alertnet.org— NAIROBI, April 11 (Reuters) - Pirates seized a U.S.-owned and Italian-flagged tugboat with 16 crew on Saturday in the latest hijacking in the busy Gulf of Aden waterway, a regional maritime group said.
Apr 11, 2009View in Crawl 4
I agree the US does have it's head up it's ass on this issue as well. That was demonstrated by the fact that the boat was not ceased the instant the navy got in range. My point was that more "international" hand wringing on the issue is not productive.As to the legality of responding to the pirates in kind... the pirates can sue us. Every delay, every accommodation... every action besides ruthless attack is read as weakness by these people. Every time we don't respond with deadly force it is seen as an encouragement for more attacks.We cannot afford to keep playing this game.
Boyah, turns out our heads are not as firmly wedged up our asses as previously feared. 3 dead and one captured.Now we need to see if this trial turns into an embarrassment as it almost certainly must... or if it's the show trial followed by a predetermined judgment... which is pretty much what this guy deserves. Why we didn't just turn him over to the Kenyans is a mystery to me.Then we need to see if the admin follows this up with some regulations about dealing with pirates. Such as making it illegal to pay ransoms, allowing cargo ships to keep their deck lights on at night so they can see boarders, and setting up a simple yet harsh system for dealing with pirates in the future that covers all contingencies.
They don't *have* to be pirates. Everyone has problems, and instead of dealing with theirs they've turned to piracy. Hostis humanis generis - not under the protection of law.
thumper13Apr 12, 2009
Panic much?
karmashockApr 12, 2009
I agree the US does have it's head up it's ass on this issue as well. That was demonstrated by the fact that the boat was not ceased the instant the navy got in range. My point was that more "international" hand wringing on the issue is not productive.As to the legality of responding to the pirates in kind... the pirates can sue us. Every delay, every accommodation... every action besides ruthless attack is read as weakness by these people. Every time we don't respond with deadly force it is seen as an encouragement for more attacks.We cannot afford to keep playing this game.
docbob84Apr 12, 2009
Or to not prove anybody innocent.
karmashockApr 13, 2009
Boyah, turns out our heads are not as firmly wedged up our asses as previously feared. 3 dead and one captured.Now we need to see if this trial turns into an embarrassment as it almost certainly must... or if it's the show trial followed by a predetermined judgment... which is pretty much what this guy deserves. Why we didn't just turn him over to the Kenyans is a mystery to me.Then we need to see if the admin follows this up with some regulations about dealing with pirates. Such as making it illegal to pay ransoms, allowing cargo ships to keep their deck lights on at night so they can see boarders, and setting up a simple yet harsh system for dealing with pirates in the future that covers all contingencies.
tsothaApr 14, 2009
They don't *have* to be pirates. Everyone has problems, and instead of dealing with theirs they've turned to piracy. Hostis humanis generis - not under the protection of law.
jeffywJul 6, 2009
I wonder how long it will be before the Whitehouse releases a statement that they are "deeply concerned"