Ending the Pirate Standoff?

[Tom Lowe]

Apparently the pirates are holding the American captain of the ship in a little enclosed lifeboat like this... while they are flanked by massive US Navy vessels.

http://i39.tinypic.com/s2gm4i.jpg

Why not send SEALs under the boat and just punch a hole in it? At that point, the pirates would have no choice but to go down with the boat, or jump out and swim for it, at which point the whole standoff is over.

The Navy divers could obviously swim in and save the captain if he's chained to the boat or whatever. Then the pirates can either swim back to Somalia, or ask the Navy for help. :sifone:

[PatrickW]

probably waiting until they run out of food and water and are desperate to leave is the safest option for all involved.

If you sink their boat what is to stop them from killing the captive then getting rescued?

[Tom Lowe]

Well apparently those boats are stocked with enough food and water to last 60 days, for like 50 people!

I hate to say it, but if they kill the captain, he would die a hero. He volunteered to be be taken captive. Let's face it, we lose 30,000 people every year in the US just to automobile accidents. I think if we kick a little as now, it will save more lives in the long run. If they do kill him, they will be punished for murder.

Also, word is that the boat is drifting toward land in Somalia. If they reach land, we could see a big gun battle between US forces and Somalis... no one wants that.

[Jay Voutour]

The SEALs tactic would probably be one of the quickest and most effective ways of ending the standoff, but it could potentially be seen as a direct attack against Somali citizens, which could incite a retaliation by the homeland. Maybe waiting is the safest (but HARDEST) option for now. :undecided:

And the Captain? He's already a hero, imo.

Not to be facetious, but I was totally clueless about the advancements in lifeboat tech. I've always (ignorantly) pictured them as a dingy or inflatable raft!
________
Vapourizer pipe (http://vaporizers.net)

[Mark Phelan]

Tom,

I made the same suggestion yesterday on the Fox News website. Great minds think alike.

[Mark Phelan]

but it could potentially be seen as a direct attack against Somali citizens, which could incite a retaliation by the homeland.

Excuse me, but didn't the Somali "citizens" attack an unarmed cargo ship? At that point, they gave up any rights, especially on the open seas.

[jpp]

It's unlikely these pirates are distributing their ransoms Robin Hood style to the destitute of Somalia, but what you won't read about in Western media are the context of these crimes, meaning the *other* crimes being committed off the Somalia coast -- by Western powers. For years, European nuclear waste from hospitals and factories has been illegally dumped off this coast by the Italian mafia, and European boats have just about cleaned out the fisheries (also illegally), with inevitable results -- starvation.

Also, consider that thieves have limited opportunities in Somalia. They can't get rich on government-funded bailouts of their credit swap derivatives or by doing a Bernie Madoff, or on 7 and 8 figure taxpayer bonuses. In a country without investment banks and mortgage securitization, piracy isn't a bad career choice.

We might also want to ask why the U.S. navy is spending tens of millions to defend the interests of a private company, when a ransom paid by that company would the settle matter. Is it now the duty of the U.S. taxpayer to protect the property of every American company all over the world, in a country where raising the marginal tax rate of the owners of this vessel 3% is denounced as class-warfare and the second coming of communism?

Where's Howard Beale when we need him?

[Tom Lowe]

well if they pay the guys off, you will only encourage more piracy.

if you blow them out of the water, it will be another 200 years before anyone messes with a US-flagged ship.

[Mark Phelan]

Looks like the US armed forces took care of things already! Way to go Navy!

[Tom Lowe]

Yes!!

[jpp]

well if they pay the guys off, you will only encourage more piracy.

if you blow them out of the water, it will be another 200 years before anyone messes with a US-flagged ship.


You mean the way the invasion of Iraq has ended terrorist activity and made us safer?

This ain't the place for it, but the whole thing is so thoroughly screwed up, with injustice spread so wide and the claims of injustice running so deep, that's it's hard for anyone to claim the high ground. Also, these people are desperate, they literally have nothing to lose. They won't be deterred for long.

[Mark Phelan]

You mean the way the invasion of Iraq has ended terrorist activity and made us safer?

This ain't the place for it, but the whole thing is so thoroughly screwed up, with injustice spread so wide and the claims of injustice running so deep, that's it's hard for anyone to claim the high ground. Also, these people are desperate, they literally have nothing to lose. They won't be deterred for long.

Well, there are three pirates who will be deterred and a fourth who is seriously considering it.

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Why drill a hole in the boat when you could just toss in a flashbang?

Your captain might need to have his blown out eardrums repaired but it's better than being shot.

[Tom Lowe]

Why drill a hole in the boat when you could just toss in a flashbang?

Your captain might need to have his blown out eardrums repaired but it's better than being shot.

hmmm... maybe a new hybrid weapon here. it shoots a hole through the bottom of the boat, and at the same time pumps through a flashbang with some teargas... :sifone:

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

If they do kill him, they will be punished for murder.

Yeah, that would end their promising future.

:sifone:


hmmm... maybe a new hybrid weapon here. it shoots a hole through the bottom of the boat, and at the same time pumps through a flashbang with some teargas... :sifone:

A multi-barreled railgun with heat vision or whatever just shoots everyone in the head, bam, over.

:beer:

What's that Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that someone uses a weapon like this?

I guess it's this one: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116213/

[Gavin Greenwalt]

They did that on Kings last week too.

But I highly doubt its efficacy.

Soon as that bullet hits the hull it's going splinter and spread... or at the very least change its trajectory if it stays intact. The reason police snipers place explosives on windows they shoot through. Reduce the chances that the glass will affect their shot. And that's glass.

Putting 5 bullets through a metal hull is just asking for shrapnel everywhere and rogue bullets endangering the hostage.

[Brian Langeman]

In the book Inside Delta Force, he talks about how they have extensively tested sniping through cockpit window glass that's used for jetliners. If I remember right, he said that it didn't affect the trajectory at all. It's quite an amazing book.

[James T Mather]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/DN-pirates_13int.ART.State.Edition2.4a7387d.html

[PatrickW]

Perhaps stopping the reasons for Somalis turning to piracy is in the best interests of everyone except those exploiting the territorial waters of Somalia...
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=26702