Piracy, a bigger picture....

I've always been cursed by the need to look at the big picture and as a student of history one thing that quickly comes to the front is that there is always a"BIG" picture...

Lately there has been all sorts of coverage of the piratical activities in Somalia, but like most media stories these days we are not getting that big picture... Just as those hearing the news back in 1690 were not getting the big picture. The why behind the piracy in far flung places like the Caribbean during the golden age of piracy was a complicated dynamic.

So it is in Somalia as well... People just don't take up piracy on a whim or a dare. There is almost always a thought process and reason behind it but of course that is boring while commandos storming yachts and suchlike are the eye candy of the media and not a lot of room for the whole story and the real "Big" picture.

Make no mistake about it piracy is wrong but to understand what is going on it is needful to have a bit more of that Big picture... Take a few moments and read about a different part of it from the Independent back in January "You are being lied to about pirates"

Sort of changes the focus... It's a complicated world.