Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Maritime Security: Dr. Ron Paul On Piracy And The Letter Of Marque And Reprisal
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Maritime Security: Somali Militants Training Pirates
So here we go. This is the trend to watch, and jihadist privateering is now a reality. My guess is that not only will piracy be lucrative for Al-Shabab, but they will soon be front and center with the drug trade and smuggling. And hey, they might even make some time to play holy war in Yemen. Stay tuned. –Matt
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Somali militants training pirates
‘Relationship of convenience’: Canadian report
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Stewart Bell, National Post
The Somali militant group Al-Shabab has been arming and training pirates in exchange for a share of their spoils, says a newly released Canadian intelligence document.
Al-Shabab has formed a “relationship of convenience” with one of the two main pirate networks operating off the Horn of Africa, the “Top Secret” intelligence assessment says.
The report describes an “Islamist extremism-piracy nexus” that involves Al-Shabab providing “weapons, combat training and local protection” to the Mudug pirates of southern Somalia.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Maritime Security: Pirates Hijack Another Chemical Tanker, And Al Shabab Is Going To Yemen
Ok, just a heads up to any of the fleets floating around out there. If Al Shabab is wanting to get to Yemen, more than likely they are going to hitch a ride with some pirates. It is the cheapest and easiest way for them to get over. Plus, Yemen is just across the way, so it would totally make sense to try and take out a few of these bums as they cross.
Further more, if there is any doubt that arming ships is not sensible, then behold this latest round of hijackings. These guys actually grabbed another chemical tanker! Believe it. So how is the strategy working out for all of these multi-million dollar ultra-highspeed Navies floating around in the GOA? It seems to me that it is severely sucking. It will really suck when one of these days, a pirate either sells a chemical tanker to Al Qaeda or Al Shabab, or they are contracted by these guys to take a ship. Then what? Does it take thousands of people killed in some terrorist attack involving a large ship filled with explosives and chemicals? Arm the ships I say! Or continue with this current strategy, and see what happens when terrorism and piracy do a waltz in the Gulf of Aden.-Matt
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Somali Rebels Pledge to Send Fighters to Aid Yemen Jihad
January 2, 2010
By MOHAMMED IBRAHIM
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Senior leaders of the Shabab rebels promised Friday to send their fighters beyond Somalia to Yemen and wherever jihad beckoned.
In a military ceremony here, where the rebels publicly showed off hundreds of new recruits, Sheik Muktar Robow, a senior rebel official, said the group would “send fighters to Yemen to assist our brothers.”
He said that the fighters had been trained to fight the African Union peacekeeping force and the transitional federal government in Somalia but that Yemen was just across the Gulf of Aden and that “our brothers must be ready for our welcome.”
Al Qaeda: Al Shabab FAIL!!–Danish Cartoonist Intruder Shot
That’s right! That is a big fat FAIL for the Al Shaboobs! What else do you have, because this weak sauce. lol –Matt
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Danish cartoonist intruder shot
January 2, 2010
Danish police have shot and wounded a man at the home of Kurt Westergaard, whose cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad sparked an international row.
Mr Westergaard scrambled into a panic room at his home in Aarhus after a man wielding an axe and a knife broke in.
Danish officials said the intruder was a 28-year-old Somali, who they did not name, but said was linked to the radical Islamist al-Shabab militia.
The cartoon, printed in 2005, prompted violent protests the following year.
ANALYSIS
By Malcolm Brabant, BBC News This attack will force the Danish secret service Pet to review their protection.
Mr Westergaard’s house was supposed to have been turned into a fortress, with blast proof windows, and yet a determined individual came within a whisker of killing him.