Somali Pirates - how did all of this start?

No doubt anyone who tuned in to any of the news channels over the weekend caught the dramatic escape/rescue of a Maersk cargo ship captain who was being held hostage by pirates from Somalia.

A quick search engine investigation will, no doubt, bring up any number of other raids by Somali pirates in the last few years about many other cargo ships.

But, the best way to figure out how to stop a bad situation from getting worse is to take a quick breath and look at the origins of the problem.

Which is what this post from Crooks and Liars has done.  The liberals and politically curious amongst us will say "Well, there's a surprise . ." with appropriate levels of snark and cynicism in their voice.  I'll admit to not knowing the source of all this trouble before reading the post.

Now, I've got a bit better of an understanding of the underlying issues.  I'm hard pressed to suggest a solution -- my hope is the problem solvers have done their homework.