Secret US policy is the real story behind the Somali pirates: Africa correspondent

14 May 2009 |

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Secret US policy is the real story behind the Somali pirates: Africa correspondent

Listen to the interview

By Daan de Wit

The Somali pirates are in the news almost every day. But what is the news behind the news? Thomas C. Mountain experiences first hand what is going on in the part of Africa everyone is now talking about, because he lives there, in Eritrea. He writes about the Horn of Africa and the pirates for alternative media such as Counterpunch, AntiWar and the Online Journal.

In my interview with Mountain he tells about the illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters. And he explains the reason why the West only treats the symptoms but does not dare to touch the cause: the Somali pirates are protected by the US policeman on the beat, the Ethiopian army.
Map.

Interview with Thomas C. Mountain by Daan de Wit for DeepJournal:
Part 1.
Thomas C. Mountain reacts to a report by Canada's CBC on the Somali pirates. Through interviews with representatives from the United Nations and Greenpeace the tv-report explains the possible motivations for the pirates: illegal fishing by the West and the dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters.
Africa correspondent Thomas C. Mountain in an interview for DeepJournal: The pirates are protected in the military bases of the Ethiopian army in Somalia, a force protected by the United States for serving as the local policeman. Mountain explains that the corrupt Ethiopian military shares the loot of the Somali pirates: 'It's protection money'.

Part 2.
Three layers to the pirate story are being covered in this segment.
1. The regular news story: Soamli pirates cause trouble for the West.
2. The pirates are motivated by illegal fishing by the West and the dumping of toxic waste in their waters.
3. The Ethiopian military protects the pirates while being protected by the US.
-Mountain and De Wit are also discussing the role of the Western media in covering this story.

Part 3.
News is surfacing about Iranian and Israeli military bases in Eritrea. The Times Online headlines: Israelis warn of Eritrea flashpoint. It writes: 'The Israelis fear Eritrea could be a flashpoint if Iranian Revolutionary Guards continue to ship arms to militants in Gaza via the Eritrean port of Assab. Israel is said to have two Eritrean bases, one a “listening post” for signals intelligence, the other a supply base for its German-built submarines'.
Listen to Mountain debunking this article as disinformation.
Mountain speaks about the building of the 6 billion dollar costing base for Africom and the 'fiasco' it is turning out to be.
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Related article by Thomas C. Mountain: AFRICOM’s $6 billion fiasco in Djibouti.
Related article by Thomas C. Mountain: Ethiopia/USA/Somali pirates’ cover-up.
Related article: You are being lied to about pirates.
Related article: Prelude to piracy - The Poor Fishermen of Somalia.
Related article: Ethiopia admits Somalia presence.

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