What to do with these pirates?

[Memnoch]

Geez Somalia's such a lawless place, eh.

[Chewbacca]

How much military aid and advice have we given to the Phillipines over the years? The answer is enough for them to be able to handle a small bunch thugs on their own. They are an island nation for crying out loud, do they actually lack a navy or just the will?

Once again it's blame the U.S.A., regardless of what we do it seems, rather than look where the other 4 fingers are pointing.

[pritchke]

Wipe them out.....All of them....

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by Ziroc They dropped from an airplane and joined the ship--they did indeed fire from the back of the ship.. amazing.. with the waves and stuff.. experts eh?

It really is an awesome testimony of the training and skill of our elite warriors. I doubt I could even walk straight on the deck of a ship in those seas.

[Bungleau]

Sometimes, I can't quite tell with you, Memnoch... is that observation or sarcasm?

From what I understand, Somalia is extremely lawless at this point. And the prospects of life are so bleak that piracy is one of the better career alternatives... even with the downsides of that retirement plan (insert sarcasm smiley here).

Don't know for sure about the Philippines' ability to retrieve their own. I think part of the issue is that this was an American-chartered ship as opposed to a ship with American crew on it. Many of the current hostage ships appear to simply have Filipino crew on them, but be chartered elsewhere. I'm not sure that the US would have responded the same way had it been an American crewman on an Italian ship.

I understand there are some folks in Nigeria willing to help ease the financial transactions along...

[Memnoch]

Not sure where Chewy got the impression that the Philippines was blaming the US. As Bungleau said, maybe what made it different in this case was that this was a US flagged ship, as opposed to US sailors on a ship flagged by another country. And I'm not up to speed on the Philippine Navy's capabilities (Harkoliar may have more up to date info), but given that they can't even police the coastline effectively and prevent terrorists from coming and going in the south I don't see them being able to conduct an operation like this. There's not many countries that can do it - be able to project power a long distance away from their shores.

If you think about it, there is really only one TRUE blue-water navy - the US. Other navies with the ability to project power across deep water ocean would be the British Navy (the original blue water navy), the French Navy, the Russian Navy, the Italian Navy and the Japanese Navy.

And yes, Cap'n Jack Sparrow's profession is mighty lucrative in Somalia.

Piracy big boon to Somalia economy; hotels, restaurants sprout in port of Eyl in pirates' presence BY Helen Kennedy DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, April 9th 2009, 11:54 PM Modern-day piracy is growing quickly into big business - just take a look at the booming Somali pirate port of Eyl. Big villas and hotels are sprouting, former subsistence fishermen are driving Mercedes-Benzes and gold-digging women are showing up. So are accountants. After Somalia's civil war began in 1991, the impoverished coastal people turned to buccaneering, with huge success. "In 2008 alone, Somali pirates made $125 million," said Michael Lee of McRoberts Maritime Security. "These guys are the wealthiest in the country. A lot of the women in Somalia are flocking to the ports to get themselves a pirate." More than 30% of the world's oil goes through the narrow Gulf of Aden off Somalia. Taking the longer, safer way around would add 20 days and $1 million in fuel costs. The heavily insured cargo vessels make easy pickings. In small, unlit boats, the pirates sneak up to hulking ships at night, fling grappling hooks over the side and swarm aboard. They have learned that if they treat their hostages well, they can ransom the boats for millions. Indeed, the BBC reported there are special pirate restaurants in Eyl to feed the kidnapped crews. To the Somalis, where the average family lives on less than $1 a day, the lure of the black flag is intoxicating. These are not the rum-drunk, eccentric, peg-leg pirates of yesteryear: The modern corsair is well-organized, disciplined and toting a satellite phone. They even have publicists to handle media calls. There were 293 incidents of piracy worldwide last year, up 11% over 2007, according to International Maritime Bureau. Forty-nine ships were hijacked and 889 crewmen were taken hostage. Eleven sailors were killed, 32 were injured and 21 are missing and presumed dead. hkennedy@nydailynews.com http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_w...a_economy.html

[DrowArchmage]

JOIN THEM!!!!!

Pirates get the best rum.

[Firestormalpha]

Originally Posted by DrowArchmage JOIN THEM!!!!! Pirates get the best rum.

Except that if PoC is any indicator, the rum is in fact always gone.

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by Memnoch Not sure where Chewy got the impression that the Philippines was blaming the US.

It's not that any one particular Nation is casting blame, but what's in between the lines of the sentiment the U.S. media doesn't cover these incidents and the U.S. Navy doesn't act unless our citizens are involved. It seems more productive, not to mention correct, to point such critism at governments that don't do anything to help their own citizens. Even more productive would be calls for a international coalition with perhaps a U.N mandate to take action.

The Phillipines were an example and used mildly tongue in cheek. I mean they are an island Nation. lol

[Memnoch]

Originally Posted by Chewbacca It's not that any one particular Nation is casting blame, but what's in between the lines of the sentiment the U.S. media doesn't cover these incidents and the U.S. Navy doesn't act unless our citizens are involved. It seems more productive, not to mention correct, to point such critism at governments that don't do anything to help their own citizens. Even more productive would be calls for a international coalition with perhaps a U.N mandate to take action.

I don't think anyone was blaming the US for what they did - you've got to look after your own. I don't think the US could have done anything different - they couldn't just let these pirates seize a US flagged ship, especially not after the media coverage. The French did the same, though their rescue attempt ended up with one hostage dead. I think that what was being pointed out was a possible consequence of that action.

The reality though is, other nations (the Philippines, Bangladesh, Romania, etc) are not capable of doing what the US did, while others (Russia, China, etc) are capable but choose not to for whatever reason. I don't think that's a criticism of the US, just an observation.