solution to pirate problem

I saw a little of it this morning , The 4th was a teenager who had cut his hand or something and transferred over to a small navy boat ( fast inflatable, navy seal type) for medical attention and negotiations. Apparently they are thinking of bringing him back to serve life in one of our prisons.
 
changed a little since 1805?

How far do you think the Marines would get on the streets armed with small arms while they went to find the Sultan?

Steve
 
we've got those big iowa class flagships sitting in our back pocket why not throw one of those down there for protection. if you think a 5 inch gun is something let the Missouri level her 18 inchers on a pirate vessel and see what they do. yea it would probably cost a bit to keep one of them floating around down there but its probably going to cost just as much to reactivate and retrofit them the next time we use them, might as well keep one well oiled.

then if the pirates take their aggresions out on hostages some 18"shells could start falling on that little stronghold of theirs.

eddie
 
Modern guns, modern tactics, better intel...same principle, same courage. I'm sure the marines are up to it. The first part is easy. Every fancy new house in Somalia, every cache; gets a visit from a cruise missle. Then in go the fighter jets. Small ships with armed persons on board get a visit from a gunship. Then in go the marines.

Hitch
 
the military could "handle it".....but the World's a different place now than then and as much as we'd like to pretend we shouldn't pay attention to that the truth is that we have to.....

For instance....what about the 200 hundred some odd "multi-national" crew members being held hostage right now....you think they're all in one spot that we can just "avoid" with the missles and bombings and general ass kicking? What about them...."casualities of war" when they die in when the cruise missles blow the caches and big house to hell and gone?

Hell we payoff the Iraqui's and Afghanies and Pakistani's when we blow them up "by accident"....we "rebuild" their country after we take em out....how much is "fair" to the families of the hostages whose own Government has decided to negoitiate but who we decide we have the "greater good" in mind and kill them?

Hey...I'm all with you if you wanted to task the NAvy to take out any boat that closed on any countries merchant vessels in ANY water, including just outside the breakwater....they're Pirates and there's an open season on Pirates boys....take em out.....

Taking out the land based assets though isn't really an option and you know it....cause if it had been then the previous administration would have loved to have opened up on em......

Easy to Quaterback on Monday when the came was the Sunday before......

Steve
 
Yeah Ed the 16" guns do fire about a ton of HE per pop. The battleships are still a hekuva deterrent and they can stay on station a lot longer than a B-52. Also you aren't risking an air crew with a 16" shell. (cruise missles are too expensive to kill Somalis with) Kill em all and let God sortem out.
JMO,
Harry
Also the only 18" naval guns I ever heard about were on the Yamato class Japanese Battleships during WWII. The US planned to build some but the war ended before we could do it.
 
Hi guys....I'm working from memory here, BUT I kind of recall it was during the 1st World War that when the Allies tired of taking such a beating from German sub packs, they outfitted some innocent looking merchant vessels with serious deck guns hidden behind false walls. When the German subs surfaced to demand that they abandon ship prior to being sunk by their deck gun, the side walls (being hinged) were flopped down and they opened up with their deck guns, sinking several subs in the process.

As I recall, these converted merchant ships were called "Q" ships.

Now I ask you, how hard would it be to outfit a a couple of these ships to bait the pirates into attacking them? Fighting unconventional forces requires unconventional tactics....

Those that live by the sword....
 
..I was "Monday Morning Quarterbacking"...hmmm...

..but I shouldn't argue the point with you though; you've had 8 years to practice the skill.

It's a new world; surely things have changed...what would those old white (dead) men have to contribute now anyway. After all they were slave owners. How could they possibly know better. And of course these pirates are modern day pirates, with an excellent business model...so we should just leave them be, because "things" are "different" now.

Hitch
 
Great result and great actions on behalf of the US.

As far as maritime law banning guns on merchant ships - I don't believe this is the case. It is the owners of the vessels who are afraid of the liability should one of the crew members get hurt during an armed confrontation.

I know many ships have guns onboard, especially luxury yachts. There is always an un named compartment on luxury yacths that is used as a gun locker. I also know that some ships are armed. Can't wait uintil the pirates come in contact with one of them.

Mark W
 
"leave them alone"? Never did, never will....I did say that things have changed and they have...to the point that no one can wage war on a population where there would be incredible civilian casualties if we just started pounding the shoreline in hopes of killig the "pirates"......I believe thats called "genocide" and thats something that this country risks its soldiers lives to prevent......so now we should foster that to take out the pirates when we could do the same thing at sea and be sure that we were just getting the "bad guys"......

We disagree...thats not a surprise.....

Steve
 
aren't MERCHANT SHIPS and aren't bound by the same rules.....

You maybe right that there are some cases where merchant vessels can have small arms....and you are likely very right that one fo the reasons they don't arm themselves is for insurance purposes.....

Maybe Bill Wasson will read this and comment.....

Seems that waht I see is that the average pirate they are delaing with is a few guys in a small boat with AK's and RPG's a grappling hook and a makeshft ladder.....It stuns me that any ship could be "taken" by Pirates of this nature....hell you'd think if nothing else a couple of crewmen could drop a drill press on em.....boom end of Pirate threat......

I'm sure its not that simple but there sure doesn't seem to be much level of sophistication involved and that they could be easily thwarted......


Steve
 
Oh so I see the definition of Genocide now includes casualties of war. You can do better than this sort of cheap rhetoric Steve.
 
and killing them to take out the Pirates that live amongst them is GENOCIDE.....and you can do better yourself than suggesting the indescriminate bombing of an entire population....

Steve
 
Is that what I suggested? I suggest you read my post again, if you read it at all. More RHETORIC!
 
that the first priority will be to free all of the existing hostages. I am also guessing that those multinational rescue talks are going on right now. I also am guessing that ransoms will be paid quickly to make that happen.

These pirates are freakin pirates NOT a cohesively commanded country force...its one for all...a bunch of criminals

Once they are freed to the extent that that is possible, I am guessing that a new and not necessarily public military position will be held. You can bet that the Blackwaters of the world will be doing a knockout business at the behest of the shippers or insurance carriers.

This is just a matter of time, once as many hostages as possible are freed. That will be the indicator...how many people are out at the point at which someone says "thats enough"

At which point, it wont pay to be a pirate any longer, 12 miles offshore.
 
The pirates will never pay out a large portion of their hostages. The hostage is what they derive their power from. Without the hostages, they have no power. They know it. The best chance they stand is a rescue. Some will die, or as Steve explains "be victomized by Genocide".

Hitch
 
read my post....I didn't say that Genocide included the hostages....I asked you if killing them in your planned indescriminate attacaks would be acceptable colateral damage....to which you started the "rhetoric", more rhetoric" responses which history tells is one step before youstart calling the people who don't agree with you communist, facitsts, and "faggots".....

Based on that I'm done with your responses...you may now respond one more time and declare yourself WINNER......

Steve
 
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