Proposed Somali Pirate Solution: The B.O.S.S Plan (aka Operation S.O.S. – Shoot On Sight)
Brock Novak
Not since the 1800’s has there been as much hoopla regarding real pirates. While the days of the Jolly Roger are literally history, and foofy Captain Morgan-esque costumery traded for dirty jeans and logo tee shirts, the objectives of 21st century pirates remain the same today as they were way back when – armed robbery on the high seas. Gone is the romanceful swashbuckling image adorned in Hollywood movies, replaced now by reports of brutal boardings, hijacked ships, and hostage takings. A window for new Secretary of State (SoS) Hillary Clinton and UN Ambassador Susan Rice to collectively and quickly make a big mark on the world by putting an end to these modern day cutthroat buccaneers. An opportunity to show who’s boss and for these two new sheriffs in town to organize an effective global posse. The battle is focused at major shipping chokepoints around the globe, with this article centered on the current key pirate hotspot, the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean. Aside from military vessels, no vessel is immune from this thuggery. The brazen attacks and hostage taking are reminiscent of those long ago days off the Barbary Coast and Caribbean, which brought piracy fame and repudiation. It too triggered the need for a consolidated holistic approach to ending it - a coordinated naval and land strategy (e.g. the Barbary Wars 1 and 2 in the early 1800’s).
What makes the Gulf of Aden shipping corridor so unique is its strategic chokepoint location and that it is bordered by two countries (Somalia and Yemen) which rival Afghanistan in terms of uncontrolled lawlessness, making it ripe for piracy proliferation and akin to running a gauntlet of RPG’s for the commercial shipper.
In the last year alone, 111 ships in the Gulf of Aden were attacked and 42 kidnapped. The rate increases by the month.
Too, while the fledgling and very shaky (at best) Somali government has scratched and clawed its very limited authority in Mogadishu, it has no control whatsoever in the main pirate nest area of the northern Puntland region, and as such is completely impotent to control and/or stamp out this growing scurge.
While the attacks in Aden continue to escalate, intervening navies of the world continue a haphazard country by country approach. They have neither the resources nor the (real) mandate to protect the entire shipping lane alone. The international community therefore lacks a blank check “authorization to execute”, to optimally leverage the available multinational resources to consolidate and enhance the response, and ultimately eradicate the problem.
As further evidence of the growing problem, a Jan. 11, 2009 AP report by Mohamed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu Somalia, reports “Graeme Gibbon Brooks, managing director of the British company Dryad Maritime Intelligence Service Ltd, said…..There are people lining up to be pirates."
Even the embryo paper tiger effort at the UN on Dec. 17 with Resolution 1851 is but a small beginning, but one which this article suggests the opening to be used by SoS Clinton and Ambassador Rice as a foundation platform to build a real plan around.
When countries unite (importantly, with teeth) against piracy, precedent demonstrates these attacks can be by and large thwarted, if not entirely eradicated. In addition to the Barbary days, a few years ago, piracy was a dominant threat to the Straits of Malacca. By working together, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand managed to cut the number of attacks by more than half since 2004. The author suggests that with greater resources and more sophisticated weapons and surveillance technology (e.g. space detection), this likely could have been entirely eliminated.
Right now, some 20 or so naval ships from the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, India, Germany, Malaysia and China patrol the Gulf of Aden, individually doing their own thing in entirely uncoordinated fashion. One need only add in the introduction of the private security firm Blackwater to the “protection mix” to gage the extent of the problem and resultant lucrative money making protection opportunity. Accordingly, only when outfits like Blackwater see the protection arbitrage opportunity as not worth the investment will be when one can say the piracy problem is controlled and/or eliminated.
Another interesting new development (contribution) which can help form the platform for the “real solution” is the announcement that the U.S. would take the lead in an international task force. While this is a welcomed step forward, it still falls way short in terms of authorization and mandate execution. At this point, it appears to be a paper tiger yet one that SoS Clinton can use and leverage into a truly substantive and robust plan.
The Jan. 8, 2009 AP report notes:
“A new international force to battle pirates off the Somali coast is being formed under American command in a bid to focus more military resources to protect one of the world's key shipping lanes, the U.S. Navy said Thursday…..But the new mission, expected to begin operations next week, will have no wider authority to strike at pirate vessels at sea or move against havens on shore. That raises questions whether it can significantly curb pirate flotillas after more than 110 ships were attacked last year…International efforts to fight piracy have mounted in recent months. More than 20 nations are expected to take part in the new U.S.-led mission…"This task force does not have any greater rules of engagement," said Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for U.S. 5th Fleet based in Bahrain.
The Jan. 11, 2009 AP report noted earlier also confirms this is woefully insufficient stating an international flotilla including U.S. warships has been patrolling the area….the area is too vast to keep all ships safe.
The good news with both the independent and separate U.N. resolution and U.S. Navy task force announcements is that the awareness factor has apparently reached a critical threshold and multi-national military assets are being assembled and deployed, yet still lacking significantly in many respects to ultimately solve and control the problem. A unique opportunity for SoS Clinton and Ambassador Rice to seize the moment to turn this sow’s ear into a silk purse.
The next big step for them is to piece these together into a comprehensive infrastructure, command and control and execution plan, which has full and comprehensive (blanket) authority and directive (order) – to act.
This article will propose this approach under “The B.O.S.S. Plan” (Blanket Order - Secure Shipping).
As respects some key activities thus far, credit to the Indian Navy (and interestingly, recently France too – note France being part of the EU anti-piracy contingent) which has taken the lead and perhaps the most aggressive approach to the problem and a model for future efforts, and now known and feared by the pirate community as a force to be reckoned with.
Author’s Note: Interesting too the Chinese (naval) entry and involvement in the Gulf of Aden piracy situation. True they are there to protect Chinese cargo laden ships, in particular their oil tankers, but interestingly this too being their first modern deployment of combat ready warships beyond the Pacific. Indeed an incredible if not golden opportunity to flex and test their developing and rapidly growing “blue water” navy and gain invaluable new tactical and technological insights/intelligence working with the other premier global navies, particularly the U.S., Britain, and France.
So this Chinese mission has a dual purpose:
1) ”Protect”, and (perhaps even more importantly at this stage of their exponential military buildup)
2) ”Learn”
This too as predicted in Part 4 of the author’s “Commulism Series”, linked here for easy access:
www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_brock_no_080130_part_4__22commulism_.htm
In addition to the lack of true substantive multi-navy coordination and direction (i.e. command and control), all these countries are myopically grappling with the “humanitarian” aspect with what to do once you capture a pirate as respects transporting for extradition and prosecution and where. There is instance of a U.S. Navy warship detaining a pirate onboard for seven months because they lacked any protocols what to do with a pirate once you capture one.
This disincentive to capture pirates vis-à-vis the self imposed dynamics and difficulties of pirate capture sets the stage for one of two things to happen a) a less robust effort in the anti-piracy mission, or 2) a shoot first, take no prisoners approach.
Option 1) clearly is not the way to go. A stronger rather than softer deterrent is necessary. That leaves option 2) as the direction to build an effective anti-piracy strategy. Afterall, these are thugs and bullies and respect only one thing – brute (no holds barred) force.
What To Do:
Via the UN, Clinton/Rice leverage UN resolution 1851 and the U.S. Navy (paper) task force initiative into something greatly more. That is creating an altogether new charter and infrastructure that provides a real counter punch to the growing Somali piracy problem.
Call it the B.O.S.S. Plan, and executed under “Operation SOS” – “Shoot On Sight”.
The State Department states “1851 authorizes states cooperating with the Somali Transitional Federal Government to extend counter-piracy efforts to include potential operations in Somali territorial land and air space, to suppress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea". While the 15 member Security Council unanimously approved this new resolution, it only authorizes for one year international military operations on Somali territory in agreement with the transitional government, and only when in hot pursuit. 1851 also does not explicitly say Somali air space can be used nor pre-emptive strikes on Somali pirate strongholds.
This new “B.O.S.S. Plan” charter and action plan proposed by the Author to build off 1851 and U.S. Navy initiative would integrate the anti-piracy efforts of these countries into one consolidated and centrally controlled plan, providing extraordinary synergies in terms of resource allocation, geographic responsibilities/coverage and coordinated sea, air and land actions, with newly defined and robust rules of engagement, which now are not existent.
As noted earlier, it is recommended that this initiative be the first major challenge and task for incoming Secretary of State (SoS) Hillary Clinton and UN Ambassador Rice to collectively tackle, given the global and multinational nature of the problem and its substantial and rapidly growing impact on global trade, exacerbated even more with a worsening economic environment.
What is Needed:
A satellite monitored and (coordinated) military defended corridor (with determined width) or “transit lane” extending the entire Gulf of Aden sea-lane of commercial transport. All vessels will be advised of this by Notice to Airmen and Mariners (NOTAM). All operations within B.O.S.S fall under the umbrella “Operation SOS” (Shoot On Sight).
The “Operation SOS” framework as follows:
Command Structure:
Create the U.N. Anti-Piracy Command (UNAPC) co-sponsored by the Vienna-based U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). This would evolve to a global command given the global nature of the problem. Initially, efforts focused entirely on the major pirate hotspot – Somalia/Gulf of Aden region.
This should be a joint UN and not U.S. Command. The U.S can and will be a key leader and contributor. However, given the need for coordination of multinational assets and need to pre-emptively penetrate sovereign countries (harboring pirate communities), this requires a UN mandate and umbrella.
With all 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia) already engaged in anti-piracy efforts (i.e. each have skin in the game), this should be doable and in short order.
Note: UNAPC to be based in Djibouti (Ji-Boot-ee).
Why Djibouti?
The collective answer is strategic country location, political stability, military (sea/air/land) infrastructure, existing military relationships.…and mission jingle.
The Republic of Djibouti is a small country (8,250 square miles - about the size of Massachusetts), located at the juncture of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, bordering Somalia. Since independence from France in 1977, Djibouti has pursued a moderate foreign policy. Djibouti is a major, well-equipped, international port…Djibouti has an international airport, which can handle large aircraft such as the Boeing 747.
As respects military presence, France's 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade is currentlystationed in Djibouti. There is also the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, aU.S. force of more than 2,000, currently deployed in the country at Camp Lemonier.
Summing up, “if you want to seize pirate booty, do it from Djibouti”.
That UNAPC command location would dually house all detection, intelligence and commercial ship monitoring equipment (satellite and ships) as well as be the base for all “attack assets” (sea, air and land) assigned to the command.
It would both assign specific geographic corridor areas of responsibility by country navy, as well as direct the Command’s “attack assets” to the point of violation (i.e. where a pirate vessel crosses into the “kill zone”). The corridor assignments would then yield complete coverage of the defined shipping transit lane, unlike now where there is chaotic and uncoordinated overlap and therefore “underlaps” (i.e. holes) in coverage as the different country warships cruise wherever they want. This new approach yields a much more potent, geography encompassing, robust, effective and efficient use of the same assets being employed today.
Command support pieces include:
1) Rules of Engagement:
Create the SOS attack and pursuit protocol rules of engagement. This includes both attacking pirate ships and land bases, pre-emptively as need be too, superseding any prior “hot pursuit” protocol. If Somalia can’t control and/or perhaps even seen as endorsing the problem, then the activity should be decisively dealt with as if any country has been attacked and thereby allowed any prudent action in retaliation and future prevention.
2) UNAPC Air Attack Assets and Base Setup:
Leveraging the existing Djibouti airfield infrastructure, deploy several attack jets (rotating basis by UNAPC countries), to support air assaults on pirate vessel and land based pirate havens/nests as identified and directed by UNAPC. Given the military jets speed and ability to strike multiple targets, this would likely require just two or three jets. After the first few attacks, the pirates should get the message and the jets rarely need to be flown, maintained at the ready in deterrent mode.
3) UNAPC Special Forces Team:
Create a UNAPC Special Forces team, based in Djibouti, to pre-emptively attack pirate land/port based strongholds, leveraging intelligence garnered by UNAPC from participating countries.
4) “No Pirate Zone” Corridor:
Create the “no pirate” zone corridor through the Gulf of Aden and announce to the world. This would mean the central transit route, with a 25 mile wide border on each side of the route. This 50 mile wide corridor would be through the entire trouble zone of the Gulf of Aden. It would be approximately 500 miles long starting at the base of the Red Sea at Bab el Mandeb and extend to the longitudinal tip of the Horn of Africa. To the commercial ships, it’s a “safe zone”. To the pirates, it will be a “kill zone”.
5) Transit Lane Protocol:
Establish a commercial ship transit plan protocol. That means any commercial ship will be required to provide a detailed transit plan to UNAPC (much like a commercial jet provides a flight plan to FAA) so it can monitor its transit. Those ships will be equipped with specific UNAPC satellite tracking transponders/beacons and monitored at the UNAPC command center vis-à-vis satellite imaging of the transit lane and cross beacon referencing. Any ships not transponder equipped will be considered hostile.
6) Global Shipping Warnings:
Clear and repeated warnings to the global community that unauthorized vessels entering the “no pirate” zone will be immediately attacked and obliterated, no questions asked and no warnings given. So abide by the safe transit rules, or be mistaken (particularly at night) for a pirate vessel and suffer the consequences.
In conclusion, there is a time and a place to promote and romance pirates. It’s called Hollywood and Disney World. There are then times like now to execute a “zero tolerance, take no prisoners, no questions asked” policy on piracy.
Going forward, it is important to change “SOS” from a distress call which predatory pirates are drawn to like sharks to a wounded fish, to one that they fear and tells them they have only seconds to live. Only then will the attacks stop and the sea lanes become open and safe once again.
Bottom line, it’s time for SoS Clinton (and Ambassador Rice) to be the BOSS and change the “fight and fear” paradigm. Instead of SOS being a call for help, the new codeword SOS means “Shoot On Sight”.
Brock Novak is a freelance Military and Geo-Political Analyst. He is credited with coining the contextual term "COMMULISM" (COMMUnism fueled by capitaLISM), the "Commulism Series", and creating the "Commulism Response Framework" (CRF). Among others, his credits further extend to coining and defining the 21st century concepts of "Fusion Warfare" and "Fission Threat Environment", as well as the contextual terms "Pandanomics", "Benevolent Terrorism", "Phased and Jammed Democracy". Coming: The launch of COMMULISM.COM - A website dedicated to increasing the U.S. government and public awareness of this, the greatest near and long term threat to U.S. economic and national security.
www.opednews.com/articles/1/Proposed-Somali-Pirate-Sol-by-Brock-Novak-090113-213.html