Somalia: Blowing Pirates From The Sea, The Peaceful Way!

[Jacaylbaro]

On Monday, the Toronto Star ran an editorial celebrating the fact that Canada was getting "back to peacekeeping." This was prompted by the announcement by National Defence Minister Peter MacKay that the Canadian Patrol Frigate HMCS Ville de Quebec would be diverted to waters off the Horn of Africa, to escort United Nations World Food Program ships through pirate-infested waters.

 

As the editorial notes, with millions of Somalis dependent upon food aid to survive, the timely and safe arrival of these convoys is vital. It should go without saying that helping get food to hungry people is a worthwhile mission. The Star is quite right to laud our efforts there. The trouble I have, however, is in the phrasing. Does anyone at The Star actually think that this mission constitutes a peacekeeping effort?

 

Though past governments have exaggerated the facts, it can’t be denied that Canada has a long tradition of peacekeeping. Our efforts in areas of the world as disparate as the Balkans, Cyprus, and various African locales are something that we should all be proud of. Peacekeeping can be a tremendously effective means of helping restore order and stability to a region beset by conflict; indeed, many of our peacekeeping deployments have helped to end conflicts driven by ethnic and religious hatred. Such wars are particularly brutal, and the efforts of Canada and our international partners is something to be proud of. In this, I’m sure The Star editorial board would agree with me.

 

But how can convoy escort be compared to monitoring or even enforcing a negotiated peace settlement? The pirates active off of Somalia are vicious and brutal thugs, little more than sea-borne criminals looking for attractive targets to plunder. In 2005, an American-operated luxury cruise ship passing the coast of Somalia had to flee pirates armed with assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades. Since then, pirates have attacked private yachts, fishing boats, and tugboats at sea, looting the ships and taking hostages for ransom. Some of these hostages have been killed. The international community has responded by deploying warships off the Horn of Africa; last year, these deployments resulted in the USS Porter, an American guided missile destroyer, opening fire upon two pirate vessels which had captured a Japanese cargo ship.

 

Does The Star really think that billion-dollar warships sinking pirate ships at sea is peacekeeping? As their own editorial points out, the Ville du Quebec is armed to the teeth with a variety of powerful weapons. Should any pirates dare to provoke her or her companion vessels, what does The Star propose our warship do? The obvious answer - blow the pirates out of the water - hardly jives with the popular perception of the Canadian peacekeeper: a handsome soldier in a blue United Nations beret helping an old lady to cross the street in a recently rebuilt village.

 

Escorting convoys into hostile waters is not peacekeeping. It is as much a combat mission as a patrol rumbling through Kandahar. The Star is right to support the mission, and to hope for the safe return of the officers and crew of our fine frigate. But they do the Canadian public no good by trying to side-step their reluctance to praise a combat deployment by stretching the definition of peacekeeping beyond all logical bounds.

 

Matt Gurney - National Post

 

Matt Gurney is a graduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University, soon to complete his Masters in History, with a specialization in military history.

[Jacaylbaro]

EDITORIAL (Toronto Star): Back to peacekeeping

 

To heavily armed pirates off the Horn of Africa, United Nations food supply ships bound for Somalia are tempting prizes. Some 2.4 million Somalis rely on food aid, 80 per cent of which arrives by sea. This year alone, pirates have attacked dozens of ships in the region, and UN food stocks are running alarmingly low.

 

But the pirates soon will be staring down the barrel of a Canadian navy Bofors gun, Harpoon missiles and torpedoes. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has despatched the patrol frigate HMCS Ville de Quebec to escort World Food Program supply ships through the risky waters, replacing a Dutch warship that had been doing duty there. The Ville de Quebec should be on site later this week.

 

Canada’s foreign aid doesn’t normally take so muscular a form. But the need is "critical," the UN says, and it is good to see Ottawa respond. While few Canadians are currently deployed on UN peacekeeping missions, and the Harper government has been criticized for neglecting peacekeeping, the Ville de Quebec’s help for hungry Somalis is in Canada’s best tradition of UN service.

 

 

Bon voyage, Quebec, and safe passage. TheStar.com