Feral Jundi

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Quotes: Some Words About The Somali Pirate Stock Exchange

Filed under: Maritime Security,Somalia — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 10:47 AM

   Now this is innovative, and thanks to Doug for sending me this.  Any bets that Al Qaeda or Al Shabaab will be taking part in this stock exchange? –Matt

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‘”Four months ago, during the monsoon rains, we decided to set up this stock exchange. We started with 15 ‘maritime companies’ and now we are hosting 72. Ten of them have so far been successful at hijacking,” Mohammed said.  ‘The shares are open to all and everybody can take part, whether personally at sea or on land by providing cash, weapons or useful materials … we’ve made piracy a community activity… “Let the anti-piracy navies continue their search for us. We have no worries because our motto for the job is ‘do or die’.” Piracy investor Sahra Ibrahim, a 22-year-old divorcee, was lined up with others waiting for her cut of a ransom pay-out after one of the gangs freed a Spanish tuna fishing vessel. “I am waiting for my share after I contributed a rocket-propelled grenade for the operation,” she said, adding that she got the weapon from her ex-husband in alimony. “I am really happy and lucky. I have made $75,000 in only 38 days since I joined the ‘company’.” -from this article here.

Al Qaeda: Jihadist Privateers and The New Holy War Business Model

A senior Saudi Arabian al Qaeda operative has called on Somali jihadists to step up their attacks on “crusader” forces at sea in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, and on land in neighboring Djibouti, which hosts France’s largest military base in Africa. 

“To our steadfast brethren in Somalia, take caution and prepare yourselves,” Sa’id Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri (aka Abu Sufian al-Azdi) says in a new audiotape acquired by CBS News. “Increase your strikes against the crusaders at sea and in Djibouti.”  

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    That’s right, make money and fight holy war!  Now that is the kind of Jihad that sells itself. lol

    You know, it doesn’t take a counter-terror expert or an economist to realize that eventually the enemy will figure out that piracy is an excellent business model.  Think of it.  They could disrupt world economies, control large multi-ton vessels that can easily be used as weapons of mass destruction (oil and chemical tankers, etc.), terrorize western ‘non-believer’ crews and even kill them, and on top of that, they can make money in the process off of selling the loot or ransom. Not to mention that Al Qaeda and company have no laws to follow, and no borders to respect. The only rules they abide by, are the ones that will increase their odds of winning their war against the Infidels.

     Matter of fact, I can see an entire Jihadist industry developing out of this piracy deal. It happened in the early beginnings of U.S. history, why wouldn’t these guys do it?  So here come the Jihadist Privateers I guess, because if this activity is sanctioned by the enemy, then in their eyes it is not piracy, but privateering.

     These donors that keep giving money to Islamic extremists to wage holy war will eventually realize that they could turn into investors of the Jihadist Privateers, and make some money.  Much like our early privateers in the US, or the pirates off the coast of Somalia, these guys could actually start making money off the Jihad.  The business model is there, and it is a proven method that has made the Somalis millions.  Why wouldn’t the booger eaters take advantage of that?

     Same thing with the drug trade?  I could easily see Al Qaeda looking at the drug business as acceptable for their jihad against the west.  They could say they are only selling drugs to westerners, and only a truly devout muslim would not use those drugs. So that would make it ok, in the crude logic of the jihadist.

   Counterfeiting?  Why not.  How else would they be able to finance the boats or weapons for their privateers, or purchase the aircraft for transporting the drugs? I am telling you, the next level of Jihad, is killing infidels and making money in the process.  They could still martyr themselves by crashing a boat into some country’s port city, but hey, if they could make some money off of Jihad to send back home before being martyred, now that is something.

   And what is really scary, is the concept of open source piracy.  That means other supporters of Jihad, will look at this act as not piracy, but as a business venture in the name of Allah, and terrorize western shipping throughout the world’s oceans. If you have a boat and an AK 47, you are in business. You don’t have to go to Afghanistan to train to be a pirate.  All a fellow has to do, is read and watch what the Somalis are doing, and copy it. Think Ft. Hood, but on the high seas. Something to think about and watch over the coming months and years.  The war is evolving. –Matt

*Be sure to read all of the stories posted below.  There is stuff on AQ involved piracy, drug trade, and counterfeit operations. The final story is about Somali pirates luring in investors for future operations.

Also check out Dr. Walid Phares article on Jihad Corsairs or Qursaans (arabic for corsair) here.

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Al Qaeda Urges Somalis To Attack Ships

April 16, 2009

Posted by Khaled Wassef

A senior Saudi Arabian al Qaeda operative has called on Somali jihadists to step up their attacks on “crusader” forces at sea in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, and on land in neighboring Djibouti, which hosts France’s largest military base in Africa.

“To our steadfast brethren in Somalia, take caution and prepare yourselves,” Sa’id Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri (aka Abu Sufian al-Azdi) says in a new audiotape acquired by CBS News. “Increase your strikes against the crusaders at sea and in Djibouti.”

Shihri warns Somali militants against a conspiracy led by “the crusaders, the Jews and traitor Arab rulers,” to put an end to the Muslim extremists’ progress in Somalia.

(more…)

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Maritime Security: Security Contractors on Spanish Ship Thwarts Somali Pirate Attack

   That’s right!  This is the kind of good news I love reading.  The security contracting industry is answering the call and we are doing the good work of protecting these ships. No word on what company these guys worked for, but it has been in the news that Spain is really into using private security instead of military for protecting their fishing boats. –Matt

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Spanish ship thwarts Somali pirate attack

November 29, 2009

MADRID — A Spanish fishing boat thwarted an attack by pirates in the Indian Ocean in the early hours of Sunday morning, Spain’s defence ministry said.

The pirates fired bullets and threw a grenade at the Spanish-flagged Ortube Berria, before being fought off by the ship’s onboard private security guards, the ministry said in a statement.

The attack happened at 5:37 am (0437 GMT) some 230 nautical miles (426 kilometres) southwest of the Seychelles.

“No injuries or damage to equipment have been recorded,” the ministry said.

Around 50 private security contractors were sent from Spain in mid-November to protect Spanish fishing trawlers from piracy attacks.

(more…)

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Military News: Questions Raised About Royal Navy–Did They Stand By as Pirates Snatched British Yacht Couple?

     Boy, thats a pretty heavy charge, and I wonder what the Royal Navy has to say about this?  Thanks to David for sending me this one by the way, and we will see if there is any kind of a backlash from the public on this.  Especially if the pirates execute the Chandlers because the ransom was not paid.

   On a side note, the tactics and strategy that the pirates used in this particular case is interesting.  They captured one boat, used that as the new mother ship, and went after other vessels in the process.  This could potentially be expanded to be even more profitable, because they are able to stay out longer, cruise around as if a harmless merchant vessel, and collect any number of boats in the process.  If unknowing vessels are traveling near a recently captured vessel, how are they to know if pirates are on board?  So it is absolutely feasible that pirates could use these boats as ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ in order to grab even more sheep.  In the history of naval warfare and piracy, this is nothing new, but we must recognize the tactics and strategies and constantly re-evaluate our own strategies and tactics to deal with this. –Matt

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How the Royal Navy Stood and Watched as Pirates Snatched British Yacht Couple

BY RICHARD PENDLEBURY

November 20, 2009

MID-OCEAN, a degree or two shy of the equator, two ships are steaming south, apparently in convoy.

One is a Singaporean flagged container vessel of 25,000 tonnes, the Kota Wajar. The other is a British military tanker, flying the blue ensign of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service. Neither was built for battle. Nor in normal circumstances would they be foes.

But a whiff of gunpowder is palpably in the air. Aboard the tanker, RFA Wave Knight, Royal Navy gun crews have closed up for action, their 30mm cannon and machine guns primed and ready.

A few hundred yards away on the Kota Wajar, Somali pirates, who had recently hijacked the vessel, possess a variety of small arms including rocket-propelled grenades.

These are high stakes, indeed, because both ships are on course to rendezvous with a British yacht drifting helplessly in the Indian Ocean.

Aboard this 38ft yacht, and held at gunpoint by a pirate advance party, are Paul and Rachel Chandler, a retired couple from Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

The Kota Wajar, in its new role as a pirate ‘mother ship’, is to scoop them up and carry them back to captivity and a multi-million-pound ransom in Somalia more than 200 miles to the north-west.

(more…)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Funny Stuff: Somali Pirates Mistake French Military Vessel for Commercial Ship

   Matt sent me this one via iPhone, and I think that is a FJ first. (PMC 2.0)  Although many folks write me via smart phone, Matt actually sent me a story that is certainly funny and pertinent.

   I thought to myself, you just can’t make this one up.  These dorks are so blinded by greed and bravado, that they actually attacked a Naval vessel thinking it was a commercial boat?  Bwa ha ha ha ha.

   Or we can look at this another way.  The Q Ships that I talked about awhile back, seem like more of a better idea all the time.  I think we could catch quite a few flies with that kind of bait.  Something to think about for you naval strategists out there that are running the maritime security effort. –Matt

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Somali Pirates Mistake French Military Vessel for Commercial Ship

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Somali pirates in two skiffs fired on a French navy vessel early Wednesday after apparently mistaking it for a commercial boat, the French military said. The French ship gave chase and captured five suspected pirates.

No one was wounded by the volleys from the Kalashnikov rifles directed at La Somme, a 3,800-ton refueling ship, said Rear Admiral Christophe Prazuck, a military spokesman.

La Somme “was probably taken for a commercial ship by the two small skiffs” some 250 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia, said Prazuck.

“They understood their mistake too late,” Prazuck said.

One skiff fled, and La Somme pursued the second one in an hour-long chase.

“There were five suspected pirates on board. No arms, no water, no food,” Prazuck said.

France is a key member of the European Union’s naval mission, Operation Atalanta, fighting Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. It has aggressively tracked and caught suspected pirates and handed over at least 22 to Kenya. An additional 15 suspects were brought to France for prosecution after allegedly seizing French nationals’ boats.

President Nicolas Sarkozy called for tougher action against piracy last year after dozens of attacks.

Story here.

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