Piracy & Terrorism - Are They Linked? - Above Politics 61, page

Homer and Martin discuss a change in tactics for the pirates off the horn of Africa. Was the attempt to take a ship with US crew more than it seems. Then they discuss the latest terror threat, and how the student visa system may be used to get terrorists in to the UK, and then finally what is Pakistan doing to counter the terrorist threat. And to end, a Homer rant.

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ABOVE POLITICS Number 61, with Martin Bain and Homer Fife, from AboveTopSecret.com.
Show length is 32:49.
Direct link to show MP3 file: atsmix_3266.mp3 (11 mb)
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[edit on 4/14/2009 by Dave Rabbit]

Wow Seeker, 27 pages!

All CBS has is this Al Qaeda Urges Somalis To Attack Ships article.

Fortunately though Information Dissemination noticed the CBS article and added considerable detail to the issue.

{edit-speeling}


[edit on 4/18/09 by makeitso]

reply to post by makeitso

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Well, my offer still stands if Homer and Martin would like me to email them the paper I mentioned. Granted it was written from an academic perspective, the sources utilized, which some cannot be accessed or obtained unless via academic domains, could or would prove useful to their expose (i.e.: investigative journalism) on this topic.

My academic thesis and research runs counter/contrary to many within the academic community on this matter. In this paper, I argue, via numerous sourcings, that there is indeed a growing nexus/connection between piracy and terrorism. As such, apparently, this nexus/connection continues to be increasingly exposed. The job of an intelligence analyst is to obtain information, whether via public or secret intel, etc. and then to plausibly piece such together like a puzzle till a picture either emrges or does not. Accordingly, my own research, among a few others, have begun to make visible a picture.

Consider these few articles arguably indicating a link, an emerging nexus:

Somalia pirates shuttling al Qaeda terrorists and weapons for al-Shabab, sharing ransoms

Former Ambassador David H. Shinn recently claimed there was no direct connection between the two and then immediately cited a credible source to the contrary:

"Jane’s [Intelligence Review] has identified a close link between the pirates and the extremist al-Shabab group, which says it has links to al-Qaeda. The pirates in Kismayu coordinate with the al-Shabab militia in the area, although al-Shabab apparently does not play an active role in the pirate attacks. Al-Shabab requires some pirates to pay a protection fee of 5 to 10 percent of the ransom money. If al-Shabab helps to train the pirates, it might receive 20 percent and up to 50 percent if it finances the piracy operation. There is increasing evidence that the pirates are assisting al-Shabab with arms smuggling from Yemen and two central Asian countries. They are also reportedly helping al-Shabab develop an independent maritime force so that it can smuggle foreign jihadist fighters and 'special weapons' into Somalia."

Pondering Somali Piracy

"As I noted in this column two months ago, to date there has yet to be "evidence of anything other than opportunistic instances of cooperation between Somalia's Islamists and pirates – the latter have played no small role in the ferrying of the estimated 1,500 non-Somali jihadists into the country – the ongoing ascendancy of al-Shabaab and its allies does not bode well for efforts to stem the contemporaneous rise of the pirates." While that analysis still largely holds true, it does not mean that it will always be the case. As another one of my FDD colleagues, Dr. Walid Phares, pointed out earlier this week, the Somali pirates could easily be transformed into the tip of a far wider jihadist thrust in a geopolitically sensitive region, a move that, as I reported last month, Usama bin Laden, among others, earnestly seeks. Thus, recognizing the deadly potential of a common cause between the pirate gangs and al-Shabaab and other Islamist militants..."

Are Somali Pirates helping al-Qaeda?

"Lt. Gen. Maples touched upon the links between the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab and the more well-known al-Qaeda, stating that, 'Recent propaganda from both al-Qaeda and the Somalia-base terrorist group al-Shabaab highlighting their shared ideology suggests a formal merger announcement is forthcoming.'

Such an alliance would allow al-Qaeda to gain a more concrete base of operations in East Africa, within the territory that al-Shabaab already controls in the southern part of Somalia. Given that al-Qaeda has already carried a number of succesful terror attacks in the region, including the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and the seaborne assaults on the USS Cole and the MT Limburg, the transnational security risks this poses are great.

And since al-Shabaab is believed to receive at least some of its funding from pirate gangs operating within its sphere of control, this increases the reasons we have to both stem the tide of piracy off Somalia and address the land-based security issues."

[edit on 24-4-2009 by Seekerof]

Originally posted by Frankidealist35
I agree. I think there is some kind of link between terrorism and piratism. After all, Yemen is where OBL grew up right? Isn't that where the pirates are?

Yemen is feeding the problems in Somalia via human trafficking, arms trafficking, drug trafficking (i.e.: khat), etc.

Yemen is also the home of al-Qaeda in Yemen/Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, Yemen is a transit hub for al-Qaeda, Taliban, Salafist, and Jihadist elements (i.e.: operatives, fighters, etc.) migrating or transitioning from Iraq and Afghanistan back to training camps and havens in the Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africa region.

Accordingly, given the dubious nature of the Yemeni government’s long-term record of counterterrorism operations, and given the known presence of a small, but fairly powerful, "Salafist minority within the Yemeni military and intelligence apparatus" (via a Stratfor intel brief/article, 2008), the international community to can afford to continue to deny a) the resurgence of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa, and b) the growing convergence of piracy in the Gulf of Eden region (i.e.: specifically Somalia) and terrorism.

[edit on 24-4-2009 by Seekerof]