Navy commander: Trio of shots ended sea standoff
US captain's rescue raises stakes in piracy ops
Q+A - Who are the Somali pirates?
Somalia: Puntland Demands Support to Fight With Pirates
US Considers Attacks on Somali Pirates' Land Bases
Somali pirates release wave of terror with new strategy
Hijacked Italian, Egyptian vessels taken to northern Somalia
Somali Insurgents Reportedly Fire Mortars at US Congressman in Mogadishu
I was doing my damnedest to avoid discussing this because I thought of it as an unnecessary annoyance and could not understand why the entire world was letting a growing number of Somali (P)irates hold them hostage. I was happy to see that we were working to take out those pirates. I was wondering why we did not have snipers on them but we did.
There is a simple solution here now and Somalia has supplied it! It would be nice if we could feed the people there and get cooperation but that is not going to happen. The firing of mortars at Representative Payne's plane shows it is not even safe to be there. We do know where the Pirates come from. We know where they live. We know where they are. I listened to an expert yesterday and for once he had it right. Must be because he was foreign. Anyway he said he knows where they come from. He said it was two clans in northern Somalia. I hope to hell someone is talking to him on the sly.
Somali pirate's made $80 million from ransom's last year. We pissed them off! They have made a lucrative business of intimidating the world's shipping interests. It has become a game to them and they up to now have killed no one. We had to react the way we did but the ante has now been upped! Black Hawk Down taught us years ago we can not even help these people. We certainly can not leave them to fester either.
We can deal with this but I have not heard the right answers yet at least not from our so called experts. With one million miles of ocean to cover there, there is only one way to do this. We do not have enough ships in the world to monitor and secure all shipping interests in the world in the Indian ocean the way it is done now but a 3 pronged attack at the issue would bear instant results.
* 1. Let Puntland monitor the coastline and the gulf given the equipment they need. Seems like a good business for them and it would be a win, win for us. 2. Sounds like a great job for unmanned drones. One of the links above show we are thinking of attacking pirate bases. We should do that but should be watching with the drones land and sea areas. Lastly 3. This most definitely will work and I can not believe it is not employed. We have already moved the shipping lane to now 20 miles off the coast. That should be a safe zone! Anyone in it must be preregistered. It can be as wide as specified with a one mile buffer zone. Any little boat screwing around in there should be immediately sunk no questions asked. These guys are obvious as they did with the Alabama they harass ships for weeks. This is no game and we must start treating this like the serious issue it is!
James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com
10 comments:
I don't have an issue with any of your idea Jim. I just say try something else. There is no reason this can not be stopped. These fuckers need to pay a heavy price for what they are doing.
Obama needs to take the lead in this and if the commanders in the military who are involved can't produce fairly quick results fire their asses and get people who can. I'm tired of reading about this on a daily basis.
one fly
I agree! We can do this but like everything else it is not being attacked right. There was four more today for Christ sakes. They have 250 hostages is the excuse for not being too hard. Oh well those people better take things in hand themselves.
An Indian Navy ship fired at a Somali pirates' vessel and sunk it.
That's one way to end this Somali piracy problem, don't you agree?
I agree with you, Jim. Something needs to be done. But as you noted, out of the hundreds of ships that have been pirated, there have been no fatalities. We have definately upped the ante and exacerbated an already dangerous situation. Showing a willingness to employ snipers as hostage negotiators, puts all present and future hostages in a dire situation. The Somalians are in dire straits --- and desperate people commit desperate acts.
I find it analogous to life in the U.S.; a sensible person does not go walking through the inner-city with a fistful of cash at 3:00 AM. The same applies here: Stay out of the area!
Once again, we see the full force of the U.S. Navy being deployed for the protection of American Corporate interests. Saving Cap't Richard Phillips was just a propoganda-filled cursory side-note.
Hi Anna
Hope you are well! I am really glad to hear that! I was working out in the yard so I missed that. Hate to waste a gorgeous day, I did hear earlier that 4 more ships were taken. We have to stop this crap!
Hey Brother
So glad you guys are doing good! Seems to me like you are right in every regard. I do not understand why anyone that is not delivering food or something is even there.
Those people have nothing to live for but dying so... I know you, you want to help them but they do not want help. Muslim extremists took the credit for shooting mortars at that Congressman's plane. You have to be soft to go there. They are asking for it!
This problem isn't as easy as it may appear. Yes they did move the shipping lanes but the pirates followed. Our Navy can only cover so much sea. The drones are tied up in Iraq and Afghanastan. At a couple of million dollars apeace we only have so many of them (although there are plans to build more). The ship owners don't want the expense and liability of arming their ships. One merchant marine noted that he didn't want arms on board because things get heated at times among his shipmates.
Go after the pirate bases? Again we're tied up and getting ready for Afghanastan. We saw what happened with Black Hawk Down.
We need to get other countries to help out here. We also need to get a real government in Samolia otherwise this is nothing more than a never ending police action.
Demeur
I know, there is over a million square miles. Seems like a pretty easy fix to me but they have to start treating this seriously. Every country has a role. No one is alone any more. We are all on this together.
Puntland needs equipment but they want to make securing the bay and the coastline their responsibility and living.
The rest of us take it from there and we should have a very defined prior registered sea lane. All others blown out of the water. They will catch on!
You know, you make good points but we have to do something or stay home. The possibility of attacking the bases was officially mentioned and I heard it again today.
Today alone there was 4 more hijackings. They have to do something!
Don't be surprised if many of our Bush created enemies silently hook up with these thugs as joint enemies make strange bedfellows.
Larry
You are right! They are not strange bedfellows. They would work well together against a common goal us! I forget the name of the group right now but it was an ally of Al Qaeda that fired mortars at that Reps plane in Mogadishu!
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