What to do about Somali pirates

[Exengineer]

Pirates from Somalia recently shot four Americans to death aboard their yacht, have now captured a Danish family and may do the same. This piracy has been going on for years and seems to be tolerated. Where are the leaders with the guts to take decisive, permanent action against this? I think a few thousand tons of poison gas/nerve gas on the ground in Somalia would get results. International law? Who cares, Somalia doesn't have any central government to make a complaint. My feeling is "just do it."

 

[navyasw02]

If we lived in less civilized times, I'd leave one pirate alive, brand his forehead with the word "PIRATE", and send him home with a bag of heads of his fellow pirates. Since we don't live in times where that sort of thing is appropriate, I supposed I'd just capture them and let them spend the rest of their lives in a cushy jail cell that's far nicer than their living conditions in Somalia and let the tax payers foot the bill.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

I really have no sympathy for the pleasure boaters that keep getting captured by Somali pirates. There is a shitload of water on this planet, making it more than simplistic to avoid the waters off the coast of Somalia. There are known pirates in those waters that have killed and will kill again, so unless you have a valid need to be there, stay the **** out of those waters!

Shipping routes are another story. It could cost significantly more, possibly making that entire mode of transportation impractical, to avoid shipping lanes through pirate infested waters. In that case, I'd say that it makes sense to better arm shipping vessels. Putting a .50 caliber deck gun on the boat with a couple of skilled marksmen would keep the mostly unsophisticated, underarmed pirates at bay.

 

[jeb6294]

Yeah, the reports I read said the American sailors were well aware of the fact that pirates were operating in the area and they could have had their yacht shipped to their destination, but they wanted to sail there on their own anyway.

 

[Supe]

I'm with willheld on this one. It usually only takes one exploding head from a 6" long round to see the error of their ways.

 

[cableguy]

Yah, but if you start arming merchant vessels, they have trouble pulling in to some ports.

I like this site:

http://www.somalicruises.com/

Prices aren't bad either.

I will agree, any idiot pleasure boater that drives through this area and gets captured... well, they rolled the dice, took their chances. It's a shame they were killed, but to be honest... it sounds to me like they were killed in a botched rescue attempt. Obviously I wasn't there, but the whole story sounds a bit strange.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Pirates are still fairly active in the Caribbean, but you don't hear about it much. I'll leave everyone to draw their own conclusions as to why.

 

[roadwreck]

Pirates are still fairly active in the Caribbean, but you don't hear about it much. I'll leave everyone to draw their own conclusions as to why.

Because Disney makes a lot of money selling us those movies? :dunno:

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Pirates are still fairly active in the Caribbean, but you don't hear about it much. I'll leave everyone to draw their own conclusions as to why.

Pirates of the Caribbean are still fairly active in Orlando, FL.

 

[NCcarguy]

The solution isn't to leave the area alone, that will just force them to move into another area. At least now, they're in an area that doesn't include the coast of NC, but it could some day.

 

[Master slacker]

Pirates ARRRRR still fairly active in the Caribbean, but you don't hear about it much. I'll leave everyone to draw their own conclusions as to why.

Pirates of the Caribbean ARRRRR still fairly active in Orlando, FL.

fixt for both posts for clarity.

 

[Road Guy]

does something actually prohibit the merchants from having a 50 cal on there vessels?

Or at least a huge ass water cannon (like on Whale Wars??)

anyone see the Southpark and Somalia pirates episode?

 

[DVINNY]

I really have no sympathy for the pleasure boaters that keep getting captured by Somali pirates. There is a shitload of water on this planet, making it more than simplistic to avoid the waters off the coast of Somalia. There are known pirates in those waters that have killed and will kill again, so unless you have a valid need to be there, stay the **** out of those waters!

I couldn't agree more

 

[navyasw02]

I really have no sympathy for the pleasure boaters that keep getting captured by Somali pirates. There is a shitload of water on this planet, making it more than simplistic to avoid the waters off the coast of Somalia. There are known pirates in those waters that have killed and will kill again, so unless you have a valid need to be there, stay the **** out of those waters!

I couldn't agree more

Why the hell would anybody want to go off the coast of Somalia anyway? I never hear anybody saying "Wow, Somalia is so beautiful this time of year."

 

[chaosiscash]

My guess would be to head into the Red Sea and on to the Suez Canal to the Med. Seems like a good way to go if you were doing the circumnavigate thing, instead of going around africa. Except for the whole pirate issue, of course.

 

[Kephart P.E.]

Maybe we should start using the US Navy for what a Navy is intended for, protect your coast and ships.

 

[snickerd3]

Yeah, the reports I read said the American sailors were well aware of the fact that pirates were operating in the area and they could have had their yacht shipped to their destination, but they wanted to sail there on their own anyway.

they must have watched the Movie Captain Ron and wanted to give it a go by themselves.

 

[Dark Knight]

Is Kill them all an option?

 

[Dexman PE]

Recreactional boating by Somalia is about as smart as driving the General Lee to a Black Panther convention. Even if it was a mistake, its one that is very rarely repeated.