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FRANCE has introduced a resolution in the United Nations Security Council calling for member nations to send naval and air support to the Somali waters to fight the ongoing threat of piracy and terrorism.

The radical Islamic element that has high-jacked Somalia, leaving it without any form of centralized government, has made a profitable industry out of their place in the terrorism and piracy arena.

Military action in a Global Security Initiative is warranted.  France has the correct approach and I believe the United States should join our French allies in this effort and engage the threat.

I would call for member nations to seal-off Somali waters, creating a blockade and barring any private or commercial ships from those waters during such an action. I would set a policy that ANY BOAT OR SHIP NOT AUTHORIZED to be on those waters during that engagement will be fired upon and sunk.

I would then urge a collective use of allied intelligence, pin-pointing known radical Islamic training camps, pinpointing known points of operation in Somalia and order the commencement of air strikes. Such an effort, with the cooperation of an international coalition of nations would strike a massive blow against the terrorist-pirates of the region.

Ground troops WOULD NOT BE REQUIRED, and the naval and air operations could be done successfully with international cooperation and the consent of the U.N. Security Council.

Not enough was done to eradicate the terrorist elements that have led to the horrors of The Darfur Region of The Sudan. As long as the terror elements and pirates of the region continue, the people of Somalia have little hope of regaining their country and restoring some semblance of order.

President Obama`s recent handling of the crisis involving that region and the U.S. Response under his authority as Commander-in-Chief, proves the President has the will, the ability and the international support to use military action, along with our allies, and strike a fatal blow to the Islamic element of terror and piracy alive there.

Following this action, private security companies can be hired to maintain order and protect the interests of the innocent on the seas who would otherwise fall victim to the pirates. These companies can be hired through a collective alliance of government and commercial shipping companies.

There is no other way to fight this terror than to get in their face, eyeball to eyeball until the other guy blinks. When they blink, we  level a fatal blow against their efforts and eradicate the threat currently reigning over the region.

I endorse and support the French approach to fighting the piracy in and around Somalia, and call upon the United States and allied nations to get behind this effort. Letting a cancer grow will not lead to recovery of the body. If Somalia is to recover and regain control of its nation and if the region is to be safe for commerce and shipping interests, then we must locate the cancer, cut it from the body and make certain that it never returns.

Will Griffith, Chairman
The Griffith Corporation
www.griffithcorp.com



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Will Griffith
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL

What about the apparent fact that the waters off the coast of Somalia have been so over-fished, for so long, they no longer have any fish at all? How do the citizens of the country earn a living?

And what about the requirements by the International Money Fund (IMF) and the World Bank that would force the nation to pay exorbitant interest rates, cut their humanitarian development, and even sell the rights to their own land?

What about those warlords that have no intention at all of forming a lawful nation? And how about those Mafioso-like village chiefs who promote the kidnapping plan?

What`s causing all this piracy in the first place? Isn`t it that shipping companies, many of them European-owned (including French) simply pay the ransom demands without pause?

Who, exactly, would take on the job of patrolling those coastal waters? How many ships, weapons, and troops are the French signing up to deliver on a regular basis?

Sure they "call on the United States" and anyone else who has a military to "do something." Oh...wait...I forgot. NOBODY except the United States has a military! Well, China has a military...why not borrow theirs?

Who, exactly, are the Somali "people" who will take control of the land and form a government? Have they been educated? Are they healthy? Do they understand anything at all about infrastructure and trade?

All this blather by France is just that...blather. It feels good, but means nothing at all. Until shipping companies are fined large amounts for paying ransom, piracy will continue.

In fact, the best idea would be for the shipping insurance companies to mandate that no ransom will be covered whatsoever, under any conditions. Then let the actual owners of the ships pay the ransom.

This doesn`t happen very often, but I agree 100%. When I read that SEAL team snipers assassinated the majority of the pirate crew in the dead of night and rescued the hostage captain, I have to admit I got goosebumps of enthusiasm and I believe my thought was something like, "Holy s***! That`s so f###### cool." I don`t swear, but this story was a healthy dose of poetic justice and special forces sheer superiority, that it was impossible not to. I support any action that has bad guys losing in such a one sided demolition. I support the combined might of all modern nations bringing their force of arms down on a couple of starving pirates in a rubber boat.

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Making limitless possibilities much more limited.

Thank you as always for weighing in gentlemen. To address Craig`s view, I agree that there are a variety of factors that need to be considered with regard to that region.

Obviously an allied military effort would have to be met with a political and economic effort as well. The weight of the nations taking action would have to be exercised far beyond guns and fire power. We would have to present a solid Somali Recovery Plan, creating waivers and economic incentives with regard to the IMF and the World Bank, as well as United Nations relief.

The humanitarian aspects in Somalia  have not been addressed in a serious way and need to be. I have been a critic of the United Nations in the past and put little stock in their effectiveness. Bureaucracy, as in any governmental body, runs deep at the global level. The United Nations is not immune. So we utilize the U.N. to our advantage in an action such as the one I`ve outlined and MAKE the U.N. work in its favor.

The shipping companies need to face stiff penalties for succumbing to the piracy. They need to be restricted in the paying of ransoms, and Sea Marshals should be utilized in much the same fashion as we did with Air Marshals. Rather than pay ransom to the terrorists, the insurance and shipping companies can take a portion of that money and invest in greater security measures.

Turning the other cheek or simply ignoring the problem will certainly not make it go away.

Let me address the thugs who run the villages and control their `business` through violence and crime. We MUST put them on the hot seat. We can work with Interpol to create a Somali Task Force that will begin putting price tags on their heads. We create a global law enforcement assault, under the direction of Interpol, to sweep these guys up once they have been identified and located. We implement everything we know about hunting and locating war criminals and dictators and we use the same methods to weed the Somali garden. If we use the resources available, (and we have them), we can be effective. If we can round up Nazi war criminals and the likes of Slobodan Milosovich, then the Somali gang leaders are not immune from a global campaign to root them out.

There are plenty of global resources to utilize to save Somalia

I read the French resolution in depth, and while some aspects were vague on who would actually assume leadership in the effort, the resolution was workable, viable and had merit. I support it because it is a plan. And through international cooperation that plan can be better and more comprehensive in scope.

We have to have a solid policy for the region and I have confidence that the Obama Administration is on the right track on this level.  When it comes to terrorism and fighting it, I think the President will meet the challenges and this is where political positioning ends.

Again, thank you Craig for your comments. Thank you Matt for weighing in with your support and your comments on our military.

Will Griffith
www.griffithcorp.com




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Will Griffith
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL

I should say here that I`ve been spending the past few months educating myself about economics---the science of money. When I learned the truth about the Federal Reserve, America`s central bank, I was stunned. 

With a better understanding of how money works, and knowing that in almost all cases, "it`s about the money," I see world events very differently than I did in the past.

When we talk about greed, I think all of us tend to have a sort of benchmark in mind. But as I learned the facts and background about world banking, I found that all those benchmarks were blown to bits.

The level of robbery, corruption, theft, and total destruction taking place by world bankers is so astronomical it almost defies belief. And the reason it can happen is that almost all politicians are utterly ignorant in all areas about how money works.

Examining world economics, it becomes entirely clear that countries like Haiti and Somalia, Iraq and most African nations have been willfully destroyed. And they`ll continue to be destroyed, all in the name of consolidating the world`s wealth into the hands of a smaller and smaller group of people.

America is about to be torn apart using exactly the same financial principles that demolished the British empire, back in the 1700-1800s. The process has gone on for so long, it`s pretty much inevitable at this point.

What`s different is that for the first time in history, with inter-connected borderless economics, those same bankers will be taken down as well. The resulting ruin has no scenario. Nobody`s ever seen anything like it, and nobody has the slightest idea of the consequences. It`s too late, though, and the bankers have realized "it`s" out of control.

That`s why we see increasingly desperate measures on the part of the biggest banking and financial institutions around the world. They`ve realized they`ve flipped the switch on a doomsday machine, and now they can`t turn it off anymore.

We`ve apparently found the military force that will come to the aid of merchant ships around the world. Dolphins! Many high-level intelligence organizations have long suspected that dolphins may be secretly arming themselves in preparation of a coup to take over the world. This may be the first maneuver, secretly disguised as a helpful assist to the human race.

The question is are the dolphins purely a volunteer force? If not, Code Pink and PETA will have something to say about it.

Alysyn



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Alysyn Bourque
CEO, THE GRIFFITH CENTER

My thinking is that the dolphins are being funded by off-budget PETA money, and taught how to fight by consultants from Code Pink. Either that, or perhaps extraterrestrials. It looks as if they`re trying to demonstrate that they`re willing to take sides on the part of lawful and just commerce.

That being said, given the humanitarian issues in China, perhaps the dolphins have been confused? I`m currently looking for a dolphin newspaper, or perhaps some blogs that`ll give me more insight into the political affiliations.