I can’t believe it’s not bullshit

The Associated Press is going out on a limb for Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, the hapless Somali pirate currently awaiting trial in New York.

It was a steamy day at their crumbling home in central Somalia with no running water or electricity, and the mother’s face glistened with sweat after a morning of selling milk. He looked up from the bowl of rice she had just served him and said: “I am saddened by the way we live,” the mother recalled.

You’ve got to be kidding. Examine the facts:

1. Living ANYWHERE when you’re poor is difficult. The fact that Muse’s family had rice to eat and SO MUCH MILK THEY COULD SELL THE EXCESS does not make me sympathetic. Example: Robert, my manager at Song Industrial, used to sweep the streets of Kamapala for 60 cents a day. He would buy himself a cup of porridge as his only meal of the day, every day. Robert didn’t have rice, he didn’t have milk. But you know what? He never stole from me — ever. And that’s why he’s now my top guy at SI — because he has the guts to make an honest living, irrespective of his circumstances. I HAVE NO SYMPATHY.

2. Note that it states very clearly that Muse’s family has neither water nor electricity. When you put Muse, then, in a temperature-controlled cell with unlimited running water and electricity, YOU ARE NOT PUNISHING HIM.

3. It is highly likely that the punishment for any kind of stealing (hell, we’ll lump piracy into this) in Somalia is death. Hence, PRISON IS NOT A PUNISHMENT.

4. How do you hope to rehabilitate Muse in an American prison? You will teach him how to eat our food and live in our society and wear our clothes and follow our rules. Then you’ll send him back to Somalia, where none of that applies. Yeah… very clever.

They waited and only one of the other sailors came out of hiding. Muse was told that the others were afraid to surrender as long as the pirates were armed — and so the teen put down his gun. He then took off with a flashlight to explore the ship, at one point shining his light on one of the crew members who was hiding in a darkened engine room.

During a struggle that ensued, Reza stabbed Muse in the hand with a knife. They were able to overpower Muse, tying his hands, according to the complaint. They then took him to the safe room.

Just kill this guy. Just drop him back into the ocean. YOU PUT DOWN YOUR GUN? You don’t deserve to live.

Muse’s mother sold milk in the local market, earning just enough to pay $15 in rent for her single-room house and her son’s school fees. The house has no running water, and once a week Hassan scrimped to pay for three jerry cans full of water, hauled into town on the backs of donkeys. It was enough to cook — but not enough to bathe, and she said she could only afford to allow her children to wash themselves once every two weeks.

“How can we wash ourselves every day? There is no such thing,” Hassan said. “I don’t own any sheep, or goats. I don’t even have enough money to own my own chicken.”

She said her son attended a private school where he studied English. Crew members say that on the Alabama, he was the only one of the pirates who spoke English — and perhaps for that reason, he took the lead, giving out orders.

Note the facts: Muse comes from a good family. They put school ahead of basic needs, and I admire that. However, Muse committed a crime. And the punishment for that crime must be just that — punishment. If you did not let Muse wash every day, took away his access to running water and power, and gave him one or two small meals a day, that would not be cruel; that would be “meeting his needs.” Yes, that makes me sound harsh, but THOSE ARE THE FACTS.

“His plan was to make lots of money,” said 17-year-old Mohamed Warsame, who used to play soccer with him. “He wanted to marry a beautiful girl and he thought that a marriage could only be successful if the man had lots of money. His plan was to make his family rich. He always talked about his family’s poverty.”

Making lots of money should not involve piracy. What else can I say here? Everyone wants to make lots of money and marry well and take care of Mom and Dad. That does not justify crime.

Mahat Dore, a Somali who acted as a middleman in several ransom negotiations, said the pirates are not seen as criminals but as businessmen. “It’s obvious that piracy has now become the only lucrative job available in Somalia,” he said.

Bullshit. Skilled Somalis are employed by international companies (including airlines). Yes, pirates like Muse are hired and paid; however, when the C.I.A. recruits and trains field operatives, they too are hired and paid. Claiming piracy is a job is like saying spying is “just a weekend gig, you know, until my band gets that record deal.”

His court-appointed lawyers say Muse is completely bewildered. He does not understand the American legal system and only knows a world where justice is dispensed with brutality.

He had no contact with the outside world until his lawyers met him Friday at the courthouse. They encountered a teenager who looked very lost.

“Imagine yourself in Somalia,” said lawyer Philip Weinstein. “Imagine how overwhelmed you’d be.”

This is such bullshit! “Imagine yourself in prison,” said non-lawyer David Hasselhoff. “Imagine how overwhelmed you’d be.” Criminals generally do not presume they will be caught — that is why they commit crimes; hence, when criminals are apprehended, they are naturally overwhelmed. Sure, being Somali doesn’t help, but remember this photo of Nick Nolte? Does he not seriously overwhelmed? Does he not look very lost?

Look, these are the facts: Muse is a prisoner and the US people are seeking punishment for him. All I’m asking is that we actually punish the guy, so that, at the very least, when the movie they make about him (you know, after the book deal and all) comes out, it’ll be just a teeny-weeny-bit interesting.

Pretty please?

Full Article here.