4 more hijackings

[emmett]

Somali pirates have taken four more ships in the Gulf of Aden in the last 36 hours. 2 Leb fishing vessels, An Egyptian freighter and a British ship.

It appears they haven't learned anything. So...given the state of things, and the fact that none of the vesels was an American one, what should we do?

As of 11:05 am we await Barry Obama's address on the "economic recovery?" Should he at least mention this development?

Who is funding these Somali pirates? Can we afford to just allow them to continue to orchestrate this type of behavior?

Who is recieving these huge bounties the pirates are getting?

[Monkeybone]

As long as they keep getting ransoms and going unchecked it won't stop. Just becasue we did something doesn't mean anything other than they are mad at us now and they might just kill the sailors on the next American ship the hijack.

[glockmail]

"We" shouldn't do a damn thing until they hijack an American flagged vessel. Then we kill the little bastards just like we did last time.

[emmett]

"We" shouldn't do a damn thing until they hijack an American flagged vessel. Then we kill the little bastards just like we did last time.

I agree, I didn't see a bunch of other country's boats racing out there to assist us so this is probably the best way.

You don't think we should be involved in any missions to assist any allies whose sailors are kidnapped I assume?

[glockmail]

I agree, I didn't see a bunch of other country's boats racing out there to assist us so this is probably the best way.

You don't think we should be involved in any missions to assist any allies whose sailors are kidnapped I assume? Let NATO handle it. The French could use the practice.

[Kathianne]

Let NATO handle it. The French could use the practice.

Actually the French are very good at taking care of their own interests, like they took out 2 pirates, even with the loss of one hostage. It's when they can't see the 'benefit' that they say, "Non". We could learn a lesson from the French.

[Yurt]

they're just taking biden at his word and "testing" obama...they don't want to make biden a liar...

[glockmail]

Actually the French are very good at taking care of their own interests, like they took out 2 pirates, even with the loss of one hostage. It's when they can't see the 'benefit' that they say, "Non". We could learn a lesson from the French. I agree. As much as I like to make fun of the French, as individuals they tend to be tough and resourceful. They also make some pretty good stuff, notably glassware and sports equipment.

[DannyR]

Who is funding these Somali pirates?Pretty much everybody who pays the ransoms, which thus far have been most people. The ransoms are generally worth less than the value of the cargo's they carry, so companies have been paying.

The $3 million the pirates got for the oil tanker for instance buys a lot of AK-47s and other weapons

http://gizmodo.com/5128004/photo-3-million-tanker-ransom-delivered-to-pirates-by-parachute


Who is recieving these huge bounties the pirates are getting?

Somalia is run by warlords who probably get the lion's share of each heist, with plenty to pass along to the poor saps who actually do the dirty work, insuring an endless supply of volunteers for future raids.

While I'm in favor of letting the UN or NATO take care of the problem, we all know what happened last time we did that - US soldiers that were part of the task force being dragged through the streets.

I've got no problems sending in the military and closing the Somalia ports down entirely, letting in and out only authorized vehicles and sinking anything else, ending all piracy once and for all.

[Monkeybone]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090415/ap_on_re_af/piracy


– Somali pirates vowed to hunt down American ships and kill their sailors Wednesday and French forces detained 11 other hijackers in a high-seas raid, raising tensions a day after an abortive attack on a U.S. freighter loaded with food aid.


We will seek out the Americans and if we capture them we will slaughter them," said a 25-year-old pirate based in the Somali port of Harardhere who gave only his first name, Ismail.

i would ask idle threats or preview of things to come. how many will we let this happen to before we do something about it? or will every ship have a navy escort? or as Nuke and I were talking about, should we start putting blackwater guys on the ships?

not that i was advocating attacking them in my first post, just that they way there were talking since we did do something have we just made it more of our problem?

[emmett]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090415/ap_on_re_af/piracy





i would ask idle threats or preview of things to come. how many will we let this happen to before we do something about it? or will every ship have a navy escort? or as Nuke and I were talking about, should we start putting blackwater guys on the ships?

not that i was advocating attacking them in my first post, just that they way there were talking since we did do something have we just made it more of our problem?

On board private security details would be much less costly than paying ransoms.

[Monkeybone]

that is exactly what we were saying Emmet, even if you paid five guys a 100k a year it would still be less. but still, the whole escalation thing, would they just send more and more pirates to each boat to where we would have more and more guys? and then it will just turn into shoot outs on the high seas.

[glockmail]

On board private security details would be much less costly than paying ransoms.
I'm wondering if Obama will override 230 years of US tradition and start doing this.

[Monkeybone]

I'm wondering if Obama will override 230 years of US tradition and start doing this.

sorry, but explain? 230 years of sailing defenseless?

or should he just do like the last time we had problems and send in the Marines?

[glockmail]

sorry, but explain? 230 years of sailing defenseless?

or should he just do like the last time we had problems and send in the Marines? 230 years of giving pirates a bullet instead of cash- and American tradition since Jefferson.