How could anybody be stund by this...the pirates have been ramping up for a long time now. Thsi was jsut a mater of tiem before this happened.
O/T
The Dims in the US Senate just voted to allow the sanctimonious prick Joe Lieberman to keep his Heimat, I mean, Homeland Security chairmanship.
42-13!!!
A party that won't defend itself........just sickening.
Link provided for gluttons for punishment. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27782936
We now resume our regularly scheduled....
This administration has been lying for so long that the word "stunned" just comes out automatically. Who knows what they really think. I only care about the young men and women they constantly put in harm's way with their incompetent reactions.
Enough. Jan 20th can't get here soon enough.
~
The scariest thing about this is that the pirates went so far south to grab the ship. They were under pressure from the navies in the area and just moved their territory. Of course, the main problem is that Somalia has no government and the pirates pretty much rule the coastal areas. That way they can bring the ships to shore just about anywhere they want and nobody does anhything to stop them
Puntland and Somaliland are NOT Somalia. Somalia had had a long running experiment in mimimalist government until the USA decided that mimialist government was not a good thing and sicced the Ethiopian army on Somalia. While the rest of the uncivilized world has ignored them for much less important places like Kosovo and Montenegro and South Ossetia, Somaliland has had a very effective and democratic government for almost 20 years. Puntland not so effective and not so democratic but recently much more profitable. And it isn't even talk like a pirate week.
MB- pirates have also seized control of our government! Aarrgh!
What's Bush doing about it?
Probably saving it for Obama.
Any Somali vessel seen with speedboats on deck or in company in the Gulf of Aden or along the Somali coast should be captured or sunk.
the way to deal with pirates has not changed since the days of pompei magnus. when the mediterranean pirates were out of control and fucking with the roman commerce machine pompei first closed the straights of gibralter, and the dardenelles, then, in conjunction with his lieutenants pushing from the east, himself pushed west. they were doing combined ops. they would close a pirate friendly port city or island, then if there was no capitulation to roman rule, they would level it. relentless pressure, tireless pursuit, and in four years, no goddamned pirates on mare nostrum.
the american colonials, in conjunction with the royal navy also did some classic antipirate ops. when blackbeard was terrorizing the carolinas (and suborning the government of virginia) the brits gave lt. robert maynard a mandate to hunt down and kill edward teach. maynard was under house arrest for dueling at the time of his mandate. he scoured the idle fleet for sailors he could train in the use of the rapier and dirk. it was a classic "rope a dope." knowing that the pirates favored the 8lb cutlass maynard trained his men in the classic spanish style. the lighter rapiers and the two handed attack and defense capability gave them a decided advantage. provided of course they were able to withstand the initial shock and awe assault of the pirates with with shotguns and their 8lb meat cleavers. when the pirate's arms tired and they began to drop their guard maynard's men cut them up into hors de combat and sailed back into charleston with teach's head swinging from the bowsprit.
a naval operation against these pirates would be easy. it could be accomplished with fast frigates 5"38 calibre deck guns. the old antisubmarine tactics from the cold war US navy would work perfectly. use seaking helos to scour the sea and coast. spot them, fix their positions with helo attacks, while the frigates steam up and bring their artillery to bear. sink them, kill them before they have a chance to attack or run. hound and harry them.
it requires minimum ordinance, and maximum ruthlessness. if i wasn't old, fat, and crippled i'd sign on for that.
See also the recent articles in US media about how pirates have become rockstars in Somalia. The only effective way to deal with that shit is to make the pirate's life a very, very short one.
MHB: You figure the USN has a stock of red flags somewhere?
it requires minimum ordinance, and maximum ruthlessness. if i wasn't old, fat, and crippled i'd sign on for that.
phooey! we all need you here.
where else could i get a recipe for onion soup??
or see your sweet niece?
As one who has sailed those waters, and escorted unarmed ships, it is more than infuriating to see our Navy (and allied warships) apparently doing little to combat these ocean-going criminals. Seems like time to work together and loosen some rules of engagement. Arrgh!
And for the most senior admiral in the Navy to be stunned that Somali pirates have taken ships hundreds of miles offshore? C'mon! They've been capable of this for a while. Most of those attacks in the Gulf of Aden are actually off of Yemen's coast - and that ain't within sight of Somaliland's shores. No excuse to be "stunned" my friend.
The attack against the supertanker was launched by a mothership, perhaps another larger merchant previously pirated.
But back to the the displayed impotence... why the hell are there no convoys as yet? And how many ships do we have just hanging out at the pirate anchorages observing? And exactly which pirates are "friendly" (as in allied with our friends in the Somali Transitional (Ethiopian-protected) Government) as opposed to "unfriendly" (those allied with the Somali Islamic Courts)?? And how much money are these "pirates" making from each ransom (thousands? tens of thousands? millions?)?? When will Blackwater Maritime join the fray - we surely need more bounty hunters looking to score some quick bucks on those waters??? Inquiring minds should want to know...
SP
Well, MHB, all we need is a Navy that has the equipment to carry out your perfectly crafted plan and I'D sign on for that. (Being younger, thinner and gayer than thou, I feel safe knowing that offer will never be called in.)
However, it strikes me that the real problem is that the Navy we have, staffed and equipped as it is, can't keep the black gold of our protectorate, the Kingdom of the House of Saud, safe enough to sell to the highest bidder.
Kind of invalidates our whole argument for throwing 10 divisions at the neighborhood for 5 goddam years, don't it? Of course someone who would remain a general officer of the USN under this catastrophic administration is stunned. Show this guy rock candy and he'll ask how you learned to make diamonds.
MHB - I'm always astounded at the information GNB writers have at their fingertips.
MHB, it appears that you've dabbled a bit in military history. I bet Steve would approve if you gave us some more of that.
(As long as you keep the illustrated recipes coming. 
)
The last Bush gift to his successor came from Somalia. Whodda thunk it.
BTW Harry Reid is a craven, disrespectful turd.
Just outfit a merchant ship as a "raider" like the Germans did in WWII. Mount some Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS) that are disguised under something. Have an Attack sub follow it so it could keep a sonar watch for fast moving vessels. Alert the "raider", activate the Phalanx system and bye, bye pirates.
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) armed with missiles could be used instead of a sub.
Just my 2 cents off the top of my head.
Ummmm. How much is one of them boats? I may need a crew though....
Our MHB has military history essays in his brain enough to keep us light-headed from new brain activity and prayerful with revelation. Here's hoping he writes 'em down. I, as a long-time pacifist who learns from past wars, am simply salivating to hear what he has to say. (Hint, hint.)
This is Saudis versus Somali pirates and you all are on the Saudis side?
Aargh, pass me me grog.
Seriously, you all hate pirates more than Saudis? The Somalis have more honor in their pinky than those al Qaeda supporting bastards.
What Wengler said. I'm surprised that a theocracy that can get flag-burning rioters organized at the drop of a bad cartoon can't find the scratch to get a convoy protection group together.
wengler i don't think its love for the sauds....its just that the pirates are workign for an equaly bad theocracy.
wengler & Jen: First, this ship was off *TANZANIA* when it was hit. Second, the Somali pirates represent a serious and growing threat to world commerce, because they are severely restricting traffic through one of the world's most important shipping lanes. It's quite irrelevant that this particular victim was Saudi-owned -- the Somalia piracy problem needs to get taken care of, now.
Also, today, one of their motherships threatened to blow up an Indian naval vessel... with utterly predictable results (http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/
usnSP426562.html).
Here's a link to the article Pierce mentioned.
One more idea, albeit one fraught with some pretty severe moral implications (and no, I'm not endorsing it, not yet anyway):
As MHB noted above, Pompey's legions would level any pirate city that didn't capitulate; moral considerations aside (and in real life you can never set them aside), would any of the players (nations, large shipping companies) really object if pirate-sheltering seaside villages were bombed into rubble if they didn't cease and desist? Of course, even if the large (mostly innocent) numbers of civilian casualties weren't an issue, someone would still have to try and help build a workable alternative for the ex-fishermen turned pirates so that they didn't keep harrassing large cargo ships (if your choices are death fighting or on your knees, most people will choose fighting).
Personally, though, I like the idea of taking out motherships on sight combined with the raider/Q-ship idea above. I have a feeling, though, that if this isn't handled carefully, someone with the means will get it in their head that most of Somalia's coast just needs to be cleared with extreme prejudice.
What Captain C said.
And make the Saudis pay for their protection.
As usual, well done Minstrel, especially your comment to this post. If I could I'd load some explosive device in my 12' flatbottom with 6hp outboard and go after them myself.
I only wish they would show up on Peppers Lake, they would all be dead tonight.
The world's navies can control this, if they would.
Captain C: Here's some thoughts for a relatively restrained response:
First, find a way to prevent the further payment of ransoms. Cut off the money supply to pirates is cutting off their oxygen.
Second, any large new houses on the coast can pretty much be assumed to belong to a pirate -- no-one else can afford them. Destroy them all. They don't move, they stick out like sore thumbs, and leveling buildings is something the USAF has some proficiency at.
Third, we know where their bases are at -- blockade those ports, and stop and search any ocean-going vessel that attempts to enter or leave. If they threaten the warship stopping them, sink 'em. Confiscate all weapons -- if they have RPGs or anything else bigger than a rifle, or offer any resistance, sink 'em with the crew on board. Without the motherships, the pirates are pretty much restricted to operating close to the coast, where ships in transit can avoid them. Alternately, simply sink all ocean-going vessels along the coast that do not belong to international aid agencies.
Fourth, deploy Q-ships as appropriate to make the remaining pirates think twice about hitting the vessels they can still reach.
Fifth: Remove the pirates' fig-leaf justification by patrolling Somali waters for illegal fishing and dumping with UN vessels.
And you are right -- continued failure by the NATO countries to take decisive and effective action agains the pirates will motivate one of the countries that's in serious pain from this mess to put an end to it with extreme prejudice.
I think MHB hit the nail right square on the head when he mentioned Pompey.
From the Wikipedia page on the Cilician pirates:
"By the 1st Century BC, what began as a trickle was a plague on the Mediterranean commerce. The Cilician pirates roamed across the entire Mediterranean, and began to attack the towns of Italy itself. In fact, even Ostia was plundered.
Eventually, Rome took action. In 75 BC, P. Servilius Isauricus led a campaign over land against the pirate bases in Cilicia and against their allies the Isauri. But this was only a temporary relief.
Finally, after heated debate, Pompey was granted extraordinary powers to eliminate the Cilician pirates. Pompey divided the Mediterranean into thirteen districts, to each of which he assigned a fleet and a commander. Pompey then swept through the western Mediterranean with his own powerful fleet, driving the pirates out or into the paths of his other commanders. By keeping vigilance over all the sea at the same time (and at great cost), there was nowhere to run or hide. Those Cilician pirates that did escape fled to the eastern Mediterranean. Pompey completed this first part of his campaign in 40 days.
Pompey then turned to the eastern Mediterranean. Pompey gave mild terms to those pirates who surrendered to him personally, as opposed to his other commanders. Some pirates surrendered their ships, and their families and themselves up to Pompey. From these, Pompey learned about where others were hiding. Many pirates retreated to their strongholds of Asia Minor. The pirates gathered and waited for Pompey to attack them at Coracesium. Pompey won a decisive victory and blockaded the town. The Cilician pirates surrendered all their harbors and fortified islands. The Romans took the wealth the pirates had collected, and released many of their prisoners, whom the pirates intended to ransom, other prisoners were sold into slavery. Strabo writes that Pompey destroyed 1300 pirate vessels of all sizes.
Pompey spared numerous Cilician pirates who had been taken prisoner, realizing many had been driven to such recourse by desperation. Those who surrendered were settled into various parts of the southern coast of Asia Minor, where the population was sparse. Settlements were created at Mallus, Adana, and Epiphaneia in Cilicia. Many were settled at Soli, which was thereafter called Pompeiopolis.
The eastern campaign lasted 49 days. In total, Pompey’s campaign removed the Cilician pirates, who had held a stranglehold on Mediterranean commerce and imperiled Rome with famine, in a mere 89 days, the summer of 66 BC."
There are some parallels both to this and to our earlier experiences in the Barbary Wars. The excursions this situation makes from these earlier precedents tends to work in favor of pirate suppressors, rather than the pirates.
(1) The pirates are operating in waters that are geographically constrained. The Cilician pirates had the whole Med to play in. These guys are limited to coastal waters off the Horn.
(2) Their bases are likewise constrained. Worse than the Cilician pirates.
(3) They are not fighting for any cause more transcendental than loot.
(4) They have few if any friends, even regionally. Neither did the Algerine pirates, 200 years ago.
Use of the US Navy would also hand us a way to simultaneously improve relations with Iran and put a stick through the wheel spokes of the Iranian theocrats. Some of the ships these people have hijacked are Iranian.
Admiral Mullen needs to stop being "shocked", and start thinking about how he can crush these bastards. Being "shocked" isn't his job, for Christ's sake.
President-elect Obama needs to think how to build the international consensus that'll be required to give Mullen tools he'll need, and to make this stick.
Hint: It'll be a lot easier than 2003. Maybe even easier than 1991. Pirates, in world politics, are like child abusers or animal torturers here in the States: Nobody likes them, and slapping them down is a measure just about everyone will cheerfully get behind.
Commenting by HaloScan
