Via Ace, at first I was like “sweet – I get to delete the dozen background posts I bookmarked and I get to mock Solomon because I waited out the conspiracy theories and he couldn’t resist the dirty bomb bait.” Then I read the debunking and, umm…
Hijacked earlier this year off the coast of Somalia, the [MV Iran Deyanat] became the subject of wild speculation and conspiracy theory when a Somalian government minister claimed to Reuters that 16 pirates died attempting to open the cargo hold. A few more strange stories began popping up, including blisters, boils, and hair falling out of those exposed to the cargo of the ship… Whether it was a dirty bomb to be used against Israel, nuclear cargo to be offloaded in Africa for Al Qaeda, or a simple case of illegal dumping of toxic materials by China off the coast of Somalia… the company that owned the Iran Deyanat got listed under sanctions due to ownership by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard… the expectation was the ship could be boarded to inspect the cargo and explain some of the mysterious rumors that came about in the mainstream media.
Right. Very good. Now get to the part where the ship was boarded and searched and then the rumors were debunked:
If there was such an inspection, it never made the news. The crew that was hijacked was replaced, and the ship continued on towards Rotterdam, its original destination. Well, the MV Iran Deyanat popped up in the news again today, this time making port in Rotterdam. Not only was the ship deemed unsuspecting of any problems, but it underwent a normal inspection without issue and according to this news report
Wait, what?
Hopefully this will allow the never ending conspiracy theory surrounding the ship die… Pirates turned down a $2 million dollar ransom at one point, the ship had an unusually long official transit log, Reuters reported on dead people and other health related problems of those exposed to the ship, and official government folks in Somalia threw plenty of gas on the fire… In the end, it amounted to nothing, adding just one more legend to the piracy off the Somalian coast.
Wait, WHAT?
Actually the whole thing probably was overblown conspiracy mongering. Even Arutz 7 always kept a skeptical eyebrow raised. But the Somali pirates who started the whole thing are real enough.
They’re so real that the British Royal Navy got a fleeting chance to relive its halcyon “pirates who disrupt commercial shipping will be dealt with appropriately” era. Literally the first time in living memory. So that was fun. It won’t last though – the EU’s special envoy to the pirates is committed to “entering into a dialogue on the ground.” Of course he is. Because that always works.
Even less fun: the Islamits on the Horn of Africa who got tangled up in the conspiracies. The Islamic Courts militias are very real, camped within 10 miles of Mogadishu, and have imposed sharia law on the majority of Somalia.
References:
* Update: Iranian "Ship of Death" Not So Strange At All [Ace]
* An Iranian Dirty Bomb Ship? [Solomonia]
* Hijacked Iranian Ship: Dirty Bomb meant for Israel on Yom Kippur? [Dour Ross]
* We Can Now Kill the "Mystery Ship" Rumor [Information Dissemination]
* Report: Hijacked Iranian Ship Contained ‘Dirty Bomb’ for Israel [A7]
* The Royal Navy vs. pirates. Only not in the year 1600. [FP Passport]
* Royal Navy Kills Two Pirates in First ‘Fatal Shoot-Out in Living Memory’ [Wired]
* No stopping the pirates (but darnit, we’ll try) [FP Passport]
* Mystery surrounds hijacked Iranian ship [Long War Journal]
* Somali Islamists seize town, impose Islamic law [AP]
* Somalia’s Islamists Up Close and Personal [JPost]
Previously:
* Pro-Islam Christian Leaders Seemingly Untroubled By Muslim World’s Surreal Anti-Christian Oppression And Murder
* New "Convert To Islam Or Die" Policy Replacing Old "Convert To Christianity And Die" Rules In Iraq And Pakistan
* Hey Gals, Check This Out – If You’re A 13 Year Old Gang Rape Victim In Somalia, You Have To Die
