ABU DHABI, May 13, 2010 (AFP) - Navies can intercept Somali pirate skiffs and foil hijackings but fighting waves of attacks at sea will not solve the problem, which is rooted in instability on land in Somalia, naval leaders say.
Anti-piracy efforts "will not actually resolve the base problem of why piracy is occurring ... That solution lies in the stabilisation" of Somalia, Commodore Bob Tarrant, director of Britain's Royal Navy staff, told AFP at the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in Abu Dhabi.
"The symptoms (piracy) we're seeing now off Somalia, in the Gulf of Aden, are clearly an outcome of what's going on on the ground" there, said Australia's navy chief, Vice Admiral Russell Crane.
"As sailors, we're really just treating the symptoms," not the root of the problem.
I am not sure what the good Commodore means by 'stabilization'. Seems a bit of a nancy word to me but accept that the navies are dealing with the symptom of the problem.
Some have suggested looking back in history. I would agree and ask those who have this problem as part of there responsibilities to study the manner in which Pompey dealt with the pirates.
To quote Cicero:
"Pompey made his preparations for the war at the end of the winter, entered upon it at the commencement of spring, and finished it in the middle of the summer."
He rooted them out in their lairs, there was some 'stabilization' but he sorted the problem.