sometimes Doughboys came through town on troop trains heading east. The windows would be open and the soldiers would wave at everyone who came to the depot to cheer. His mother took him once, held him up and put a penny in his hand. Dutch leaned toward a khaki-clad soldier and gave it to him and said, "Good luck." He never forgot it.

[SlowwHand]

This is just a rough draft of an idea. I'm sure it needs refining.
What if, Somalia was made into a country of craters.
China, could then practice moon landings.

What do you think? Utilization is the key.
Be of much more use that way that it has been.

[Colonâ„¢]

Originally posted by VJ
YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT COUNTRIES. TED AND ME WERE TALKING ABOUT WATERWAYS. I DO KNOW THAT THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE CONTRY IS LESS STABLE THAN THE NORTHERN PART, BUT DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE WATERWAYS WHAT CONTRADICTS MY INITIAL STATEMENT? THE GULF OF ADEN IS FILLED WITH PIRATES SINCE IT'S A NARROW PASS WHICH A LOT OF COMMERCIAL SHIPS MUST PASS UNLESS THEY WANT TO GO AROUND THE WHOLE CONTINENT OF AFRICA, AND IT'S BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES WHICH ARE MESSED UP. WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT A RANDOM COASTLINE OF THE INDIAN OCEAN WHICH MAKES IT THE PIRACY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD?

There, understood?

I'm just curious, I'm always eager to learn new things.
Haven't learned anything new yet in this thread.

Here's a proposition: put that sack of sawdust of yours, commonly referred to as "brains", to work and try to make the bleedingly obvious connection between the lack of law & order on land and the piracy on the sea. Where the hell do you think those pirates operate from, huh? Moreover, you can also try to put those outgrowns of meat, commonly reffered to as "arms", to work and type www.google.com in that bar on the top of your browser, then type "piracy" and "somalia" (it's ok if you don't capitalize) in that little window in the center of your screen, and hit enter (that key to the right of your keyboard). Now you'll come up across a bunch of articles that mention the situations in the southern waters are more dangerous. Surprise surprise. Now you understand why I told about the more stable situation in the north? You handle this kind of thought processes? I hope so.

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by VJ
YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT COUNTRIES. TED AND ME WERE TALKING ABOUT WATERWAYS. I DO KNOW THAT THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE CONTRY IS LESS STABLE THAN THE NORTHERN PART, BUT DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE WATERWAYS WHAT CONTRADICTS MY INITIAL STATEMENT? THE GULF OF ADEN IS FILLED WITH PIRATES SINCE IT'S A NARROW PASS WHICH A LOT OF COMMERCIAL SHIPS MUST PASS UNLESS THEY WANT TO GO AROUND THE WHOLE CONTINENT OF AFRICA, AND IT'S BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES WHICH ARE MESSED UP. WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT A RANDOM COASTLINE OF THE INDIAN OCEAN WHICH MAKES IT THE PIRACY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD?

You've answered your own question in your own capitalised rant you clown...

Haven't learned anything new yet in this thread.

That could just be because you're stupid.

In fact I'm struggling to find any other reason why other than sheer stupidity, because Colon has spelled out a very simple concept to you over several posts and you still don't appear to have grasped it...

[RGBVideo]

Here's a proposition: put that sack of sawdust of yours, commonly referred to as "brains", to work and try to make the bleedingly obvious connection between the lack of law & order on land and the piracy on the sea. Where the hell do you think those pirates operate from, huh? Moreover, you can also try to put those outgrowns of meat, commonly reffered to as "arms", to work and type www.google.com in that bar on the top of your browser, then type "piracy" and "somalia" (it's ok if you don't capitalize) in that little window in the center of your screen, and hit enter (that key to the right of your keyboard). Now you'll come up across a bunch of articles that mention the situations in the southern waters are more dangerous. Surprise surprise. Now you understand why I told about the more stable situation in the north? You handle this kind of thought processes? I hope so.

Yeah -- I thought you knew something referring specifically to waterways, since that's what you so eagerly corrected me about -- I guess I were overestimating you, sorry. Add on this your refusal to actually read other peoples posts, and we get waste of time, as usual.

Useless. I never should've checked this thread, either.

[Colonâ„¢]

You really want it handed on a silver dinner plate, don't you? Fine, since you're obviously too ****ing lazy to think, I'll *try* to spell it out one more time: unstable situation on land leads to unstable situation on sea, hence if the situation on land more is stable, so is the situation on sea. Phew, though one!

Here, so that you won't have to waste your precious little outgrowns on looking up:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4283396.stm

While WFP regularly distributes food in the north of Somalia, as a rule it keeps its shipments 250 nautical miles (460 km) from the more southerly parts of the Somali coast.

This decision has added 750 miles (1,400 km) to the distance that aid ships have to cover between the main Kenyan port of Mombasa, and northern Somalia.

Deliveries to the central and southern parts of Somalia - as in the case of the hijacked MV Semlow - need to be assessed for security on an individual basis.

...

Both the IMB and WFP agree that the northernmost part of the Somali coast is less dangerous.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1824954,00.html

Gunmen hijacked a United Nations-chartered vessel, the MV Miltzow, on Tuesday in the southern port of Merca, 60 miles south of Mogadishu, and forced the crew to sail towards Kenya. It was the second such attack in less than 24 hours.

****ing whiner.

[MOBIUS]

Don't know why you waste your time with these losers Colon, the guy is obviously an idiot - you couldn't have spelled it out any clearer from the beginning...

I find it hilarious that this guy is trying to blame other people for his own extreme ignorance - especially when they're trying to hand him the info he's requesting on a plate. Though we all know it's because Colon's info totally contradicts his and makes him look like a total plonker, so you can see why he's insisting on this pathetic smokescreen to cover up his initial stupidity...

Wonders never cease on Poly...