Comments on: More Piracy in the Gulf of Aden

By: Alija Beth

Alija Beth — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:49:54 +0000

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By: Juan

Juan — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:56:46 +0000

nk, I wish it were so somple as that. But this isn’t the ‘Arab’s’ neighborhood. It’s international water… vital supply lines… innocent people.

And so much of the world is too backwards to care. It’s the right thing to do to clean this up… but of course it will never be fair that the burden of justice falls on those who care.

By: Another Drew

Another Drew — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:22:52 +0000

If not us, Who?

If not now, When?

How many more must die before freedom and justice prevail?

By: nk

nk — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:05:42 +0000

I think we need to stop letting the Arabs get us to police their neighborhood for them.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:43:57 +0000

I think we need another Barbary Wars.

By: Another Drew

Another Drew — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:25:47 +0000

HH asked why no Q ships on the day the Saudi tanker was seized.

As to their bases:
If they don’t have any AAM, a visit by a couple of AC-130’s would put the fear of the Great Satan into them.
Or, if we wanted to go Roman:
One squadron of 52’s loaded w/500-pounders (about 84 bombs/plane) at 5-minute intervals for a little “Rolling Thunder” magic.

By: Perfect Sense

Perfect Sense — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:18:58 +0000

In WWI and WWII, Germany used “Surface Raiders.” These ships looked like merchant ships, but were designed to conceal their heavy guns and could take allied merchant ships by surprise. So they were not easily recognized, these ships were sophisticated enough to change their silhouettes. A similar ship, cruising back and forth in the Gulf of Aden, could solve the pirate problem is a few weeks by simply annihilating any approaching pirates.

By: SPQR

SPQR — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:08:55 +0000

You don’t fight pirates at sea. You fight them in their home base.

By: Another Drew

Another Drew — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:08:17 +0000

Behavior that is rewarded, increases.
Behavior that is taxed, decreases.

It doesn’t get any more complicated than that.
It’s only a question of will.

Why am I so discouraged?

By: Juan

Juan — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:46:09 +0000

EW1, of course you have a point.

But it needn’t be that hard to locate pirates. A universalized voluntary communication system for reporting attacks with a GPS receiver, that can be hidden anywhere on a boat like a black box, would be a good start.

And some kind of task force trained for hopping on boats for hostage rescue, similar to SEALs but with a lower threshold, would also be a good idea. We know generally where these attacks are occurring, and could be there in a couple of hours via a helicopter to drop some smoke, tear gas, and a team of men to make these pirates pay.

The status quo of letting these pirates sit and wait for negotiation is a poor policy. A policy of never negotiating with these people, and always fighting them, would quickly solve the problem.

Yeah, there will always be tons of logistical problems and it will never be possible to prevent piracy, but for those considering piracy as a quick and easy way to get money, a policy of always using force would be persuasive.