On November 15, Somali pirates seized a Saudi oil tanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil and demanded a $25 million ransom for its release. The international press and Western leaders united in a predictably hysterical and racist response, with outraged cries at the "lawless Somali coast" besieged by "pirates' growing audacity" as The Age put it.

The European Union is now launching its first ever naval operation, code-named "Operation Atlanta". From December 15 six warships and three maritime reconnaissance aircraft will patrol the region, in addition to the 10 other warships from the US, India, Malaysia and Russia that are already there. Their mission is to make sure the region's oil is kept safe in the "civilised" hands of gun-wielding Europeans and free from the terrors of armed Africans.

But what the media and Western leaders aren't telling us is why fishermen began arming themselves in late 2005, and why piracy has grown since then.

The Boxing Day tsunami in 2005 caused a giant wave to dislodge tonnes of radioactive waste and toxic chemicals from the sea bed off Somalia and onto beaches. Tens of thousands immediately fell ill, while at least 300 died. A UN investigation found that European companies had been dumping a lethal cocktail of uranium, heavy metals, industrial, chemical and even hospital waste by the shipload since the early 1990s. They noted "reports from villagers of a wide range of medical problems such as mouth bleeds, abdominal haemorrhages, unusual skin disorders and breathing difficulties". The reason? "European companies found it very cheap to get rid of the waste. It costs as little as £1.70 a tonne, whereas waste disposal costs in Europe was something like £670 a tonne."

These companies took advantage of the civil war in 1991-1992 and the following UN and US occupations of the mid-1990s to sign these lucrative deals, and despite the evidence uncovered, the UN investigation was dropped; there has been no compensation and no clean up. Even worse, the waste dumping continues.

It was in the aftermath of the tsunami that Somali fisherman began to arm themselves and act as unofficial coast guards. They were responding not only to the toxic devastation, but also to a new onslaught of foreign fishing fleets that were capitalising on the political breakdown in Somalia to plunder remaining fish stocks. Fishermen then began seizing cargo vessels, luxury cruise liners and tuna fishing boats and returning them on receiving ransom payments.

Januna Ali Jama, a pirate leader, explained the motivation behind the ransom demand of £5.4 million for a Ukrainian ship thus: "The Somali coastline has been destroyed. We believe this money is nothing compared to the devastation that we have seen on the seas". He added that the money would go towards cleaning up the toxic waste.

Now, four years after the tsunami, US warships are sinking any Somali fishing boat that ventures too close to a cargo vessel or trawler, the EU is dedicated to protecting the 50 cargo ships that travel through the Gulf of Aden daily, and while there is a "war on piracy", vessels dumping waste will be free to go about their business.

Despite what we hear in the news, our outrage should be aimed, not at "pirate audacity", but the blatant Western profiteering and hypocrisy.