I'd just like to say that modeling our actions and policies after Israel's initiatives is not, IMO, a very wise maneuver.
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Should ships be armed to combat pirates?
- Thread starter baba
- Start date
I'd just like to say that modeling our actions and policies after Israel's initiatives is not, IMO, a very wise maneuver.
john turner
You don't want to do that. Trust me.
if you are up to your tucas (sp) in aligators, I'd want an Israeli draining the swamp, not some one from PETA....if you get my drift.
Unfortunately, we're getting too political for TB. I don't agree, but I see your point.
More importantly, when did the Somali pirates become a problem? My timeline for this situation is woefully incomplete.
More importantly, when did the Somali pirates become a problem? My timeline for this situation is woefully incomplete.
Piracy in that region (and some other lawless regions) has been a problem for years. But it hasn't been in the public eye because it's been not quite enough of a problem to have to do something about. At least not until now.
The way of dealing with this problem in the past was just to assume that piracy was another business expense. The shipping companies build in a certain percentage of loss and when (not if) pirates take one of their vessels they negotiate how much the ship, crew and cargo are worth and then give them the money.
Years of this industry wide practice has made piracy relatively risk free and very lucrative - the pirates expect little to no resistance from the crew and paid ransoms are routine. The inevitable result is the rampant piracy we see today where ships are hijacked literally every single day.
One can condemn the violence and death (among both pirates and hostages) that will result from a policy of forcefully resisting the pirates, but the fact is, piracy will virtually vanish overnight if the pirates were to believe that they would not be getting a ransom under any circumstances, and that they had a decent chance of being killed or captured if they tried. Make this the default policy of the international community and the problem is solved - it's as simple as that. The initial amount of violence would be a short lived problem lasting only as long as it takes for the pirates to figure out that they're better off staying home.
Just have a huge PA blaring the latest Creed CD. That will keep them away. 
Yes, every commercial ship will need to have security. The Israelis have been doing it for years, and you never hear about their ships being hijacked.
Yes, every commercial ship will need to have security. The Israelis have been doing it for years, and you never hear about their ships being hijacked.
- Apr 1, 2000
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Piracy in that area has been a problem since the 16th century. It's worth reading up on Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary pirates. Some very interesting things to be learned.
I knew about the piracy in those days, I just never realized that it hadn't died out...
No country in its right mind would let another country's navy escort their shipping vessels through its own waters. Asking for that is the same thing as asking for armed merchant ships.
I have a saying that I like (I am not claiming to have "created" it, but never remember hearing it before I started using it):
"Acceptance is approval."
Paying the ransoms over the past years emboldened the pirates, made them see their actions as acceptable to some degree.
The countries (including ours :scowl: ) and companies that took this "path of least resistance" method of dealing with the piracy created this situation as much as the pirates themselves - it was a positive feedback loop:
"We take a ship, the crew does not fight us, the navies do not attack us, the companies pay us a great deal of money, we let the ship go. Works for us!"
To stop this, the approval part needs to be removed. It needs to become dangerous, no, FATAL to attempt piracy, in ALL CASES.
Once this is the de facto response to piracy, it will stop.
Further, I feel it is justified to tell all of the pirates that they need to without hesitation release all held ships and crew, NOW. Failure to do so will bring down the might of each country involved upon the villages and cities harboring these criminals. Harm to the crews will bring this might down IMMEDIATELY.
Acceptance and approval is not just a matter of the companies and countries involved with the shipping, it is also the fault of the people in the towns that will permit these criminals to operate freely. It has to hurt to be stupid, and allowing this is stupid.
pacman, i never thought i'd agree so much with you
these words of wisdom are sig worthy. (my perception is that you changed your points of view a bit latley) Tb' ers, go read on what jefferson had to say (he pretty much had something to say about everything) and most amazingly the guy hit the nail on the head and it's very much relevant today, especially his thoughts on religion, the state, foreign policy..... .
You remember the theater event in Russia?
Almost everyone died.Was that a failure?No one held people hostages in a theatre again...
We should even bomb them when the hostages are aboard the ship.So we give them the message "We don't care about hostages,you asked for it,up yours jack***es!"
After the school massacre the ability to take a large number of hostages in Russia and survive has taken a serious plunge. Personally I'm in favor of blowing the pirates out of the water. As long as it remained small scale it was easy to ignore; but as they made more money for boats and weapons their operations have expanded to the problem it has become today. I'm not sure if it's that much larger than it used to be or if it's just gotten more international attention, but I'm wondering when they're going to roll out some torpedo boats and really make a serious stink over there.
I guess so now. I was just now catching up on this story. The critical times we live in are causing people to do all sorts of things they normally wouldn't. Too bad really, but I guess guns and bombs will be required equipment on boats/ships when traveling in that part of the world.
-Mike
-Mike
