Gettleman: "I Asked To Speak To The Spokesman Of The Pirates"



(image via afp)

Jeffrey Gettleman, the Nairobi Bureau Chief of The New York Times appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show yesterday. He spoke on the ongoing, fascinating Somali pirate story. He told how he scored the interview with the pirates. Gettleman asked around town to get a number. After that he attempted dozens of times to get an answer on the number. Soon he got a voice. They "spoke for about 45 minutes ... it was a highly informative conversation."

We can imagine.

"I asked to speak to the spokesman of the pirates," he told Maddow. Gettleman explained how the pirates work. "There is a hierarchy with bossmen on land and (pirates) at sea ... and spokesmen who speak a little English." He called tyhe hierarchy a "highly organized mafioso-like organization."

Of the Ukranian vessel armed with Russian military hardware destined to either Kenya or, more likely, Darfur, Gettleman noted, "the pirates didn't know what they were getting into." What about the US Navy, which is presently watching the situation, preventing the Somali pirates from getting their hands on the military booty? "America isn't interested in protecting Russian and Ukranian sailors," Gettleman offered.

And while the pirates want $20 million to skidaddle, Gettleman predicted that the figure will more closely resemble, ultimately, $5 million. Those ransoms are usually paid for by the shipping companies with financial help from the host governments. After which, he said, the US will probably move to make sure this sort of thing dopesn't happen again.