We need a strong military response to piracy

[GMantis]

You know the real way to stop this piracy?  An agreement by all major shipping companies to stop paying off these kidnappers.

Every time you cut them a two million dollar check, you're not only encouraging further action and demonstrating that piracy works, but you're funding them to have better weapons, ships, and technology to find ships passing by.  They could kill two hundred prisoners in response, but that's the way to end piracy.  All they can do is steal the loot on the ships, making piracy valuable only against ships with certain high-value cargo (gold bricks or whatever), those ships can then hire security.

Yes, but for most companies this is just the easiest way to get out of this problem. Paying two millions is often better than losing the cargo (from what I know of most major shipping companies, they don't really care about their crews).

[AkSaber]

True. But the real question now is not whether we should commit to a serious military occupation of Somalia, but whether we could. The Navy is mostly free to act because it is of only minimal use in Iraq and no use at all in Afghanistan and possible future actions in Pakistan. But the Army and the Air Force are already stretched extremely thin, both in terms of resources and manpower. Furthermore, from a priority standpoint, it would be a far greater tragedy for the US and for the world if Afghanistan, Iraq or Pakistan fell apart right now than if Somalia were to continue its anarchic non-existence.

Yeah, we have our hands full with not one, but two wars, and some seriously want to rush us into another one. This happened 6 years ago too. We didn't have our ducks in a row in Afghanistan, and yet, hurried into another war. Pirates are very similar to terrorists. They operate by themselves for personal gain, aren't under a flag of any nation, and attack civilian targets. So that means fighting them will be very similar to fighting terrorists. Blowing every little boat out of the water would take a while, with the resources we have now.

As to the Somali boondoggle under Clinton, it's fair to say he erred and was ill-prepared.  But don't forget who sent the troops in there in the first place...after the election and less than a month before the New President took office.  Since I respect the elder George Bush, I try not to read political motives into that...but the cynic in me says he wanted to start the new President out with an immediate international crisis that lent itself to failure.

I wouldn't put it past Bush to do that. But it still doesn't absolve Clinton's mistakes. He had plenty of time to say, "We have no business being here, and we're out." Or he could have said, "We're doing a good thing by fighting these bastard warlords, and I'm gonna give our boys over there everything they need to protect themselves."

[Јas]

Pirates hijack Togoese ship, attack Liberian ship, seize Egyptian fishing boats

[Јas]

US flagged Liberty Sun attacked with RPGs

[Fritz]

Fritz?!  Dude, someone told me you died!  Glad to hear you're feeling better.

Who told you that?

[Smid]

Those Somalis aren't pirates, pirates look like this:



When we catch them, we should cut off their right hand (a la sharia law for thieves) and their left leg and then let them go. If we catch them again, we make them walk the plank.

[Joe Republic]

Rush Limbaugh: "President Obama Ordered the Killing of Three Black Muslim Kids"


Surely he could never order the deaths of three of his own kind, Rush?

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Fritz?!  Dude, someone told me you died!  Glad to hear you're feeling better.

Who told you that?

Nah, I was making a joke (actually, I was stealing a line from a movie, as usual).  I haven't bumped into you in a while.  It's good to see some of the old veterans of the forum.  Welcome back!

[Lunar]

Rush Limbaugh: "President Obama Ordered the Killing of Three Black Muslim Kids"


Surely he could never order the deaths of three of his own kind, Rush?

I think he'd be spinning a different tune if the captain had tied.  Right now Obama is the murderer of these weak and weary starving kids who just wanted to go home.





KONDRACKE:  I think Obama did the right thing.  I was in church with him on -- same church as -- on -- on Sunday, and he looked like very preoccupied and now it's -- it's -- it's apparent why because he was thinking what was going on in the -- in the -- off Somalia.

RUSH:  I was in church with him on Sunday, he looked very preoccupied.  He may have looked preoccupied in church on Sunday.  Now we know why. He was worried about the order he had given to wipe out three teenagers on the high seas, black Muslim teenagers.  I think the way he looked in church, Mort, probably confused that nobody was screaming about how evil America is.  That's what he's used to hearing in church, and he obviously didn't hear that.