Editorial: Somalia's piracy problem was fueled by environmental and political events

William Jelani Cobb says Somalia's piracy problem was fueled by environmental and political events.

For more information than the excerpt below, go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/19/cobb.somalia.piracy/index.html

These pirates are not romantic heroes and their actions have generated an entirely different set of problems in Somalia, but they have our attention. In light of this incident we should recognize there are two sets of victims here: innocent workers taken hostage by pirates and those people living along the poisoned and depleted Somali coast who may well see these pirates as heroes.

We should also know that part of combating terrorism means addressing the conditions in which it flourishes. Extortion and kidnapping on the high seas is certainly wrong, but by ignoring the dumping of nuclear waste and the threats to the regional food supply, we effectively created a niche for these pirates. And Capt. Phillips' ordeal is a clear signal that humanitarian concerns are not the soft aspects of foreign policy, but rather the key to protecting our national interests abroad.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of William Jelani Cobb.