Our heartfelt thanks to Divinities of Choice for the safe delivery of Captain Phillips and crew of the Maersk Alabama.
I’m surely not the first to nickname it the Maersk Obama, since this drama has been played out extremely well by his newly-minted executive staff, Hillary Clinton in particular.
He let her run with this and she done good. Her chutzpah and familiarity with high-tension public speaking, not to mention the warrior black pant-suit (pastels would be unthinkable at a time like this) flashed up two images for me.
First was gratification of seeing urgent decisions being made and deployment orders snappily issued, affecting people on distant oceans.
Reminiscent of the Kennedy era, well-groomed and powerful leaders stepping momentarily out of the Beltway cocktail-loop to put things right half a world away.
All good optics.
The other image isn’t so favorable, one which conjured up the hubris of Margaret Thatcher in the run-up to Britain’s invasion and despicable bullying of Argentina over Las Malvinas. It was time for her to flex that military muscle and any excuse would do, even if it resulted in multiple acts of inhumanity including the reported sodomising of dozens of Argentinian soldier-cadets by British troops gone mad.
Different situations but they have this in common, they stink of political expediency to the point where I wonder, was this temporary taming of Indian Ocean pirates laid out as a no-brainer for HRC when she accepted the job as Obama’s Secretary?
Both situations have extensive history, it’s not as if something had flared up overnight. In the Falklands case, Britain had been repeatedly censured by international courts for dragging its feet on resolving the Falklands ownership issue. And the Maersk Alabama was apparently the thirtieth ship to be hijacked this year alone by Somalian pirates. This is not a breaking story.
The international community has long been aware of the risks run by commercial shipping in this area, and of the unimaginable poverty which underpins it. It is also aware that the powerful and increasingly militarised nations care nothing for Africa, leaving the burden of care and compassion to religious and charity-organisations.
Bottom line: this pirate-peepshow is a far better bang for the US propaganda buck than its continuing, insane and illegal invasions of Muslim countries.
Well done, USA.
(I am now withdrawing my tongue from my cheek….)
Well said JIm.
It is difficult to not see room for cynicism even when right actions take place. The Obama Admin needs to enact some bold humane measures to shore up the US image. Like closing Gitmo and handing the territory back to Cuba. This would further distance the US from the shame it brought upon itself on that spot. The Obama Admin also needs to repeal the Helms-Burton law, an extra-territorial measure that punished firms wanting to do business with both Cuba and America. Then we might see some genuine (non-military) heart and soul that benefits someone besides Americans. And at no cost to them! How easy can it be??!!
As you can now see, Lord Anthony wrote this post. Obviously I still need to tweak things a bit.
Cheers,
Sam
…and an amazing post it is is, by the Wordsmith Sans Pareil.
I cleave to the import of the message although I differ on some few details.
But on the whole, there is – indeed – a pathetic parallel, which keeps Thatcher distant but still within the Obama/Clinton orbit.
Obama has those who speak of a “new world order”. One wonders… will the “new order” be one of stability and security…or will it be one of chaos, bloodshed and a new form of revolution…….hmmm…could America erupt?
Another hmmm for you….
CBC today…… “The sole surviving Somalian pirate allegedly involved in the hostage-taking of U.S. commercial ship captain Richard Phillips arrived in New York late Monday, hours after his mother appealed to U.S. President Barack Obama for his release.
Abduhl Wali-i-Musi was surrounded by a dozen federal agents as he arrived in the city and is expected to appear in federal court on Tuesday…”
Maybe Obama’s leaning towards closing Guantanamo Bay isn’t such a good idea.
After all, if lots of dark-skinned guys with dangerous-sounding piratey Arabic names are to be rounded up in this climate of rendition-nouveau, they’d have to be put somewhere.
Or….. big fat pirate-chasing, sabre-rattling western powers could take a hard look at the poverty which drives piracy instead of flexing military muscle.
But I won’t hold my breath on that one.