Daniel Sekulich has a post up on the now announced Al-Shabaab alignment with al-Qaeda in Somalia: Finally, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that if you put a bunch of avowed al-Qaeda fans close to one of the most important sea lanes for global commerce, something bad may happen. We know what al-Qaeda is capable of, on at least four continents. And the only place they have effected large-scale maritime operations to date has been in the seas off the Horn of Africa (viz USS Cole and MV Limburg). If pirates can attack a supertanker or cruise ship for money, why couldn't suicide bombers do the same, albeit with a different goal.Read it all. And think about it.
And what does all this have to with piracy? It's simple: The international community has been struggling badly for years to deal with maritime criminals attacking shipping opportunistically. Are we prepared for, say, three skiffs laden with explosives aiming for a box ship in the Gulf of Aden or a supertanker near the Seychelles, piloted by individuals with no intent on boarding and hijacking?
I don't think we are.
Nicely done, Daniel.
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