Where were the tanks going? Who purchased them? Who sold them?

Most likely they were supplied by some arms dealer destined to some third world repressive nation..

The ship is called MV Faina
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Faina
edit: thx!

So you send a ship full of military hardware through an area known to be infested with pirates and they didn't have enough(anyone?) people to defend the thing?

No kidding...maybe there's work available over there as guards/pirate hunters.

There were about 40 tanks, all headed to Kenya.

Didn't you guys know the Russians and especially the Chinese have been procuring most of the weapons for Africa's recent conflicts?

For China, this is exchange for the colonization of Africa. The Chinese have already created walled cities and practically re-established slavery in many African nations. They are bleeding the richest continent in the world dry as we sleep.

Somalia is in a strategic position for piracy as it is located on the "Horn of Africa" and can conveniently intercept ships transiting between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal. They are very active pirates, and usually get away with alot, asides from Muslim holidays when they seem to enjoy shooting themselves rather that escape with the booty.

It's too bad they don't use their boats to fish the most plentiful coastal waters in Africa... but then again what do I know...

^@Pprt: "chinese are bleeding the richest continent in the world dry"...
man, you can't be serious and say those words at the same time, especialy if you are coming from europe or the states, as I assume you do. that's like a bunch of vampires feeding of a dying man and when one more joins in the rest of them shout "murder!"
sure, chinese approach to this neo-colonialism is more totalitarian and not so cleverly masqueraded under the guise of free trade, democracy and market capitalism as was that from their western rivals which I dare say have been systematically killing Africa for hundreds of years now. and don't even get me started on the weapons trade issue, we all know who's the biggest dealer on the block here...
and fuck peter hitchens and other such critics. where are they when american pharmaceutical companies are conducting experiments on african people or over charging them for drugs and vaccines they desperatly need. where are they when millions of people are being killed for some bullshit minerals used in our cellphones or oil or fucking diamonds or some other shit they might have that our corporations are willing and able to steal from them

Here here. Africa has had a bad run of luck under the boot of foreign dominion for centuries. It is my sincere hope that they can rise up and become the prosperous people they deserve to be before their continent is bled dry. I agree with Kulpims that the Chinese colonialism is at least as good as the Western, but probably much better. Liberia is really turning around, for example, with a lot of Chinese investment. If you believe the press that is.

>> ^Pprt It's too bad they don't use their boats to fish the most plentiful coastal waters in Africa... but then again what do I know...


Commercials trawlers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_trawler
are unfair competition and lead to unsustainable fishing practices..

>> ^kulpims:
^@Pprt: "chinese are bleeding the richest continent in the world dry"...
man, you can't be serious and say those words at the same time, especialy if you are coming from europe or the states, as I assume you do. that's like a bunch of vampires feeding of a dying man and when one more joins in the rest of them shout "murder!"
sure, chinese approach to this neo-colonialism is more totalitarian and not so cleverly masqueraded under the guise of free trade, democracy and market capitalism as was that from their western rivals which I dare say have been systematically killing Africa for hundreds of years now. and don't even get me started on the weapons trade issue, we all know who's the biggest dealer on the block here...
and fuck peter hitchens and other such critics. where are they when american pharmaceutical companies are conducting experiments on african people or over charging them for drugs and vaccines they desperatly need. where are they when millions of people are being killed for some bullshit minerals used in our cellphones or oil or fucking diamonds or some other shit they might have that our corporations are willing and able to steal from them


I sense alot of sympathy (and some guilt) on your behalf. As Pooterius said, I also anxiously await the day Africans will put aside their petty tribalism and begin working instead of loafing about and conducting sporadic warfare. However, I am not so optimistic as to believe that Africans can accomplish this any time soon. And for goodness sakes, it is NOT our duty to fix their countries.

I detect a hint of thought that you believe that Westeners have somehow have taken it upon themselves to eradicate the African peoples with AIDS in order, I assume, to plunder their territory.

You may be interested to know that recent discoveries (last week, actually) suggest that AIDS is far older than previously thought (see here: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7213/abs/nature07390.html), dating from possibly 1908. Decades before bioengineering was even conceptualized.

The stark truth is that Africans have been around for longer than us, and have adapted to their environment accordingly in temperament and constitution. They have higher levels of sexual hormones, a lower gestation period a "thrifty" gene permitting greater retention of nutrients and as ethnomedicine evolves, drugs will further target their distinctive biology.

As for comparing Chinese to Western colonialism, it would be an interesting debate, although I can assure you that the way the Chinese go about in 2008 would never fly in a Western country. They have actually stated their intentions of offloading some of the large Chinese population in Africa. Their latest plan is to dump 10 million excess Chinese by 2050.

Ha! You make it seem that the US doesn't sell out arms to repressive nations either. Every first world nation is guilty of selling weapons, its just too lucrative of a trade to ignore.

Citing threats from Iran, Syria, and various terrorist groups, the Bush administration is offering more than $60 billion in new weapons and military assistance to Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other U.S. allies in the Middle East.

The United States retained its dominance of the Third World arms market for the eighth year in a row in 2002, according to the latest in an annual series of reports produced by the Congressional Research Service.

Washington accounted for close to one-half of all new arms transfer agreements concluded during the year, as well as actual arms deliveries. Altogether, arms sales from all sources to developing countries made up about two-thirds of arms sales worldwide during 2002, according to the report, which is based on the most comprehensive data compiled by the US government.

New arms agreements with developing nations totaled US$17.7 billion, a 10 percent increase over new deals in 2001. Of that total, US sales came to $8.6 billion, or almost 48 percent of all arms transfers to Third World countries, up from 41 percent the previous year.

Washington was followed by Russia, which sold $5.7 billion worth of arms; Ukraine ($1.6 billion); Italy ($1.5 billion); and Germany and France ($1.1 billion each).

"I also anxiously await the day Africans will put aside their petty tribalism and begin working instead of loafing about and conducting sporadic warfare"

"The stark truth is that Africans have been around for longer than us, and have adapted to their environment accordingly in temperament and constitution. They have higher levels of sexual hormones, a lower gestation period a "thrifty" gene permitting greater retention of nutrients and as ethnomedicine evolves, drugs will further target their distinctive biology."

Farhad, I am aware that weaponry is a big market, but you're deflecting my original point that the Chinese are overly opportunistic.

Please refresh my memory when the Egyptians, Saudis or Israelis were last under an international arms embargo because of genocide? Don't stray even further by bringing up the Gaza strip... although I'm sure that was your intention.

China has flaunted international law by procuring weapons complicit in genocide and is currently planning to take over much of West Africa. And all this with utmost impunity. That was my original argument.

As for the question of genetic differences between races, I'm certain your blinders are on full throttle. However please looks into these: GNB3825T, IVS3-48c or even HMBS mutations. As we decode our biological structure, "one-world" myths will no longer hold water, especially when drugs are increasingly being created for specific genotypes... I don't think you can refute that.

I can comprehend and even sympathize with your optimism, Farhad, but sometimes it's best to stick to what your eyes can see rather that what you'd like to see.

*africa

Adding video to channels (Africa) - requested by longde.