'Whip It, Whip It Good'

by Smitty

The joys of the the Hate America Firsters are boundless. The fun couple over at "Who, Whom?" do not disappoint with What We Have Sown. The hostage has been rescued, the pirates sent to Davy Jones, and Becca and Philip must substitute 'America' for 'It' in the Devo classic.
The WWHS post is formulaic in its approach:

With the explosion of Somali piracy, America is reaping what it has sown. In many ways, we have nobody to blame but ourselves for the emergence of high-seas crime threatening to disrupt important lanes of trade.
America’s support for a violent strongman during Somalia’s formative post-colonial years hindered the development of stable political institutions and severely complicated its capacity for effective self-rule and sustainable growth.
The country’s markets are also victims of foreign meddling, fatalities of the backhanded ‘charity’ which has made Western actors—and especially the U.S.—distrusted throughout the Third World. Rendered economically impotent through the misapplication of aid and assistance by the U.S. government and various NGOs, it is no surprise that Somalis have turned to brigandry for sustenance.

*whoosh*It's our fault!*snap*
The rest of the post sounds researched and official in tone (care to link to any sources, people? Wikipedia, even?). What it could use is a bit of balance. Is it possible that China has a presence in the region? What about the influence of radical Islam, or does that disrupt the narrative too greatly?
Also missing are links to some of the positive US efforts in Africa:

• The State Department's Bureau of African Affairs. Not much here. Possibly due to the fact that the State Department doesn't do much in war zones. Next.
• AFRICOM
• Combined Joint Task Force Horn Of Africa(CJTFHOA)* which "arrived in the Horn of Africa on Dec. 8, 2002".

"Who, Whom" concludes:

America must learn to be highly conscientious of who it aids and how it aids them. It must accept that actions have consequences, that we are not immune to the forces of reaction. It must recognize that short-term Machiavellian tactics are no substitute for long-term developmental strategies. The latter will help produce a more just and equitable world; the former will surely come back to haunt.

There is more to the world than the standard Berkeley screed that may or may not impress a chick:

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*Fear the "Joint Extended Three Letter Acronym Grouping Sequence" (JETLAGS)