Somalia Posted September 21, 2012 Full 4 page article http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/09/20/how_the_un_saved_the_somali_pirates?page=0,0 In early 2010, frustrated by America's cold shoulder and the U.N.'s obsession with a Mogadishu-centric Somalia run by the incompetent Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Puntland's President Abdirahman Farole sought help from his biggest trading partner: The United Arab Emirates. The tiny, but oil-rich maritime trading nation had a vested interest in keeping the growing legions of al-Shabab fighters funneling into Puntland away from their ships and shoreline. Within weeks, not years, millions of dollars began to flow to build Puntland's security force. In June 2012, two years after its creation, the UAE-funded PMPF -- now with helicopters, ocean-going ships, construction battalions, and a massive base -- was under pressure from Farole to become operational. He wanted the pirates cleared out by July. Coastal communities like Bargal, Bander Bayla, and Eyl were also pressuring Farole to support their homegrown efforts to expel pirates. The timing for the offensive was perfect: the monsoons that keep the pirates off the seas were about to set in; pirate crews would soon be coming off the oceans. This meant they would be much easier to reach as they chewed qat and consulted mystics about next season's catch. But the program had another, more-formidable enemy, the U.N. -- specifically, the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea (SEMG), a group that was created to document violations of the 20-year-old arms embargo in 2002 by warlord-run militias. The original SEMG reports were hampered by a lack of access on the ground and resulted in a dry accounting of militias and weapons. But with the hiring of Canadian/Somalilander and former International Crisis Group senior analyst Matthew Bryden in 2008, (a period that coincided with the growth of piracy and al-Shabab's arrival in the north) the reports took on a bizarre and voluminous tone accusing both friend and foe of serious violations. For example, in 2008 the SEMG accused the United States of violating the arms embargo by launching missile attacks against terrorist groups. Characterizing one such incident, Bryden's team wrote: "The Monitoring Group considers all weapons delivered to Somalia a violation of the embargo, irrespective of the manner in which they were delivered." Puntland got a taste of the SEMG's style under Bryden's reign on December 10, 2011. The SEMG apparently (the U.N. handles all flight permissions over Somalia) tipped off Somaliland officials that a PMPF plane supposedly loaded with weapons and mercenaries was on its way to Puntland. Almost as if by magic, Bryden showed up at the Ambassador Hotel in Hargeisa and threatened the two South African passengers. That is, until he discovered that the two "mercenaries" were in fact a well-known 60 Minutes camera team invited to film the PMPF base. But the point was made. The U.N. wasn't about to leave matters of self-defense to Puntland. Everyone was under the arms embargo. Today, even the new Somali government so lovingly nudged into power by the United Nations, cannot buy its own weapons, training, or equipment to defend itself from al Shabab because of the ancient arms embargo. In addition to going after Puntland, SEMG has also gone after the maritime security industry, the CIA (which supports three antiterrorism units in country), the United States (which trains and supplies Somalia security forces), the TFG (for corruption), even aid organizations (for excess food sold) and the charcoal industry (the taxes on which funds al-Shabab). The arms embargo was originally created to stop the flow of weapons to warring militias. But two decades on there have been no significant or measurable reductions in the flow of arms to Somalia or any real penalty to pirates or al-Shabab. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
