What do you do with a scurvy pirate?

[kendoiwan]

Make them walk the plank. Arr!! :joft:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/world/africa/16pirate.html?th&emc=th


From the deck of an Italian destroyer cruising the pirate-infested waters off Somalia’s coast, he has all the modern tools at his fingertips — radar, sonar, infrared cameras, helicopters, a cannon that can sink a ship 10 miles away — to take on a centuries-old problem that harks back to the days of schooners and eye patches.

“Our presence will deter them,” the admiral said confidently.

But the wily buccaneers of Somalia’s seas do not seem especially deterred — instead, they seem to be getting only wilier. More than a dozen warships from Italy, Greece, Turkey, India, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, Britain, Malaysia and the United States have joined the hunt.

And yet, in the past two months alone, the pirates have attacked more than 30 vessels, eluding the naval patrols, going farther out to sea and seeking bigger, more lucrative game, including an American cruise ship and a 1,000-foot Saudi oil tanker.

[kendoiwan]

IpC0I7zZbe4

[giegs]

Give them lemons.

[Thevenin]

Give them lemons.

Originally, in the Caribbean, it was limes (with rum--"grog"), which is where the term "limey" comes from.

[Anonymous]

Originally, in the Caribbean, it was limes (with rum--"grog"), which is where the term "limey" comes from.

So in 10 years, maybe Somalians will be the new limeys.

[kendoiwan]

Am I the only person who finds this utterly fascinating?

[giegs]

The best way to hide overripe fruit on a densely populated ship?

I'm sure you could write volumes on the subject.

[kendoiwan]

nobody bothered to read anything in the OP did they... :stupid:

[rhinosaur]

I did!

And it reminds me of the pirate scene in "Captain Ron."

7QrsNqIy2WU

[Limey]

I'm surprised other nations, such as Nigeria haven't started to do it.


So in 10 years, maybe Somalians will be the new limeys.

They're already everywhere you go in my hometown, with their funky hair and huge teeth, you can tell a Somalian apart even from other Africans quite easily, different in appearance to both of their immediate neighbors in Kenya and Ethiopia.

[coinlee]

nobody bothered to read anything in the OP did they... :stupid:

NY Times is big fat liberal media and "hmph" I dare to read them!

[Oso Mocoso]

I'm surprised other nations, such as Nigeria haven't started to do it.

Well, the reason it works so well for Somalia is that so much stuff gets shipped past there. I'm sure other lawless countries would have the same sort of piracy problems, but they probably aren't located in such a strategic piracy location.

That said, modern pirates aren't as cool as old timey pirates.

[Ghost-Girl]

nobody bothered to read anything in the OP did they... :stupid:

Scurvy is more interesting?

[Limey]

Well, the reason it works so well for Somalia is that so much stuff gets shipped past there. I'm sure other lawless countries would have the same sort of piracy problems, but they probably aren't located in such a strategic piracy location.

That said, modern pirates aren't as cool as old timey pirates.

arrrrr!
Edward teach used to walk around with lit candles in his beard, uplit, like he was permanently telling a horror story.

[wenzmeister]

i say shove some anti ship missiles down their throats. militaries have gotten soft these days. back in ye olde times they used to hang whole crews of ships for being suspected of piracy.

[Limey]

i say shove some anti ship missiles down their throats. militaries have gotten soft these days. back in ye olde times they used to hang whole crews of ships for being suspected of piracy.

I say put them all on a big prison ship and send them all to an island on the other side of the world, If they make it.
<double take>
D'oh!

[Limey]

This past summer my parents were visiting and my dad managed to convince my son (6) that he was a real pirate. Most of it was circumstatancial evidence with a few anecdotal bits.

I simply saw it as having to spend some time working with my son on elementary deduction, logical reasoning and rationale. To be fair, my dad does look like a pirate, when he wears a suit he looks like a pirate in fancy dress for a custume party.
He felt it - gonna be an INFP. We must have dropped him as a child it must have shaken his preferrences into a weird emo primary order.

[Ferrus]

What you do is ensure you don't have failes states that allow this thing to fester in the first place.

[Thevenin]

What you do is ensure you don't have failes states that allow this thing to fester in the first place.

Black Hawk Down, the movie and book about the Battle of Mogadishu (1993) show vividly that Somalia is a failed state. But they also show why outside forces can't transform failed states into lawful nations. Before its current feudalistic, war lord-dominated state, Somalia was a cruel dictatorship. The best, realistic hope is that one war lord will gain enough power to dominate the others and exert some order throughout the country.

[LastRailway]

Am I the only person who finds this utterly fascinating?

I do! (I don't believe I missed this thread.)

So, anybody believes that the guys are basically right to do what they're doing?

BTW, I've read before that they occupy from hackers and I/T experts to use the electronic equipment, to experienced sailors. I'd like them more if it weren't for the fact that they all live kind of luxurious lives.

[kendoiwan]

I do! (I don't believe I missed this thread.)

So, anybody believes that the guys are basically right to do what they're doing?

BTW, I've read before that they occupy from hackers and I/T experts to use the electronic equipment, to experienced sailors. I'd like them more if it weren't for the fact that they all live kind of luxurious lives.

So what are they supposed to just sit in their shitty country and starve while all that money is sailing by?

[LastRailway]

So what are they supposed to just sit in their shitty country and starve while all that money is sailing by?

They could invest in their country's development, so that it's not that shitty anymore.
Then again I guess when you make so much money, it's not exactly easy to think at something else than cars, houses, high life, especially if you're young.

They still rock, anyway.

[DaleTerra]

Oh come on!! Where's the conspiracy theories??

This most recent incident reeks of Cheney. He set up the entire Maersk Alabama situation to prove his most recent rant of "Obama is making the US less safe".

- He has covert ties in Somalia which could easily facilitate his bidding.
- His recent airplay rhetoric towards Obama was answered by Biden. (Which would piss me off too.)
- He needs to find something for his precious Dubai Halliburton to do now that any defense/emergency contracts are under scrutiny. And providing security/mercenary escorts would be right up their alley. Why let all that good ole ransom money be wasted on lowly pirates.

There you go... makes perfect sense to moi.

[OrionzRevenge]

Oh come on!! Where's the conspiracy theories??
....

I think the real conspiracy here has been the supplication and complicity of the ship owners and freight underwriters, who have been covertly paying the ransom demanded (to avoid lost profits due to publicity). Indeed, this stagnant pool of humans violating the rights of other humans was nurtured in the bosom of corporate greed. So too, irrespective of the implied disadvantages of belonging in name to one group or another, mitigating a person’s responsibility for their violence to others has been the epic fail of the modern western world.

Like any festering pimple on the ass of humanity, it can only get so big before it …Self-Purges. Ironically, given the hype that surrounds the persona of one man (the abducted captain)… I think I hear the bubble getting ready to burst.

So then, IMO the question that remains is… How do we prevent it on the cheap???

[EllisWyatt]

Funny how the US had similar dilemmas with African pirates beginning from the late 18th century (Barbary wars). Back then the dillemas were because the US was too poor, didn't have a navy (or the protection of England's anymore), and really had no foreign policy of any influence.

Today's US hegemony means it has all of the above, and could make Somalia the 51st state if it wanted to in a couple weeks. But it can't because of 20 different political reasons.

Not saying it should or shouldn't be a state, or that I wouldn't send my kids to university there if it was. Just that it's an ironic twist.

[rainfall]

Dunno about you guys, but I always have a small SWAT detachment on my ships:
pirate this

[Anonymous]

Dunno about you guys, but I always have a small SWAT detachment on my ships:


Were they throwing rocks at it? In any case, yeah, that method certainly works, heh. Though I think the Somalis have RPGs rather than rocks, though whether or not they actually explode is apparently uncertain.

[rainfall]

Were they throwing rocks at it?

I think they threw smoke(flashbangs?) grenades, actually. But yeah, couple RPGs woulda been far more efficient, but animal rights activists are probably NF, so...

[Anonymous]

Pirates never did have a very good life expectancy:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7996087.stm



An unnamed US official told the Associated Press news agency that Capt Phillips was freed in what appeared to be a swift firefight.

Reports say he jumped overboard for a second time, and the pirates were shot and killed before they could take action to get him back.

US forces apparently took advantage of the fact one of the pirates was negotiating on the USS Bainbridge when the incident happened.

The surviving pirate is now in US military custody.

[rainfall]

That's unforrrrrtunate.

Oh well. I have to plug another youtube here.

.

[Limey]

The captain of the ship should get a necklace out of those big ol' surfboard sized Somalian teeth.
AT LAST! A nation that the British and British expats can make dental jokes about.
Thank you, I'll be here all week. Try the heart shaped meatloaf.

[Anonymous]

Well, this should make for a few interesting headlines should it come to fruition: Japan 'can fire' on Somali pirates (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/06/2009619124944697820.html)

Oh, and....

http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2007/10/30/1_232078_1_5.jpg

Does anyone else get the urge to start shouting "tora"?

[Jynweythek]

Well, this should make for a few interesting headlines should it come to fruition: Japan 'can fire' on Somali pirates (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/06/2009619124944697820.html)





They should dress in Ninja outfits when they fight the Pirates.