An explosive situation prevails aboard MV FAINA; according to converging information, crew members attacked — unsuccessfully — some pirates, in an effort that clearly reflects the impossibility of a human being to be help hostage of such a piracy for 1800 hours without a major international reaction.

Quite unfortunately and extremely inhumanely, the MV FAINA crew members have become — precisely like the pirates themselves — the victims of an incredible conspiracy against Somalia, the Somali Nation, and the entire Horn of Africa region.

   Ukrainian Merchant Vessel – MV Faina as observed from the guided-missile cruiser the USS Vella Gulf

   [Enlarge]

The negotiations have been carried out in a deceptive way in order to offer the NATO admirals the timing they had planned; the pirates and their negotiators cannot realize that some guys among them have been deceived and have therefore cultivated illusions as regards the final outcome.

On the other hand, the crew members, their physical and psychological resistance, and their lives are the least concern of the criminal gangsters who impersonate respectable admirals and generals, politicians and diplomats, PR specialists and well known statesmen – all hidden behind the anonymity.

There is little to be done in order to avoid the terrible hit prepared against the prefab ghost of piracy that became an apocalyptic hot air balloon about to go burst over the western part of the Indian Ocean. This possibility of successful exit, I will analyze in a separate article. Here I publish the latest Ecoterra Press Release update, issued a few hours ago.

74th Update 2008-12-09 13:52:38 UTC

Ecoterra Intl. – Stay Calm & Solve it Peaceful & Fast !

Ecoterra International — Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates.

We also can make sea-piracy in Somalia an issue of the past – with empathy and strength and through coastal and marine development as well as protection!

New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979
East African Seafarers Assistance Programme – Media Officer: +254-733-385868

Day 76 – 1799 hours into the FAINA Crisis – Update Summary

Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now over two months long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is not yet solved finally, though intensive negotiations have continued.

Crew members on the arms laden cargo ship held by Somali pirates attempted to overpower two of their captors, prompting the hijackers to threaten to punish the men on Tuesday. Speaking to AFP from the MV FAINA cargo they hijacked on Sept 25 and have held off the coast of Somalia ever since, a spokesman for the pirates said the incident took place late on Monday. ‘Some crew members on the Ukrainian ship are misbehaving. They tried to harm two of our gunmen late Monday’, said the pirate, who declined to give his name. ‘This is unacceptable, they risk serious punitive measures. Somalis know how to live and how to die at the same time, but the Ukrainians’ attempt to take violent action is misguided’, the spokesman added. He said two of the pirates were taken by surprise when a group of crew members attacked them.

‘Maybe some of the crew are frustrated and we are feeling the same but our boys never opted for violence, this was a provocation’, the pirate spokesman explained. More than 120 attacks by Somali pirates have been reported this year alone in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean but all the hijackings have so far been resolved peacefully through the payment of ransoms. The pirates of FAINA have lowered their ransom demand to US$3.5 million and told AFP late last month that an agreement had already been reached for the ship’s release. In recent days, some sources have reported frustration among the pirates over delays in the ransom payment.

The operation to release the crew of the FAINA is continuing, Vasyl Kyrylych, chief of the foreign ministry press service, told a news briefing at the ministry, according to the Ukrainian press agency. “The pattern for setting the hostages free is being carried out now. We hope to witness successful completion of the release operation soon”, he said. Pirates captured the FAINA with 17 Ukrainian citizens among its crew off Somalia on September 25. The FAINA is under surveillance of several US ships whose objective is to prevent unloading of the military hardware. As reported, the pirates and the ship-owners reached agreement on November 30 on releasing the dry cargo ship with defence technologies aboard. Local observers had spotted the vessel delivering the ransom to MV CAPT. STEFANOS and believed it was a vessel concerning MV FAINA. After MV CENTAURI and MV CAPT. STEFANOS were released FV FAINA remains solely at the coastal stretch off Harardheere.

Ukraine expressed on Tuesday its desire to join the European Union’s naval task force protecting ships in the Gulf of Aden against Somali pirates.

Ecoterra Intl. renewed it’s call to solve the FAINA and the SIRIUS STAR cases with first priority and peaceful in order to avert a human and environmental disasters at the Somali coast. Anybody encouraging hot-headed and concerning such difficult situations inexperienced and untrained gunmen to try an attempt of a military solution must be held responsible for the surely resulting disaster.

Clearing-house:

News from other abducted ships ———-

The Greek ship-owner’s company Chartworld Shipping Corporation (Athens) finally confirmed that the Greek ship MV CAPT. STEFANOS with a Ukrainian citizen as a crew member, one Chine and 17 Filipino seafarers, captured by Somali pirates September 21, was set free following 11 weeks of captivity. The crew members’ state of health is estimated as satisfactory, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry informed. According to the ship-owner’s information, presently the released ship is heading for Brindisi port (Italy).

With the latest captures and releases still at least 15 foreign vessels with a total of around 335 crew members (of which 91 are Filipinos) are held and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which are observed off the coast of Somalia, have been reported or reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. Over 123 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded to far for 2008 with until today 51 factual sea-jacking cases (incl. the presently held 15). Several other vessels with unclear fate (not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail.

The First Victim of War is the Truth!

Did pirates attack Aussie cruise ship? A traveler on board the Australian cruise ship MV Athena says owners are trying to cover up news of a pirate attack. Pirates did attack a cruise ship carrying 400 Aussies off Somalia, says an Australian passenger, but the cruise company — which claimed that the 52 boats reported to have approached the ship were manned by ‘friendly’ fishermen — is trying to cover up the incident, the passenger says. The Melbourne woman, who remains on board the MV Athena and does not want to be named, said passengers who informed relatives back home of the attack had been given “a real dressing down” by the ship’s crew. Classic International Cruises Australia, which owns the Athena, has said there was no substance to reports that dozens of pirate boats attacked the ship and tried to board it on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the company said the boats turned out to be fishing vessels whose crew were “very friendly”. However, the Melbourne woman who contacted wire service AAP said there was no doubt the ship was the target of a co-ordinated pirate attack as it passed through the Gulf of Aden, separating Yemen and Somalia. She said the crew had ordered passengers to stay indoors after small motorboats surrounded the vessel. Observers using binoculars on the bridge reportedly counted between 30 and 40 small boats to the port side and 12 to starboard at the height of the incident, she said. “Less than an hour later the master of the vessel, Captain Antonio Morais of Portugal, confirmed to listeners that two attacks by pirates had taken place”. Crew members used blasts from high-powered water cannon to drive back the pirates who clearly wanted to board the Athena, the woman said. She said the official line now being put around the ship was that “as no shots were fired by the assailants it was merely a reconnaissance mission by those in the motorboats rather than an attack as such”. And yesterday, two days after the attack, Captain Morais again addressed passengers to stress that “no attack” had occurred.

Other related news ——

The United Nations will convene a two-day international conference in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss the rampant piracy off the coast of Somalia. The gathering, hosted by the Kenyan Government, will begin on 10 December, when technical experts will discuss the issue. The following day, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, and Moses Wetangula, Kenya’s Foreign Minister, will co-chair a ministerial-level meeting. Some 140 representatives from 40 countries are expected to attend the event, which will be addressed by President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya. “It is clear that the problem of piracy is linked to the need for peace and stability in Somalia itself’, said UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah. ‘We hope that this high-level Conference will lead to greater international attention and cooperation between countries, regional and international organizations’. He said the gathering is very important and timely given the increasing threat of piracy in Somali waters which threatens the safety of trade routes. “We hope that this high-level Conference will lead to greater international attention and cooperation between countries, regional and international organizations”.

Spain could delay sending about 200 military personnel to participate in the international anti-piracy naval operation off the coast of Somalia, Spanish daily ABC reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed military sources. Defence Minister Carme Chacon has decided not to seek authorisation from parliament on Wednesday to send the Spanish ship SPS Victoria to the Somali coast, which means it will not set sail on Jan. 8, as was expected, ABC said. The sources cited by the newspaper said the ship may now join the task force in the second phase of the anti-piracy operation, called Atlanta. EUNAVOR operation ATALANTA began today with only two ships from France and Britain and two surveillance planes from France and Spain.

Germany has led calls for a debate on a UN special pirate court for those caught by the European mission, given that the EU will not transfer prisoners to countries with the death penalty, potentially leaving it with pirates on its hands. “The EU is reviewing agreements whereby suspects could be taken by third countries that are willing and in a position to launch criminal proceedings”, said Mr Steinmeier and added: “Moreover we are in favour of reviewing whether the United Nations could use existing international courts or found a new one to conduct such criminal proceedings”.

A task force from Russia’s Pacific Fleet left its main base in Vladivostok on Tuesday for a tour of duty in the Indian Ocean, a fleet official said, according to the Russian news agancy RIA. The task force comprises the Admiral Vinogradov, an Udaloy class missile destroyer, a tugboat, and two tankers. “The current tour of duty will demonstrate the ability of the Russian Navy to protect the country’s interests in the world’s oceans”, said Capt. 1st Rank Roman Markov, a spokesman for the Pacific Fleet. According to the official, the task force will pay a visit to the Indian port of Mormugao and participate in the joint naval exercises INDRA-2009 with the Indian Navy in January. INDRA is a biennial Russian-Indian exercise aimed at practicing cooperation in enforcing maritime law and countering piracy, terrorism, and drug smuggling. INDRA-2009 is the fourth such exercise since 2003. The task force will also conduct joint exercises with a task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet, led by the Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great) nuclear-powered missile cruiser, which will arrive in the Indian Ocean after a current tour of duty in the Atlantic and the Caribbean. Following the exercises, the Admiral Vinogradov will replace the Neustrashimy (Fearless) missile destroyer from Russia’s Northern Fleet in the Horn of Africa to protect commercial shipping from pirate attacks off the Somali coast. Vice Admiral Konstantin Sidenko, commander of the Pacific Fleet, earlier said that Russian warships from the fleet would make several long-range training sorties in the South Pacific and Indian oceans in 2009, and participate in a number of exercises involving live-firing drills. Russia announced last year that its navy had resumed and would build up a constant presence in different regions of the world’s oceans.

A more romantic environment of piracy: The Capture of the Pirate Blackbeard by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1718

For the non native speakers, ricochet is a military term that defines the firing of guns or howitzers, usually with small charges, at an elevation of only a few degrees, so as to cause the balls or shells to bound or skip along the ground. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Ricochet+firing).

I find good reason to use the term for an otherwise idiotic article written by an ignorant and uneducated Kenyan lawyer who runs a shadowy firm deeply connected with (if not created by) the darkest side of the Kenyan establishment and the paramilitary, the Kipkorir Mafia.

For those who are not experts in the Military Art, I find the Wikipedia entry quite illuminative of the reason I use the term; “Ricochets are a common danger of shooting because after bouncing off an object the bullet that ricochets poses an ‘unpredictable’ and serious danger to bystanders, animals, objects, or even the person who fired the shot” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricochet).

Mr. Donald Kipkorir – Gideon Moi’s Fraudulent Trustee

Simply put, Mr. Donald Kipkorir (known to have “looted Kenya” and then betrayed his boss, Gideon Moi, after having first cashed what was thought of as sufficient for his seemingly respectful firm – http://kenyanomics.blogspot.com/2007/08/gideon-moi-and-looting-of-kenya.html), in an article compiled to help re-invent the African History and Politics, suggests what would mathematically trigger the rise of an Islamic Republic of Eastern Africa.

In his far-fetched innuendo, the ignorant Kalenjin lawyer reveals the volatility and the fallacy of parts of the Kenyan establishment that have been tele-guided from other continents with respect to their next movement.

You may not be familiar with the Kalenjin people, who – Nilo-Saharan of origin – inhabit part of Kenya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalenjin_people), having migrated there from Ancient Ethiopia (today’s Sudan).

Being exposed to eventual reprisals from the part of a reputed as vindictive leader, like Gideon Moi, if he happens to consider you as a fraudulent trustee, means that you’ve got to find some strong backing. This is what Mr. Donald Kipkorir did, and he even threatens his former boss with ‘revelations’….

The loathed bosses of Mr. Donald Kipkorir

Would you like to find out who stands behind the authoring lawyer, Mr. Donald Kipkorir?

It’s not difficult; just search whose interests he defends.

In his article, the Kalenjin lawyer expresses his care for the lost swag, the captured (off the coast of Somalia) ship which was carrying 33 T-72 tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns for the Kenyan army — which certainly does not need these weapons.

These are the strong backers of the lawless lawyer whose text — judged by specialists of International Law — is tantamount to the Law of the Jungle, and totally dishonoring of and defamatory for a human being.

You may consider the Kalenjin origin of the author as relevant of the jungle, but this is sheer western supremacism and racism; the Kalenjin are highly civilized and have kept among their religious traditions some of the most authentic Hamitic, Ancient Egyptian beliefs, namely the cult of Isis. As in the case of every nation, there are good Kalenjin and bad Kalenjin; in fact, Mr. Donald Kipkorir is the shame of the Kalenjin.

Not only is he the shame of the Nilo-Saharan nation, but he risks becoming the responsible for their forced Islamization.

As his bosses, the formidable and reviled Kikuyu generals of the pathetic Kenyan army, have been maddened because of the easy achievement of the Eyl Somali pirates, they ordered him to write in support of the illegal interests of the Kenyan militarists who will use the 33 T-72 tanks and the rocket-propelled grenades in the next face off with the Luos, the Somalis and the Oromos of Kenya.

Kenya is an English Colonial Fabrication

In fact, Kenya is not a nation, is not a state, and is not a society; it is an English colonial fabrication geared to destroy the Muslim community and political tradition in the East Coast of Africa. Large parts of Kenya, including the coast, are inhabited by Muslims, similarly with the Tanganyika coast and Zanzibar. All these Muslim populations have been ruled for many long centuries by various local rulers who exercised their power under the auspices of the Ottoman Sultan (and to lesser extent the Shah of Iran) and interacted peacefully with the Somalis, the Yemenites, and the Indians.

The evil colonial borderlines have been established according to an English — French plan that was set up in order to make of the Eastern African Muslim majority a minority residing within irrelevant and fabricated realms like Tanzania and Kenya. Disconnected from the Somalis, the East African Muslims became a minority in each fake colonial state, and were deliberately marginalized. The other African nations, who were forced to be part of these fake states, had been in harmonious terms with the coastal Muslims who for more than a millennium did not express any concern to islamize the African inlanders, as most of them worshipped God through monotheistic concepts. The conflicts started when all the different components were forced by the monstrous colonial elites of England and France to live within a state that they never conceived or needed.

The present article is not a point by point refutation of the fallacious suggestions of the bribed and lawless lawyer of the Kikuyu Kenyan paramilitary. It only consists in a revelation of the prevailing panic among Mr. Donald Kipkorir’s backers and the elucidation of their despair.

Their panic and despair are highlighted by Mr. Donald Kipkorir’s proposals that Kenya and Abyssinia (fallaciously re-baptized ‘Ethiopia’) invade and divide Somalia.

Of course, generically speaking, anyone understands the scheme of two countries attacking and dividing a third; the typical case is Poland, attacked and divided among Prussia, Russia and Austria in the late 18th century. But by then, there was no International Law, practically speaking.

Donald Kipkorir: Utterly Gross

Today, it is utterly gross for a supposed lawyer to suggest something so directly opposite to the quintessence of the International Law. However, this is the least one can say about the panicked, fraudulent (ask Gideon Moi) and lawless Mr. Donald Kipkorir.

His suggestion comes at a moment the Abyssinian army admitted its defeat in Somalia and are about to abandon the Horn of Africa country, in an effort to better implement the racist Amhara and Tigray Monophysitic tyranny over the outright majority of the wretched and starving country (consisted of Amhara and Tigray Muslims, and Oromos, Ogadenis, Sidamas, Afars, Agaws, Kambaatas, Shekachos, Kaffas, Hadiyas, Gedeos, Wolayitas, Anuak, Shinasha, Berta and Gumuz who all total 82% of the country’s total population).

In fact, the Somalia expedition, combined with the ongoing Ogaden revolution, is about to bring the world’s most loathed and most bestial tyranny to total collapse.

The World’s Most Venerated Heroes of the 3rd Millennium

As if the Abyssinia lesson from Somalia were not enough, the panicked, fraudulent (ask Gideon Moi — always!) and lawless Mr. Donald Kipkorir suggests that the militarily impotent Kenya attempts to ….. invade the Somali south, which is the area of the world’s most venerated heroes of the 3rd millennium, the noble and brave Somali Liberation and Re-unification fighters, who already liberated Kismayu.

• – Does Mr. Donald Kipkorir expect to recuperate the 33 T-72 tanks, the rocket-propelled grenades and the anti-aircraft guns ordered by his bosses?

Too comical a question! Why? Ask the Eyl Somali pirates!

• – Does Mr. Donald Kipkorir expect his bosses’ tanks to … fly over Somalia?

This would be the only prerequisite for a Kenyan victory in the Somali South…..

In fact, what Mr. Donald Kipkorir suggests, if materialized (which would be paranoid to attempt and impossible to achieve), would result in a dramatic increase of Muslim population in both, collapsing Abyssinia and ailing Kenya.

This increase of the Muslim population in both Kenya and Abyssinia (immediate consequence of Mr. Donald Kipkorir’s suggestions’ materialization) is not a mere matter of figures but an affair of radicalized and armed populations.

Islamic Republic of Eastern Africa

When the extremely well armed Somalis of the South will be “part of Kenya” (assuming always on the basis of the suggested bunkum), their fight for liberation of Somalia will be transformed into a struggle for the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Eastern Africa that will encompass Sudan, Eritrea, Abyssinia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania, as it will be coordinated with the struggle of the Eastern and Northern Somalis (who would be annexed by Abyssinia – on the basis of the suggested bunkum), the Oromos, the Ogadenis, the Afars, the Amhara and Tigray Muslims, the Hadiyas, and all the Muslims of the Sudan.

Such the radicalization will be that, assuming that the suggestions of Mr. Donald Kipkorir are materialized, it would be a matter of less than 2 years for the Islamic Republic of Eastern Africa to rise.

As many suspect a plan for the rise of an Islamist regime to rise in the Middle East and confront Israel before 2012, Mr. Donald Kipkorir’s suggestions may simply reveal the plan’s provision for the southern wing of the Islamist empire.

In a world where Kenya would be a mere memory…..

The historical and political refutation of Mr. Donald Kipkorir’s flawed and erroneous arguments will be the subject of a separate article. Here, I re-publish the lawless Kenyan lawyer’s proposals on how to help the Islamic Republic of Eastern Africa become a reality.

Kenya and Ethiopia should dismember Somalia and divide it between themselves

By Donald Kipkorir

Supporting the Southern Sudan government is in our long-term strategic interest and we should not shy from it. The truth of the matter is that as a Western ally, Kenya is an existential enemy of Arab countries, Sudan included. Annexing Somalia is thus in our strategic interest and we must do it now as the financial meltdown continues to take away the attention of the world. — Donald Kipkorir

Why Kenya and Ethiopia ought to annex and divide Somalia

Last month, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, the world’s foremost investment banks, went bankrupt and we witnessed the financial chaos in the western capitals.

In the fog of international headlines on finding a financial bail-out in Washington, a rag-tag army of 50 semi-naked men on rickety boats captured a ship carrying 33 T-72 tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns off the coast of Somalia.

The capture of mv Faina and the stalemated talks amid the surrounding American and Russian warships made me think that maybe this is the time to find a final solution to the Somali problem.

Since 1960, the country has been a lawless state that is a haven for terrorists and pirates. The pirates have told us the destination of the captured weaponry causing tension and panic in Washington, Nairobi and Khartoum.

If it is true that the final consignee was the government of Southern Sudan, as they allege, I will be on the same page with the Kibaki government for the first time.

I am a fervent supporter of a strategic foreign policy even if it attracts us enemies of such malevolent and despotic regimes as that of Khartoum.

Supporting the Southern Sudan government is in our long-term strategic interest and we should not shy from it. The truth of the matter is that as a Western ally, Kenya is an existential enemy of Arab countries, Sudan included.

Annexing Somalia is thus in our strategic interest and we must do it now as the financial meltdown continues to take away the attention of the world.

Somalia as a state exists only in world maps. It is a classic case of a failed state. It is a state dismembered into as many independent units as there are sub-clans. Its 90-strong cabinet is emblematic of the actual number of units.

The Horn of Africa country has no functioning government. The so-called transitional federal government, led by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, is confined to a shell-shocked presidential compound.

There is no standing or even sitting army or judicial systems. By all accounts, Somalia is a black hole in international law. Together with Afghanistan and Pakistan they are known as the training grounds and refuge for international terrorism.

Kenya has been a victim of such terrorism, leading to near-destruction of its tourism industry. We cannot afford another such attack. We have the potential to develop our tourism to compete with, if not outpace, Egypt and South Africa. But we cannot do so if Somalia continues to be a non-state.

Somalia neighbours Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Of these, it is only Ethiopia and Kenya that have strategic interest in Somalia. Djibouti is a primitive entrepot that can’t even supply water to its 600,000 people, who are forced to drink that imported from France or Coca Cola. Therefore, Djibouti is out in the quest for the final solution to the Somali puzzle.

Kenya and Ethiopia must and ought to dismember Somalia and divide it between themselves along the 4 degrees latitude, each taking all the land below and above the line.

The division will make both countries extend their territories by roughly 300,000sq km and additional populations of about five million.

Once Kenya and Ethiopia have sent their combined army to Somalia and declared the annexation, we will present to the world a fait accompli.

In 1845, America annexed Texas from Mexico and forced the Texan legislature to pass a specific legislation stating that it accepted the annexation. The annexation has stood to date and, for good measure, President George W. Bush is a proud American Texan.

For Kenya and Ethiopia, having the Somali legislature to endorse the annexation will be cake-walk. At any given time, most, if not all, Somali legislators are in Nairobi.

We will have them convene in one of our hotels and to pass the appropriate statutes dividing their country.

When the allied forces liberated Germany from Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, they sent the bill to Berlin.

Our cost of annexing Somalia will be settled by Mogadishu. Somalia is known to have huge deposits of oil, natural gas, uranium and iron ore. Immediately after the annexation, we will invite our strategic foreign friends (not China please) to come and exploit the resources for us.

Kenyans ought to know that although Somalia is a failed state, its positive statistics are impressive. Without a structured economy, its gross national income per capita is US$600 (Sh40,000), when ours is $550 (Sh36,800). Of its universities that operate without budgets and with armed militia guarding them, three are in Africa’s top 100.

International law forbids the use of force by states against the territorial integrity and political independence of others. Somalia doesn’t have either.

But the law also recognises irreversible processes like the extinction of states such as in the USSR, emergence of new states from former USSR and Yugoslavia, and annexations like that of Texas. International order hates reversing completed processes, more so if the world is a better place.

If we do not annex Somalia and now, we will be a victim of its failed status and pulled down by it. We will not be able to achieve our strategic foreign policy in the region, or attain the Vision 2030 goal.

The time to annex and dismember Somalia is now; Washington and Moscow will be grateful.

——————————————————–
About The Author: Donald Kipkorir — Mr. Kipkorir is a lawyer and partner at the law firm of Kipkorir, Titoo & Kiara, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Kipkorir, Titoo & Kiara was established in 1996 and currently has 8 lawyers and 2 consultants as well as a capable team of paralegal and support staff.
——————————————————–

Note: The Muslim populations of Mombasa want to belong to Greater Somalia — not the fake colonial fabrication “Kenya.”

By DONALD KIPKORIR

Why Kenya and Ethiopia ought to annex and divide Somalia

   [Enlarge]
Last month, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, the world’s foremost investment banks, went bankrupt and we witnessed the financial chaos in the western capitals.

In the fog of international headlines on finding a financial bail-out in Washington, a rag-tag army of 50 semi-naked men on rickety boats captured a ship carrying 33 T-72 tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns off the coast of Somalia.

The capture of mv Faina and the stalemated talks amid the surrounding American and Russian warships made me think that maybe this is the time to find a final solution to the Somali problem.

Since 1960, the country has been a lawless state that is a haven for terrorists and pirates. The pirates have told us the destination of the captured weaponry causing tension and panic in Washington, Nairobi and Khartoum.

If it is true that the final consignee was the government of Southern Sudan, as they allege, I will be on the same page with the Kibaki government for the first time.

I am a fervent supporter of a strategic foreign policy even if it attracts us enemies of such malevolent and despotic regimes as that of Khartoum.

Supporting the Southern Sudan government is in our long-term strategic interest and we should not shy from it. The truth of the matter is that as a Western ally, Kenya is an existential enemy of Arab countries, Sudan included.

Annexing Somalia is thus in our strategic interest and we must do it now as the financial meltdown continues to take away the attention of the world.

Somalia as a state exists only in world maps. It is a classic case of a failed state. It is a state dismembered into as many independent units as there are sub-clans. Its 90-strong cabinet is emblematic of the actual number of units.

The Horn of Africa country has no functioning government. The so-called transitional federal government, led by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, is confined to a shell-shocked presidential compound.

There is no standing or even sitting army or judicial systems. By all accounts, Somalia is a black hole in international law. Together with Afghanistan and Pakistan they are known as the training grounds and refuge for international terrorism.

Kenya has been a victim of such terrorism, leading to near-destruction of its tourism industry. We cannot afford another such attack. We have the potential to develop our tourism to compete with, if not outpace, Egypt and South Africa. But we cannot do so if Somalia continues to be a non-state.

Somalia neighbours Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Of these, it is only Ethiopia and Kenya that have strategic interest in Somalia. Djibouti is a primitive entrepot that can’t even supply water to its 600,000 people, who are forced to drink that imported from France or Coca Cola. Therefore, Djibouti is out in the quest for the final solution to the Somali puzzle.

Kenya and Ethiopia must and ought to dismember Somalia and divide it between themselves along the 4 degrees latitude, each taking all the land below and above the line.

The division will make both countries extend their territories by roughly 300,000sq km and additional populations of about five million.

Once Kenya and Ethiopia have sent their combined army to Somalia and declared the annexation, we will present to the world a fait accompli.

In 1845, America annexed Texas from Mexico and forced the Texan legislature to pass a specific legislation stating that it accepted the annexation. The annexation has stood to date and, for good measure, President George W. Bush is a proud American Texan.

For Kenya and Ethiopia, having the Somali legislature to endorse the annexation will be cake-walk. At any given time, most, if not all, Somali legislators are in Nairobi.

We will have them convene in one of our hotels and to pass the appropriate statutes dividing their country.

When the allied forces liberated Germany from Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, they sent the bill to Berlin.

Our cost of annexing Somalia will be settled by Mogadishu. Somalia is known to have huge deposits of oil, natural gas, uranium and iron ore. Immediately after the annexation, we will invite our strategic foreign friends (not China please) to come and exploit the resources for us.

Kenyans ought to know that although Somalia is a failed state, its positive statistics are impressive. Without a structured economy, its gross national income per capita is US$600 (Sh40,000), when ours is $550 (Sh36,800). Of its universities that operate without budgets and with armed militia guarding them, three are in Africa’s top 100.

International law forbids the use of force by states against the territorial integrity and political independence of others. Somalia doesn’t have either.

But the law also recognises irreversible processes like the extinction of states such as in the USSR, emergence of new states from former USSR and Yugoslavia, and annexations like that of Texas. International order hates reversing completed processes, more so if the world is a better place.

If we do not annex Somalia and now, we will be a victim of its failed status and pulled down by it. We will not be able to achieve our strategic foreign policy in the region, or attain the Vision 2030 goal.

The time to annex and dismember Somalia is now; Washington and Moscow will be grateful.

[Enlarge] About The Author: Donald Kipkorir — Mr. Kipkorir is a lawyer and partner at the law firm of Kipkorir, Titoo & Kiara, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Kipkorir, Titoo & Kiara was established in 1996 and currently has 8 lawyers and 2 consultants as well as a capable team of paralegal and support staff. | More Articles By Daniel Kipkorir |

 Columnist – John Sammon
You know what bothers me, apart from the ethics, who’s right and who’s wrong? (America is always right, right or wrong).

America only attacks small, poor countries. Look at the list of our opponents over the past thirty years or so, Vietnam, Granada, Iraq, Afghanistan, The Balkans, Lebanon, and Cuba (oops, we didn’t attack Cuba, we almost did).

Always in the name of freedom.

It makes me yearn for World War Two, the good war, where we fought competent powerful enemies worthy of the name. Now, I know because we’re America we’re always right no matter what. I know we have right on our side in every case. That we’re infallible, incapable of error.

But do we always have to fight countries much smaller than ourselves?

This will get me labeled as unpatriotic, and not one of the my-country-right-or-wrong-God-likes-me-and-not-you crowd. But it makes me uncomfortable that we’re always beating up (in the name of right) on poor small countries, countries whose gross national product is a fraction of our own.

These are people who don’t have refrigerators like we do.

To be invaded by the United States, you have to be small, poor, and have no navy and no air force like we do.

We never take on big countries like China.

Here’s a partial list of countries that because of their size and poverty can consider themselves under risk of attack from Bombs Away John McCain if they don’t conform to the American lifestyle, and fail to provide us with raw materials, or do what we want when we want, or pattern themselves after us, or seek nuclear power (that right is reserved for America and its friends like India).

And most of all, not attack their neighbors. The right to attack is reserved for America. Here’s the list:

Chad — This tiny Central African country, named for a voting stub (chad), would be easy for the United States to defeat. Hell, they don’t have anything except sand and flies. In fact, their chief commodity export are gnats.

Switzerland — If we run out of milk, we know where we can get it (lots of cows). The only problem here are the mountains (we have specialized troops that can climb those), and the sexy blondes in the villages who might prove a distraction. It can be overcome by our modern technology.

Yemen — This is a plumb ready for the taking. Think of it. Oil rich. On the ocean where the Red Sea meets the Arabian Sea. Beautiful waterfront condos overlooking the sea. Prime real estate. No air force to speak of. Navy? Can Arabs sail? Hell no. The only problem is, it’s a republic. That’s okay, we can blame 9-11 on ‘em. Yemen has another advantage. Many different tribes. We can get them to warring with each other.

Djibouti — Another Arab country in the Horn of Africa. Once again, potential oil and ocean views. We could overrun them in three days. It’s a Moslem country so this would figure in with our remaking the Middle East. But the main reason is it would give our hip soldiers (who love slang) the chance to wear tee shirts that say, “you bet Djibouti (your booty).”

Netherlands Antilles — This tiny island off the coast of Venezuela, I can’t think of one good reason to invade. Except maybe, it’s close to South America and would give us more of a presence there. We’ve always tried to boss South America.

This is only a partial list.

There are many more such countries that can be taught freedom.

© Copyright 2008 by SammonSays.com