Kaleem Washington, Crime Blog 6

Kaleem Washington, Crime

Blog #6

Source: The Washington Post

Somali pirates add ammo, men to ships after 4 Americans are killed

Over the past four years, Somali pirates have caused many problems in the global shipping industry off the coast of East Africa.  Hijacking cargo ships and vessels that attempt to port in East Africa has become an increasing problem for U.S. oversea military forces within the past four months. In recent news four American hostages were slain by pirates in a hostage standoff Tuesday February 22, 2011.  15 pirates were captured by U.S. Navy personnel after a violent shoot-out onboard the 58-foot yacht Quest. This marks a significant increase in violence used in the Somali pirates hijacking attacks.  In Wednesday’s news report, pirates in Somalia said that they are deploying “ammunition and men to the 30 hijacked vessels still under their control,” which would help reduce aggressive U.S. rescue and arrest attempts.  Somali pirates currently have over 600 captives in their midst and have been ordered to kill hostages if rescue attempts by U.S. forces occur or if anyone approaches any of the 30 hijacked ships.  Wing Commander Paddy O'Kennedy, spokesman for the European Union's anti-piracy force believes that the attitude shift that the pirates have adopted has lead to the development of “organized criminal gangs opposed to fishermen who just decided to have a go at piracy.” 

            I believe the Somali pirate’s new form of violence is outrageous and needs to come to a halt before more innocent captives are killed.  Not only has the pirate’s violent hijacking actions causing outraged in the global media, but also has caused global economic trade route systems to be recreated due to terrorist crimes.  Terrorist crimes are occurring at an increasing rate, but in order to prevent these actions government agencies need to step up their anti-crime prevention efforts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/23/AR2011022303427.html