ziggy29
Moderator Emeritus
No clue here -- that region isn't exactly high on my "places to see before I die" list...Why are cruise ships taking this route?
No clue here -- that region isn't exactly high on my "places to see before I die" list...Why are cruise ships taking this route?
National Geographic magazine had a great article on Malaysian pirates in October of 2007. Absolutely fascinating. Here's the link:
Malacca Strait Pirates - National Geographic Magazine
I suspect many of the same issues are at play in Somalia.
... I find it hard to believe Pirates can so easily capture a huge moving ship.
Why are cruise ships taking this route?
US cruise ship outruns Somali pirates' guns - Yahoo! News
Pirates go after a cruise ship but are outrun.
Why are cruise ships taking this route?
Why are cruise ships taking this route?
Not kidding.
Thinking like yours led to the rise of the taliban and al quada.
...They hate everything that is not in keeping with their warped principles of radical Islam- Christians, Jews, the West, Democracy, and Education, to name a few- and seek to destroy us, not to live alongside us in peace and harmony...
quote]
I wonder how they got that way.
This is getting kind of soapboxy isn't it?
This is getting kind of soapboxy isn't it?
Prophet motive?I wonder how they got that way.
Prophet motive?
Good article in NY Times about piracy today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/opinion/05burgess.html
They're holding the Captain hostage in a lifeboat right? What are the options here?
- his employer negotiates a ransom for his release
- attempt to free him and deal with captors
Is option #2 a reasonable military operation in the sea? I'd assume it would involve middle of night and a seal team, but it still sounds dangerous to the hostage.
Piracy is a crime against civilization makes sense to me. I imagine it is just urban folklore but don't ship captain have a lot of judicial power at high sea?
Have the world's Navy captains, mysteriously lose communications right after capturing pirates, conduct a trial, convict the pirates. Sadly I guess hanging is out of fashion but alternatively put the incarceration of the pirates up to competitive bid. I bet some place like one of the Stans, Vietnam, or Indonesia would be happy to make a small profit imprisoning pirates.
Once pirates realize they'll be rotting away in prison twenty years in one of those gardens spots, it would change behavior.
They have very little to lose.
I wonder if Navy could signal to the Captain their intentions for a rescue. Could Somalian pirates read morse code from a signal light?
Western - there is always something to win... it's too much ocean, too many potential target ships passing thru, too many poor people willing to roll the dice for a payout that seems large by our standards must be astronomical to them.
I'm completely against threatening their families or hire anyone to kill their families. That is no different than killing the family of someone who robs a grocery store. I'm no softie here if there is a way to kill these pirates, drown 'em, whatever fine but a family member who hasn't done anything makes no sense.