Over the last 10 years or so we have started seeing increasing \t\tattacks on shipping near the horn of Africa by pirates.<\/p>\n
“Pirates you say? But I thought pirates had long been wiped out?”<\/p>\n
Actually, no. They’ve been around in one form or another since \t\tBlackbeard was introduced to the sharks 300 years ago. They have just \t\tbeen a very low level problem. That changed with the fall of the Soviet \t\tUnion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Back in the 70’s and 80’s, the USSR and the United States navies \t\tpatrolled that region of the world along with other navigational choke \t\tpoints. Pirates back then didn’t want to get blown out of the water so \t\tthey tended to avoid raiding ships on the high seas.<\/p>\n
With the fall of the USSR, the situation changed greatly. First the \t\tnumber of warships at sea dropped significantly. Second the strategic \t\tvalue of certain regions changed. With the virtual collapse of any form \t\tof government in the \t\t Horn of Africa, along with the extreme poverty of the region, groups \t\tdecided it would be easy to take speed boats out and start robbing \t\tcoastal shipping.<\/p>\n
Now, in the old days, these pirates would have been hunted down and \t\teither killed or tried and executed. Of course that was back in the days \t\tbefore the United Nations started sticking their corrupt hand into \t\teverything.<\/p>\n
Last April the British Foreign Office reportedly warned the Royal \t\tNavy not to detain pirates, since this might violate their “human \t\trights” and could even lead to claims of asylum in Britain. Turning the \t\tcaptives over to Somali authorities is also problematic — since they \t\tmight face the head- and hand-chopping rigors of Shariah law. Similar \t\tconsiderations have confounded U.S. government officials in their \t\tdiscussions of how to confront this new problem of an old terror at sea. \t\t[1]<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n In the previous centuries, the nations of the world understood how to \t\tdeal with pirates. Worrying about assorted body parts being chopped off \t\twas very low on the list of priorities. The only think governments \t\tconcerned themselves with was whether or not they had enough rope handy.<\/p>\n Back in the Golden Age of Piracy [2] \t\t[3] [4]<\/span><\/em><\/strong>, merchant ships \t\twere armed with assorted cannon and personal weapons of the day. They \t\tcould fight back and perhaps escape. These days, that option is closed \t\tto merchant ships. Crews are generally small and unarmed. All they can \t\ttry to do is run and try to avoid getting boarded.<\/p>\n The pirates, on the other hand, are fairly well armed, usually with \t\tautomatic rifles, crew served machine guns and Russian made RPG 7 rocket \t\tlaunchers. The pirates don’t fire a shot across the bows, they rake the \t\tbridge with automatic weapons fire and blow holes in the hull with \t\trocket launchers. Ships captains, wanting to protect their crews, heave \t\tto and then move to secured locations on the ship. The theory is they \t\tpirates will rob the ships safe and any cargo they can carry and leave.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, pirates are now taking the ships to a port so they can \t\tloot at leisure. This also allows them the chance to ferret out the crew \t\tand hold them for ransom.<\/p>\n Not content with cargo ships, pirates have also gone after cruise \t\tliners. The first one was the \t\t Seabourn \t\tSpirit<\/a> on November 5, 2005. <\/span> Michael Groves, <\/span> a \t\tsecurity officer aboard the Spirit was awarded the \t\t Queen’s Gallantry Medal<\/a> for fighting off the attack with a “Sonic \t\tCannon.” Mr. Groves along with\u00a0 Som Bahadur Gurung were injured \t\tin the attack. [5]<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n More recently, Pirates attacked and \t\tcaptured the <\/span> cruise ship \t\t Le Ponant, on April 4, 2008. A ransom apparently was paid, however \t\tsome or all of the ransom may have been recovered when French army \t\thelicopters fired on and disabled the escape vehicle used by the There have even been attempts to \t\t attack United States military ships<\/a>. These attempts failed due to \t\tthe presence of US Marines and their weapons. [7]<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This needs to be stopped. These pirates \t\tneed to be taught that raiding shipping is a losing and fatal \t\tproposition. They need to be hunted down and killed. Their supporters \t\talso need to be wiped out. The best way would be a nice public hanging \t\tand leaving the rotting corpses swinging in the breeze as a warning. \t\tThis used to be the policy of the British. I see no reason why we \t\tshouldn’t return to this policy.<\/span><\/p>\n That is all.<\/span><\/p>\n Update: 11:46EST Indian Navy Destroys Pirate ‘Mother Ship’ in Battle NEW DELHI\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 \t\tAn Indian naval vessel sank a suspected pirate “mother ship” Wednesday \t\tin the Gulf of Aden and chased two attack boats into the night, \t\tofficials said, yet more violence in the lawless seas where brigands are \t\tbecoming bolder and more violent.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Citations: Over the last 10 years or so we have started seeing increasing attacks on shipping near the horn of Africa by pirates.<\/p>\n “Pirates you say? But I thought pirates had long been wiped out?”<\/p>\n Actually, no. They’ve been around in one form or another since Blackbeard was introduced to the sharks 300 years ago. They have just been a very low level problem. That changed with the fall of the Soviet Union Continue reading
\npirates. [6]<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>It looks like the Indian Navy has taken our advice. <\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong> FoxNews.com<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>1<\/a>) <\/span><\/em><\/strong> Pirates Exploit Confusion About International Law<\/a>, By \t\t DAVID B. RIVKIN JR. and \t\t LEE A. CASEY
\nWall Street Journal Online, November 19, 2008
\n2<\/a>) The Golden Age of Piracy<\/a> By Cindy Vallar
\n3<\/a> The \t\tGolden Age of Piracy<\/a> from the \t\tMuseum of Unnatural \t\tHistory<\/a><\/span><\/span>
\n4<\/span><\/a>) \t\tThe Golden \t\tAge of Piracy<\/a> from Wikipedia<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/strong>
\n5<\/a>) <\/span> Cruise Bruise<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em>
\n6<\/a>) \t\t Expert Cruiser.com<\/em><\/strong><\/span>
\n7<\/span><\/a>) <\/span> Maritime \t\tTerrorism.com<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"