Posted on 04/27/2009 1:43:08 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Khat-chewing former fisherman known as Garaad is the brains behind pirates' brawn
When Gilbert and Sullivan composed their melodies about the pirate king, it was doubtful they had a Somali like Garaad in mind. Yet this former fisherman, the man behind many of the recent hijackings in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, is as close as it comes to pirate royalty in the modern world.
In an interview on the breezy patio of a Somali hotel, he explains how he exerts direct control over 13 groups of pirates with a total of 800 hijackers, operating in bases stretching from Bosasso to Kismaayo, near the Kenyan border. Each group has a “sub-lieutenant” who reports directly to Garaad, and none of them make a move without his authorization.
An armchair CEO, Garaad is curiously uninterested in the fruits of his operation. “I don't know the names of any of the ships my men capture, and I don't care,” he says, “The only thing I care about is sending more pirates into the sea.”
Garaad is a name that has grown notorious in his own time – at least within the borders of Puntland, the autonomous region in northern Somalia that has spawned the recent pirate epidemic.
Related Articles Recent Cruise ship fends off pirate attack with gunfire Garaad had agreed to the interview on the outskirts of the northern Somali port city of Bosasso, about six weeks before the high-profile hijacking of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama. The interview was supposed to take place on the previous day, but after preliminary discussions in the morning, Garaad turned off his phone and disappeared. “He's off chewing khat somewhere,” suggests Mohamed, the interpreter who arranged the meeting, referring to the leafy narcotic religiously consumed by most pirates.
(Excerpt) Read more at theglobeandmail.com ...
It's all about the money. Nobody does anything just for the love of it anymore. It was obvious to me that the three pirates we wasted had no passion for their tradecraft.
I think Kevin Kline was the best Pirate King. Yummy.
They can whack him inside of 24 hours if they want to end the piracy.
Fly an armed Predator out of our joint French/US base in Djibouti, and drop a Hellfire or a Viper on his ass.
Looking for pirates on the ocean is like attacking an ant infestation with tweezers.
Go after the queen ant to end the trouble.
And if another guy wants to take his place, whack him too. That’s how to stop piracy.
Of course Obama won’t do it.
The Somali pirates shoot british .303?
Pirates are absolutely terrified of John Kerry hearings.
I keep expecting 0bama to step in, holler “parlay” and request a talk with these pirates. ARGH!
Me too.
They did on South Park(hilarious episode, I might add).
Ya got to love “The Pirate Song”
Great episode. Captain Fatbeard. LOL!
I thought the Pirate Movie was good ... of course it’s old .. 1982
I hope they appoint a “Blue Ribbon” panel next! That’s the best kind!
Send the Mexicans after them and perhaps they’ll all die of the Swine Flu.
Great episode, and available for all to enjoy:
http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/season/13/
Fatbeard
Original Air Date: 04.22.09
Cartman’s dream of living the life of a pirate will come true if he can just get to Somalia.
Another way to end it is to start strafing the pirate skiff lines up at the waterline in the infamous criminal (aka “pirate”) town of Eyl, Somalia.
Of course he waon’t do that either.
Pirates have rights too!
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