Somali pirates and their easy targets....

[Carrots]

Can somebody please explain to me why these folks (our folks) are floating around the coast of this banana republic UNARMED? They're crazy if you ask me, I have been there and to describe it as a lawless land doesn't come close. Would it not be a better 'investment' to either have private security on board or at least a chest with some basic defensive equipment? These punks need to be dealt with and not just paid off time after time. This is clearly far to obvious to have been overlooked, so what is the problem with equipping these guys before they get into what is proving to be inevitable trouble?

[AEA]

Laws should obviously be changed.

[NuBer92]

i think that i would keep something hidden, and wouldn't you know it, it washed overboard along with the DEAD SKINNY!!

[The Annoyed Man]

International laws prevents them from being armed if I am not mistaken.

I don't think it's international laws, because lots of commercial ships have at least one or two firearms on board - usually under the control of the ship's captain. And lots of people who solo circumnavigate the world, and others with ocean going yachts, have a firearm on board. I think it is more a matter of the laws at their ports of destination. For instance, if your ship left Pakistan, bound eventually for Australia, by way of Tanzania, you would necessarily pass close to the Somali coast, and the AK47s you purchased in Pakistan for protection off of the Somali coastline would be illegal and confiscated on arrival in Australia.

[Taltyman]

International laws prevents them from being armed if I am not mistaken.

Too bad there aren't any international police around to enforce the international laws.

[stevie_d_64]

Those are trade routes in international waters...Open ocean...

Not a coastal, or even a territorial or littoral claim that has violated to warrant these ever increasing attacks by these "pirates"...

These are not terrorists or even pirates in the conventional sense...These are criminals...

Turning them into "chum" will be about the only message they will understand...And that harsh reality is something some may find a bit uncomfortable to fathom...

So while the international community struggles with reality, and will undoubtable come up with some sort of weak political solution (that will fail before it even begins) there will be more and more of this happening...

Until we light that fuse, "From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli..." that will be the only way this re-occuring problem will be taken care of, until the next time it re-surfaces...

If you guys thought this area is bad...You should do a little research on the Straight of Malacca...

[Rex B]

For the French-bashers out there:

"Only France has taken firm action against pirates who kidnapped its citizens. Last April French commandos arrested six gunmen on Somali soil after they had released 30 French hostages aboard a luxury yacht following a ransom payment."

[AEA]

A US Navy ship is there now. Will be interesting to see if the Pirates decide to fire on that ship! Or fire on anything for that matter.......

[Purplehood]

For the French-bashers out there:

"Only France has taken firm action against pirates who kidnapped its citizens. Last April French commandos arrested six gunmen on Somali soil after they had released 30 French hostages aboard a luxury yacht following a ransom payment."

I tend to agree. Though it is high and mighty of me, I would say that Somalia is a lawless nation and greatly resembles the Barbary Coast of North Africa in the days of Presley O'Bannon (ooh-rah~!). Therefore, we should ID the bad-guy hideouts and do some surgical strikes with cruise missiles. That way we can avoid the "Blackhawk Down" syndrome and have plausible deniability (like Pakistan for instance).

[bryang]

I KNOW, I KNOW....turn them over to the UN Security Counsel, that'll get'um.

Personally, I think the Navy should open up on them with a few salvos of 5" rounds, that might get their attention.

When we were anchored at certain ports over seas there were these little dingy boats that would come up and try and sell you anything and everything. They would also try to sneak on board and steal anything not welded down. Of course, we were not permitted to fire on them, however, we had fire hoses strung out on the bow and stern...and we sank many! ...needless to say we got some ugly responses from the thieves...words that even burned a sailor's ears.

-geo

[WarHawk-AVG]

Ted Nugent new reality TV show...rent a cargo ship, sell "exotic game hunting trips," slowly float by southern tip of Africa.

[Purplehood]

Ted Nugent new reality TV show...rent a cargo ship, sell "exotic game hunting trips," slowly float by southern tip of Africa.

You sure you meant the southern tip? That is probably one of the safer coastal areas.

[WarHawk-AVG]

Ted Nugent new reality TV show...rent a cargo ship, sell "exotic game hunting trips," slowly float by southern tip of Africa.

You sure you meant the southern tip? That is probably one of the safer coastal areas.

yah that

[LarryH]

Somalia is along the eastern edge of the continent, near the Arabian peninsula.