My Third Speech

I gave my first speech some time ago, and my second fairly recently. Here now is the prepared text for my third speech, in which the speaker considers the goal of the speech. Mine will be partly informational, but mainly persuasive.

People say that I’m funny, and I like to make jokes. Indeed, it’s hard for me to avoid doing so. However, something happened a few short weeks ago that made me feel compelled to be both serious and blunt in composing and delivering this speech. Last month, our attention was briefly fixed on a serious issue that has yet to be fully dealt with. Our attention has moved on to other things, but the problem remains: wide swaths of international waters are rife with piracy of the kind we thought had ended centuries ago. We can’t wait for Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom to save the day. Believe it or not, it’s up to us.

Back in the early 90s, the people of Somalia were in dire straits. They were desperately poor and the land’s few resources lay mainly in the hands of vicious warlords. The international community sent aid, but could not get it to the people who needed it. The response was to go after the warlords intercepting the aid, but as is so often the case, they proved to be more than a match for the force that we had the political will to send. Perhaps you recall our involvement in that conflict because of Ridley Scott’s film Black Hawk Down. 

Since that time, little has changed, and things have deteriorated as badly as you would expect, leading to utter lawlessness. Since no authority nearby is capable of policing the area, the coastal waters offer harbor to sea-faring armed criminals who hijack vulnerable ships and hold them for ransom. Among their most headline-grabbing victories have been the capture of a major oil tanker and that of a Russian ship laden with military hardware. 

In the recent incident I referred to, an American ship, the Maersk Alabama, was seized. The crew retreated to a safe room and then, in spite of being unarmed, came back at the pirates. They were able to retake the ship thanks to the ship's captain, who gave himself up to the pirates for the sake of his crew. The pirates held him for several harrowing days in the only thing they came away from the cargo ship with- a lifeboat. They had no fuel, and numerous US Navy warships surrounded them, blocking their comrades from coming to their aid. Ultimately, a bold sniper attack killed three of the four captors, and incapacitated the fourth. This happened to an American vessel this time, but happens to ships of all nations on a regular basis. The outcome is seldom so favorable.

Intervention by the US Navy saved the Maersk Alabama and its crew, but having saved them and neutralized their captors does not mean the end of the menace. Indeed the problem is worse than ever. Since the resolution of that crisis, the Associated Press reports that pirates have already seized another four vessels and over 75 hostages. It's estimated that they hold some 17 vessels and over 300 hostages overall. 

These thugs have gotten our attention by attacking Americans, but it should not have come to this. The situation is intolerable and unacceptable. International waters must be safe for civilization to flourish unfettered. What needs to happen? The solution will be complicated, but would likely include both military action and humanitarian action. It must be made possible for the people of Somalia to live peacefully in a prosperous nation. So that the rest of the world may do the same, it must be made possible for ships to pass through those waters in safety. 

The affected area of ocean in the Gulf of Aden and adjacent waters is four times the size of Texas, meaning that a significant naval force probably of international composition will be required. Experts also say that we may have to put men on the ground again in Somalia, so no strictly Naval approach is likely to do the job. People who remember our actions there in the mid-90s will know how serious it would be for us to go back into Somalia, but we can't shrink away from it out of squeamishness. We have to be prepared to do what it takes because this situation cannot stand when we have the means to stop it. 

We’re fully capable of carrying out the solution, but the problem is one of political will. We must muster the will to smash these pirates, and to eliminate the conditions that allow them to thrive. How can that be done? If you agree with me that the murders, the kidnappings and the ransoming of precious resources must be stopped, that it affects not just our conscience, but our own personal interests, then you must use the power which our founding documents have given you. 

Tell your elected government representatives how you feel about the matter. Don’t just ask that they consider it- demand that they act on your concerns, and make it clear that failing to do so will have dire consequences for them. Make use of the press as well. Write to the newspaper. Call in to radio stations. Spread it around online. Wherever there are people to be informed and called to action, speak up. If we fail to act sufficiently, we will be very sorry. 

There was a line attributed to Edmund Burke, but no one really seems to know who actually said it. To paraphrase it: “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”.

Hopefully it will go well. I think that the chances of success lie in the execution.