CNBC Now Has Expertise in High Seas Piracy

Michelle Caruso-Cabrera is working hard to reaffirm CNBC's no-nothing bluster bona fides.  Within the last hour (11am PST) , Michelle (high seas piracy expert that she is) dressed down a shipping industry representative for paying off Somali pirates in exchange for their crews.  

In her bio she asserts that she is an advocate for free markets and her biggest thrill was interviewing Milton Friedman.  She's advised to stick to those pursuits.   CNBC has established that it has very little unique expertise when it comes to matters financial or economic, and we're sure it has even little to none when it comes to foreign policy.  That, however, doesn't stop these blow hards from commenting with impressive arrogance on topics they are only sporadically familiar with such as high seas piracy.  

Caruso-Cabrera asserted (along with her cohosts) that piracy was a simple problelm of companies paying off ransoms and that if they took a hard stand, this would disappear.  In addition, she asserted (strongly we might add) that the problem should be treated as a terrorist threat.  Both of these assertions are laughable.  First, the high seas pirates get much of their enrichment through acquisition of the ship and cargo.  Second, stronger reaction versus ransom payments will likely lead to more violent actions by the Somali pirates which will start to behave more like their Asian kin who kill all crew members immediately to avoid leaving witnesses.  Third, treating priacy as terrorism only cheapens efforts agaisnt terrorism.  Piracy is a commercial enterprise similar to the mob.  There are no ideological underpinnings.  Fourth, patrolling these seas is nearly impossible given the vastness of the area.  Michelle and her cohosts suggested hiring their favorite firm Blackwater.  Such measures are hardly cost effective when the shipping industry is already beaten down by a down turn in global trade.  Navies, after all, have as a core part of their missing keeping sea lanes open for trade...or have we forgotten that.  Private policing in a context of public policing usually suggests a failure of the public endeavor.  The real answer involves dealing with the problem on the shore and not at sea.  Enhancing stability in Somalia by encouraging the reemergence of the Islamic Courts and the full withdrawal of Ethiopian troops is at least a discussion worth having.

In all this dicussion, no mention was made regarding the genesis of Horn of Africa piracy in Somalia.  No mention was made about how piracy was on the wane during the Islamic Courts rule in Somalia.  No mention was made about how the Bush administration inadvertantly gave a boost to piracy by taking out the Islamic Courts with a US backed invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia.  No mention was made with regard to current coordinated efforts around prosectution between various international navies and the coastal countries involved.  None of these relevant facts are mentioned because they are NOT KNOWN by these hosts.  But again, the shocking element to the discussion is that these CNBC hosts assert their convictions with such certainty in the face of paucity of experience and information.

If they can make confident, yet completely uninformed statements about subjects they have very knowledge of, imagine how assertive they will be about subjects where they may even have modest information.  It's no wonder that CNBC was unable to navigate its viewership away from the iceberg of this current economic crisis.   Ideology clearly shapes reporting at CNBC.  If you want to score points for your team, watch CNBC for a self-affirming high.  If you want real actionable information, we'd suggest you look somewhere else.

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