The International Chamber of Commerce Commercial Criminal Service has a map depicting the reported piracy events around the world. The Gulf of Aden north of Somalia is a battleground. Somali pirates, organized into marauding gangs in fast moving boats, are seizing commerce vessels at sea. Once boarded, the pirates hold the ships and crews. In effect, companies and countries are forced to walk the plank through high ransom payments.
These events in the Gulf of Aden are classic examples of Islamic Bedouin mischief. In the early 1800’s, the Barbary Pirates of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya raided shipping in the Mediterranean Ocean. The Barbary countries taxed tribute on nations in Europe and the US. Pirates captured military and commercial shipping, pressing the crews into slavery or worse.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson discussed the issue with Tripoli’s envoy in London. His answer parallels Osama bin Laden’s 1998 fatwa. Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja tells Adams and Jefferson; “It was written in the Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every Mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise.
To the Muslims of the Barbary Coast, there were only two forces at play in the world. Dar al-Islam, or House of Islam meant Muslim government and Sharia Law. The second, Dar al-Harb, or House of War, was every thing else outside Islam, the area not under Muslim control where infidels ruled. As part of this House of War, the Barbary Pirates implement al-jihad fil-bahr, the holy war at sea, on European and American commerce coming through the Mediterranean Ocean.
Great military men were called upon to fight the Barbary Pirates. The US Marine Corps hymn heralds Presley O’Bannon exploits on “the shores of Tripoli”. Commodore Stephen Decatur recaptures the USS PHILADELPHIA and burns it to the ground in a daring raid which Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson called the “most daring raid of the ages.” The USS CONSTITUTION, oldest registered US Naval warship currently in Boston harbor, fought the Barbary pirates during the Jefferson and Madison administrations.
Al Qaeda has used the Horn of Africa and particularly Somalia as a refuge from US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. It is the perfect hide site for Islamic militants. The Somali government is weak, the population is poor, and Somalia warlords have been fighting each other in civil wars for decades. This is the perfect breeding ground for piracy, the combination of Islamic militancy and few prospects for resources.
During an interview, a spokesman for the Somali pirates stated they are protecting Somali fishing vessels and stopping commercial dumping in the ocean off their coasts. The ICC map of the Gulf of Aden tells another story. The sea lanes transiting the Gulf of Aden are close to Yemeni shores, not Somalia. This places commercial shipping in confined space and close to Somali pirate bases. The map of piracy events during 2008 in the Gulf of Aden can be found at www.icc.ccs.org
The new administration will have to deal with these pirates in the Gulf of Aden. President Elect Barak Obama will not have a Somali government to negotiate with. The Somali government has no control over the warlords and pirates marauding the Gulf of Aden. The UN has passed resolutions dealing with piracy on the high seas but there are no military forces under UN control to stop the Somalis.
Looking back at US historical perspective is a good place to start planning diplomatic, informational, economic, and military operations in the Horn of Africa. Operations in the Global War on Terrorism have been on-going for years with Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.
The only option available to the US may be military intervention. What stopped the Barbary Pirates was going to their home ports. The US Navy must destroy the pirate infrastructure on shore. This will not be a popular option. We have experience on shore in Somalia. The famous Black Hawk Down incident is still imprinted on the minds of US citizens.
The modern US Navy has tools Lt Presley O’Bannon and Commodore Stephen Decatur could not have dreamed of in the 1800’s. Jefferson sends a squadron of six frigates to the Mediterranean to deal with the situation. Modern warfare at sea can cover thousands of miles of open ocean. A US Navy Carrier Strike Group will do nicely in the Gulf of Aden.
The Somali pirate centers of gravity, their hub of all power and movement, are their in-shore bases in Somalia and the long range mother ships they use for open ocean operations. The operational center of gravity is their ability to recruit from among a population of young men out of work with no prospects for the future. The situation is similar to young men recruited into the ranks of Hamas and Hezbollah.
Pirates’ information operation against any use of military force is our strategic center of gravity. The Islamic militants and Somali pirates are very media savvy. They think strategically and act tactically. The scenes of Somali civilians being used as human shields turned hearts and minds against our involvement in United Nation Operations in Somalia (UNOSOM) during 1991-1995. Possibly thousands of Somali civilians were killed during the UNOSOM operations.
There are three elements of operations for this battle. The first is joint integrated fires. Bring all forms of lethal and non-lethal fires to bear on the pirate infrastructure.
Second, persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) will be required to find, fix, track, and target pirate leadership, mobile ship bases and surface fast attack vessels.
Third, continuous humanitarian operations may be the only means to cut off pirate recruitment efforts. There must be some sense of security and increased standard of living. All of these efforts must be coordinated and in concert with each other.
Placing the USS RONALD REAGAN Carrier Strike Group in the Gulf of Aden will give the commander of CJTF-HOA the ability to survey thousands of square miles of open ocean. The air group contains E-2C Hawkeye radar surveillance planes capable of watching surface vessels and performing command and control.
Unmanned air vehicles such as the Global Hawk can provide wide area surveillance. Somali pirate operations have distinct habits and patterns. I would not be surprised if the CJTF-HOA commander has not been watching piracy in his area of responsibility for a long time.
CJTF analysts will be able to connect the dots but this is a very time consuming activity. How many more ships will be captured before pirate leadership and resource targets can be identified?
One of REAGAN’s warships is the USS DECATUR. It would be ironic if the Somali pirates are defeated by a ship named after the Commodore who subdued the Barbary Pirates in the early 1800’s.
Like Stephen Decatur, ships identified as hostile must be given no quarter for survival. The USS RONALD REAGAN Carrier Strike Group has one tool Decatur did not and that is joint maritime air support. Carrier Air Wing Fourteen can be augmented with Air Force bomber support from Diego Garcia or special operations air assets from CJTF-HOA.
Special Operations Task Forces are our asymmetric ace in the hole. Ground forces working with the AC-130 Gunship will continue to be an ideal tool for surveillance, intelligence collection and integrated fire power. A good basis for rules of engagement for these operations can be found in Ralph Peters paper “When Devils Walked the Earth.” Read the 25 Superpower Do’s and Don’ts at www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/usmc/ceto/when_devils_walked_the_earth.pdf
Controlling their bases at such places as Boosaaso and sinking the mother ships in the open ocean can be a difficult task. There are hundreds of fishing dhows off the coast of Somalia complicating the targeting cycle. Numerous non-combatants will be involved. Identifying hostile pirate ships in thousands of miles of open ocean is a daunting ISR and targeting activity.
Continuous broad ocean and on-shore intelligence collection will be required. You must go after their leadership to give them the sense there is no place they can hide. Identifying pirate leadership targets may not be as hard as one would think. Just ask the question who is living in the new big house on the beach… Easy targeting problem; big house… big target.
The last challenge for operations against the Somali pirates is the same Jefferson and Madison faced, resources. During periods of world-wide economic difficulty, few governments have the will to put up a fight. If there is no will to fight, then scarce resources will be allocated to the Gulf of Aden.
The United Nations can pass numerous resolutions but will continue to have no teeth behind them. The Somalis have fought the UN and won almost on every occasion. One of those successes was against US policies in Somalia.
The tragedy of Blackhawk Down will weigh heavily on the minds of all Americans and be another tool the mainstream media can use against any military actions to keep the sea lines of communication open in the Gulf of Aden.
The lessons learned from the Jefferson and Madison administrations will be a good place to start planning. Madison’s approach to the Tripolitan pirates would be considered anathema in today’s political world… a strategy of preemption against the Barbary Alliances. Preempting pirate operations in shore may bring a quick end to ransoms. I have one thing to say to our generation of Decatur’s and O’Bannon’s… To all of my US military bros and sisters… implement gangplank, good luck and good hunting!
