What's your idea for dealing with the Somalia Pirate situation?
I thought it would be good if the military could put their remote control robotic soldiers on the merchant ships. That way all the arms would be under military control and you could have one soldier robot operator that could operate the robot on any equipped ship. Seems a lot more practical than having a couple of soldiers on every ship. The crew could hide in a safe place while a soldier on a military ship could control the robot on the merchant ship to fire upon the pirates, sink their ship and kill them.
Also notice the effect of gun control. The law abiding unarmed merchant ships are at the mercy of the law breaking armed pirates. We've made piracy safer than working at a convenience store.
When you simply kill all the pirates, and perform air to ground strikes on the leaders of the pirates..before long you run out of people willing to take the risks of being pirates
Gunner
"Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimum food or water,in austere conditions, day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon. He doesn't worry about what workout to do--- his rucksack weighs what it weighs, and he runs until the enemy stops chasing him. The True Believer doesn't care 'how hard it is'; he knows he either wins or he dies. He doesn't go home at 1700; he is home. He knows only the 'Cause.' Now, who wants to quit?"
NCOIC of the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course in a welcome speech to new SF candidates
The pirates' leaders are all hiding among the women and children, so they'll be hard to get at with air strikes -- but taking care of the pirates themselves should do it.
200 today...500 next month....2000 the month after...
Kill them today.
Next month...0 hostages, the month after...0 hostages....the month after...0......
Shrug
Seems easy enough to do.
Gunner
"Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimum food or water,in austere conditions, day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon. He doesn't worry about what workout to do--- his rucksack weighs what it weighs, and he runs until the enemy stops chasing him. The True Believer doesn't care 'how hard it is'; he knows he either wins or he dies. He doesn't go home at 1700; he is home. He knows only the 'Cause.' Now, who wants to quit?"
NCOIC of the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course in a welcome speech to new SF candidates
These guys are carrying RPG's, which could be popped off quickly. If one news report I heard is accurate, a lucky shot could cripple or maybe even sink a ship. If an RPG is ineffective against the side of a cargo ship, then shoot them up! But if the lucky shot could take down a ship, might not be worth the risk. Or it might appear worth it until the lucky shot does sink one.
I say go after the mother ships supporting these guys. Couple of torpedos, and they're back to working close to shore, making it easier to avoid them.
Apparently, ship crews are trained to operate ships and are not trained in waging battles with pirates. Plus, it is a hassle to enter ports with weapons on board and it is expensive.
My own thinking would be a private sector solution.
I am thinking along the lines of privately hired security details, boarding commercial ships when they enter the pirate areas, providing protection, and then exiting ships once they leave the pirate area.
A security and logistics company could provide facilities for hosting, dropping off and picking up the security guards, all on sea.
So the Israeli's think protecting their crew and cargo is worth the expense?
What does this say about other countries? Assuming other countries thought the same as the Israeli's concerning protecting their crew and cargo, do you think the problems entering port armed would be as troublesome?
I think this is a classic example of faceless bureaucracies ensuring men are not free to protect themselves, something I view as a civil right.
Wes
-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller
"Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimum food or water,in austere conditions, day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon. He doesn't worry about what workout to do--- his rucksack weighs what it weighs, and he runs until the enemy stops chasing him. The True Believer doesn't care 'how hard it is'; he knows he either wins or he dies. He doesn't go home at 1700; he is home. He knows only the 'Cause.' Now, who wants to quit?"
NCOIC of the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course in a welcome speech to new SF candidates
Im up for it. Set it up. Ill man a weapon and take a life or 10, if the money clears the bank.
Gunner
"Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimum food or water,in austere conditions, day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon. He doesn't worry about what workout to do--- his rucksack weighs what it weighs, and he runs until the enemy stops chasing him. The True Believer doesn't care 'how hard it is'; he knows he either wins or he dies. He doesn't go home at 1700; he is home. He knows only the 'Cause.' Now, who wants to quit?"
NCOIC of the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course in a welcome speech to new SF candidates
This seems to be a basically easy job -- with one caveat danger, which is that if pirates manage to defeat the security detail, they would likely kill them right away. But chances are very decent that a well armed security detail would prevail. This is the kind of a job that I would personally consider if circumstances were right.
Great idea! And when the pirates are all dead and the money runs out, those private security boats will be just perfect for -- piracy!
And don't forget how much fun can be had in a 3rd world port when you own all the guns around and don't have to answer to anyone!
It'd be just like working for Blackwater, only without that nasty press corps there to report to the folks back home.
(Study your history. The Italian city-states during the late middle ages and the Renaissance couldn't be bothered by actually doing their own soldiering, so they hired mercenaries -- who often took to banditry when there were no paying wars around).
The simplest solution would be to extend the convoy system that already exists. A few destroyers escorting large convoys would remove the opportunity for the pirates. Large merchant ships have a lot of radar blind spots, unlike a small warship, so it should stop night attacks too.
On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:42:06 -0500, the infamous Ignoramus10773 scrawled the following:
I just started reading _Licensed to Kill_, Pelton's book on Blackwater and other security companies who do precisely this. They charge more, but the men make $1,000-$1,500 per day per man. Go for it, Ig!
It isn't about what the Israeli's think. Ship owners flag their vessels anyway they think best. American Flagged carriers enjoy special access priveledges in many ports around the world Wes. They can, for example, go directly from port to port in most cases and cut their running time significantly.
No, they'd be much worse.
Go ahead and arm yourself and head into Mexico. You'll just be shot out of hand while you excercise you right. The same will happen in most countries around the world although I believe the Canadians would just throw you in jail.
How would you like to see Iranan/Pakistani/Afghani flagged merchants armed and unsearched in the Port of Detroit? A case of LAWs rockets with nerve gas instead of explosive ordinance and you'd literally be living in a wasteland. A man portable missile is about what it takes to defend against RPG's you know, unless you want to go with TOW's and take out the pirate vessels with a single shot.
Private noncommercial vessels are attacked all the time Wes. They are also frequently siezed in places like Ensanada and when they are it's usually for something an innocent as a shotgun. Those vessels aren't returned at all BTW and their owners are happy to be deported without doing serious jail time. There is a big annual race from here to Ensanada every year and in spite of all of the history and warnings, you always hear about some dumb shit having to walk away from his 6 meter baby because he was excercising a right that doean't exist outside of the borders of the United States.
The problem of Somali pirating will only be solved by Somali's. As long as pirates can enjoy their loot unhampered in Somalia, they will and it's their only chance out of an extremely misserable existance that makes life or death as a pirate look like an atractive alternative.
Have GM put a plant in Mogadishu and start building cars there and this shit would be over in a heartbeat. Same in Afghanistan. Have all the towelheads build Buick's and Cheverolet's for ten dollars an hour. The Madrassa's would be empty.
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