OP
OP
Ooh-rah. Made my day.
The Somali Pirates
- Thread starter Bill Mattocks
- Start date
Ooh-rah. Made my day.
Deaf Smith
Master of Arts
I dunno why the US government doesn't just issue Letters of Marqueirate:
I don't know why we just covertly kill them all. We did it with the Phoenix project... It might be rough, but this is a rough world. But if we won't go that far then try this:
I've always wanted a UAV aircraft carrier. 5000 ton flat top with just UAVs. All the pilots can be sitting in the USA munching cheeseburgers. The CV-UAV (as I call it) could patrol a good 500 to 1000 mile radius and act just as the escort carriers did in the Battle of the Atlantic (consider the U boats pirates in a way.)
UAVs can see at night, can fly for 12 hrs or more, are very quiet, and the pilots can take a leek anytime. And also carry HellFire missiles.
Might not take 100 people to man such a ship using the same methods container ships use to keep the crew size down. And I bet even wood decks can be uses for takeoffs.
The only fly in the ointment I can see is it would be cheep. And you know how the government does not like cheep weapons.
Deaf
Big Don
Sr. Grandmaster
Because that would be way too much fun for some of us...I dunno why the US government doesn't just issue Letters of Marque
matt.m
Senior Master
Sorry,
This is going to seem course. However: Haiti, Albania, etc. were like Somalia. Bosnia, no different. I loved my time in the Marines in the early to late 90's. Look all we had to do was qwell disturbance for lack of a more political correct way of saying things. I swear I am one of the most liberal people on the planet but it just makes me hang my head hang when I see how much crap is just let alone. No gumption any longer. Oh please before someone flames me, do me a favor......be a combat vet before you do flame me ok?
This is going to seem course. However: Haiti, Albania, etc. were like Somalia. Bosnia, no different. I loved my time in the Marines in the early to late 90's. Look all we had to do was qwell disturbance for lack of a more political correct way of saying things. I swear I am one of the most liberal people on the planet but it just makes me hang my head hang when I see how much crap is just let alone. No gumption any longer. Oh please before someone flames me, do me a favor......be a combat vet before you do flame me ok?
I'm glad at least some of the pirates are dead now.
OP
OP
OP
OP
I dunno why the US government doesn't just issue Letters of Marque
You know, that could be part of the Economic Stimulus Package! New companies springing up, hiring and training, and going out in search of booty. And no, I do not mean boo-tay, I mean booty. As in 'sighted ship, sank same'.
Omar B
Senior Master
Dude, earlier there was a guy on Fox News being interviewed by Geroldo who once paid a ransom for his captured ship! I'm not kidding, an American who's ship was seized by Somali pirates and he paid the ransom. His reason? He doesn't want to put anyone in danger by putting security on his ships, that just invites escalation. So his rational is basically rolling over because he likes being passive. Whatever happened to the balls?
Seriously, I would rather pay a buncha rednecks in a row boat to go over there and handle it that pay ransom that ends up buying bullets to create more victims. If they rerun geroldo tonight you guys need to watch this joker.
Seriously, I would rather pay a buncha rednecks in a row boat to go over there and handle it that pay ransom that ends up buying bullets to create more victims. If they rerun geroldo tonight you guys need to watch this joker.
matt.m
Senior Master
It is all this "Oh leave it alone and it will pass" "Don't egg it on by having security." Nonsense "Do nothing and invite danger" is more like it. Sometimes I miss my mark-19 and squad automatic weapon. Still have K-Bar.
Archangel M
Senior Master
I have to give it to the SEALS...that was a kick *** job.
Big Don
Sr. Grandmaster
Had there been a SAW on that ship from the beginning, the Captain would likely not needed rescuing... people, even armed people, hesitate in the face of force.It is all this "Oh leave it alone and it will pass" "Don't egg it on by having security." Nonsense "Do nothing and invite danger" is more like it. Sometimes I miss my mark-19 and squad automatic weapon. Still have K-Bar.
Gordon Nore
Senior Master
You would need sever bunches of rednecks. The Gulf of Aden / Indian Ocean territory, where the pirate ships are working, is one million square miles, five times the area of Texas. Think about how difficult it has been for Texans to monitor the boarder -- that's how big we're talking here.
The ship that rescued the captain was patrolling this region, but it's so vast, it took some hours to get there. Following this incident and another involving the French, it may well be that patrolling this region will become a greater military priority for many countries.
It won't be easy.
OP
OP
It's very easy. You don't have to monitor the region, you don't care where the pirates are if your ships are not there. You don't have to have a US Navy ship on station, either. Monitor the ships. Put a platoon of Marines on every US-flagged ship with mortars and whatever the equivalent of the LAWS rocket are now, basic automatic weaponry, and no more problems. Withdraw the Marines when the pirates decide that attacking US-flagged vessels gets them blown the hell up, each and every time.
It worked on the 'Shores of Tripoli' and it will work on the Shores of Somalia.
http://www.grunt.com/scuttlebutt/corps-stories/proud/mailguards.asp
Omar B
Senior Master
It is all this "Oh leave it alone and it will pass" "Don't egg it on by having security." Nonsense "Do nothing and invite danger" is more like it. Sometimes I miss my mark-19 and squad automatic weapon. Still have K-Bar.
I hear you man. Rolling over to demands does not assuage your attacker, it emboldens them! The barrel of a gun is not an argument and it should not be treated as if it were, it's an invitation for your (the attacker) own death. Pulling a gun is equal to "This is how I choose to deal with reality, please kill me."
From what I understand, the commander of the task force was under orders to shoot only if the captain's life was in danger. The pirates put an AK-47 up against his head, and then they shot.
My question is, if they had this capability the whole time, why didn't they take it earlier? What was the purpose/necessity of negotiating with people they did not have to?
My question is, if they had this capability the whole time, why didn't they take it earlier? What was the purpose/necessity of negotiating with people they did not have to?
Big Don
Sr. Grandmaster
Because, for some reason, doing the right thing is never enough for the US, we also have to look like "NICE PEOPLE" when we do the right thing.
IMHO, we'd be better served with a reputation as those you do NOT want to piss off...
Big Don
Sr. Grandmaster
Because, for some reason, doing the right thing is never enough for the US, we also have to look like "NICE PEOPLE" when we do the right thing.
IMHO, we'd be better served with a reputation as those you do NOT want to piss off... Kinda like the treatment Islam gets in Europe...
astrobiologist
Brown Belt
Heyz ya for the U.S. Navy SEALS!!!!
That's how it should be done. Go in, blast the pirates away (or slit their throats if necessary), rescue as many hostages as possible, and return the goods to the merchants.
I grew up loving the romanticism of pirate lore. Indeed, when Disney released Pirates of the Caribbean so many Americans started sporting pirate shirts and quoting pirate lines and such. The hard truth though is that most of the pirates of old were rapists and murderers, on top of being theives. There may have been some who stuck to a code of honor and tried to be as kind to their hostages/victims as possible, but they were still robbing them and ruining their lives. Piracy like that being conducted by the Somalis is wrong. It's about time our militaries really started fighting back!
The French and the Americans have shown that we're not going to stand for it. The Filipinos and Taiwainese and others need to start doing the same thing. Negotiating with pirates does not solve a problem. It reassures the pirates that they can continue to do what they've been doing. If you give a mouse a cookie... In this case, we need to say 'no'. Forget giving money to the pirates, we should use our funds to actively fight them.
That's how it should be done. Go in, blast the pirates away (or slit their throats if necessary), rescue as many hostages as possible, and return the goods to the merchants.
I grew up loving the romanticism of pirate lore. Indeed, when Disney released Pirates of the Caribbean so many Americans started sporting pirate shirts and quoting pirate lines and such. The hard truth though is that most of the pirates of old were rapists and murderers, on top of being theives. There may have been some who stuck to a code of honor and tried to be as kind to their hostages/victims as possible, but they were still robbing them and ruining their lives. Piracy like that being conducted by the Somalis is wrong. It's about time our militaries really started fighting back!
The French and the Americans have shown that we're not going to stand for it. The Filipinos and Taiwainese and others need to start doing the same thing. Negotiating with pirates does not solve a problem. It reassures the pirates that they can continue to do what they've been doing. If you give a mouse a cookie... In this case, we need to say 'no'. Forget giving money to the pirates, we should use our funds to actively fight them.
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