Plague of Somali pirates continues. 5 ships taken over the weekend.

[SlowwHand]

Che is joking, I'm sure. He's just citing s lunstics ramblings, for grins.

[David Floyd]

Che is both joking and not joking. He is being tongue in cheek about his statistics (and he should know that I don't care about or believe in man made global warming), but he isn't kidding that he feels we should not use deadly force against pirates.

Dramatically lowering the incidents of piracy is the objective. As far as I'm aware, piracy is not going on in front of warships, but hitting isolated boats and ships without protection.

Obviously so.

Fear of death usually doesn't stop desperate people from engaging in acts of piracy, etc.

Cite? Fear of death, if death is a remote possibility, and the prospect of massive gains is much higher, is not going to stop desperate people. But fear of death, if death is ASSURED, will. You see, in this case, it's different than the "death penalty not deterring murder" argument, because piracy by it's very nature requires the pirates to reveal themselves. If the pirates know that, once they reveal themselves, they will absolutely be killed, then their motivation to commit acts of piracy disappears. Yes, we'll have to prove our point a few times, but the message will get through at some point. Hopefully, the number of skulls we have to crack will be greater rather than smaller, but the number is certainly finite.

So simply shooting pirates isn't going to solve the problem. But if they can't get any targets anymore, eventually they will move on to something else.

Yes, simply postponing and pushing off the problem. Since they can't be pirates, they might be bank robbers. If they can't do that, they might move towards home burglary. If not that, maybe they'll snatch purses. Who gives a ****? Don't try to move them on to some other crime, just kill them when they commit piracy. Problem solved.

Just keep in mind that the more pirates you kill, the more global warming will increase.

Well, in that case, for each pirate we kill, force the company whose ship was recovered to buy some carbon credits

[Zoid]

All merchant vessels should have a detachment of troops onboard and then shoot on sight. When enough pirate vessels have been sunk they will stop this nuisance and go back to fighting among themselves...

[TCO]

Thye have a US flagged vessel. Enough of this ****. Let's go in, reclaim all the ships they have in port, and hang the local warlord. Mockay die dead. time for Obama to get some pro-defense street cred. Easy shmeezy.

[BeBMan]

Hanging is too good for them! Torture them!! Poke'em with the soft cushions!!!

[Zoid]

Fetch the comfy chair!

[Lancer]

I didn't expect that.

[embalmer42]

No one expects the comfy chair!

[Felch]

http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13448558&source=features_box_main

Pirates kidnap 20 American sailors off the coast of Somalia

PIRATES have struck again. On Wednesday April 8th it was confirmed that Somali gunmen had hijacked an American-operated container ship, the 17,500 tonne Maersk Alabama. The American crew of 20 were taken hostage after what has been described as a sustained night-time attack. Maersk, the Danish company that owns the vessel, reports that the men aboard are believed to be safe. It is thought to be the first time that an American crew has been seized.

The attack came after a terrible few days for shipping in the pirate-infested waters off Africa’s north-east coast. Six vessels, including a British-owned one, have been seized in the previous week or so. Fifteen were taken last month. Just two were taken in January and February.

The news is alarming for several reasons. It shows that audacious and well-armed Somali pirates remain undeterred by fleets of warships that have been deployed in the area to try to put them out of business. The European Union force alone has six ships and two planes. The Americans have their own ships on patrol, as do the Chinese, the Indians, Russians and several other countries. Roughly a dozen anti-piracy patrols now exist off the coast. Yet they seem almost powerless to spot or intercept the small inflatable skiffs employed by pirates to sneak up on their victims.

The patrols seem to have forced the pirates to operate further out to sea—the Alabama was boarded some 300 miles east of Somalia, well into the Indian Ocean. Yet this does not seem to have curtailed their effectiveness. At least one expert has suggested that the number of seizures only fell off in the first two months of the year because of poor weather, rather than the fear of getting caught or killed. If previous cases are anything to go by, the Alabama will now be sailed to the coast of Somalia where the pirates (see picture above) will guard the vessel and demand a ransom for the ship and crew, which they will duly receive.

This time, perhaps, things might turn out a little differently. The fact that so many Americans have been captured might spur the United States into taking firmer action, maybe even against the pirates’ home bases. Captured American citizens would be of interest to the various militant Islamic militias that operate in Somalia, such as the al-Shabab. No one is quite sure of the exact links between these militias and the pirates. But the Americans, who have a large military base in Djibouti, just north of Somalia, are monitoring events closely.

The seizure of the Alabama, which was carrying food aid, and the recent increase in piracy is also a reminder of the desperate state that Somalia is now in. Apart from a few thousand Afican Union troops hanging on in Mogadishu to keep some semblance of order in the capital, the country has been virtually abandoned to the militias and clans that have ripped it apart since 1991. In such a deeply poor and wretched place, it is not surprising that pirates are willing to take ever-greater risks to ply their trade. After all, they have nothing to lose—apart from what they can grab on the high seas.

So we're all agreed now? Nuke Somalia - from orbit.

[TCO]

bull****. Mayaguez...baby. Do it now. Then roll in and hang some beys.

[BeBMan]

I blame Sid Meier.

[Felch]

He is the Grand Theft Auto of piracy. Also railroad tycooning, settling Alpha Centauri, and conquering the world.

[Zkribbler]

Everytime a ship has been hijacked, the owners have paid millions to get the ship and the crew back. Everytime. It's no wonder the hijackings continue.

But this is the first time a U.S. ship has been taken.

It's time to send in Navy SEALs, or Green Barets, or Rangers or whatever to free this one, rescue the hostages, and snatch the pirates. Pirates would quickly learn to keep their hands off of U.S. ships.

[The Mad Monk]

Never mind. They took it back.

[Patroklos]

It's time to send in Navy SEALs, or Green Barets, or Rangers or whatever to free this one, rescue the hostages, and snatch the pirates. Pirates would quickly learn to keep their hands off of U.S. ships.

We already bombed some of the hideouts once, I see no reason why we don't do it again. Maybe land a MEU, destroy everything not obviously related to fishing, then roll out.