Somali pirates hijack American yacht on decade-long round-the-world trip

[gotlost]

US sending three more war ships.

http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-naval-deployment-local-warships-leave-to-fight-piracy-20110221,0,3609963.story

[brahmburgers]

News of hostages killed is very sad. It's a tough situation. I advocate tough action, but know it's fraught with drawbacks, such as more innocents killed. If a Somali seaside town were known to be full of only pirates, I'd recommend leveling the town. Sending in commandos would likely wind up very messy.

Yep, past time for some pre-emptive strikes with a few drones or well placed Tomahawks to seek out these scum bags..

Perhaps one option is to simply disallow ANY ships to leave Somali shores. Probably most Somali ships are fishing vessels, so it would be a stone drag for decent people who need to fish to survive. Any ships found offshore would be boarded and inspected, as is happening currently. And yes, it's a very long seascape, so that just adds to the difficulty of policing the bastards who are causing so much trouble.

[steelepulse]

Cowardly pirates. Fire an RPG at the Navy, then shoot the hostages, then go up on the deck and surrender. RIP to the victims and condolences to the family.

[Langsuan Man]

Breaking : CNN says all four killed by their hijackers.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/02/22/world/africa/news-us-somalia-pirates-usa.html?_r=1&hp

I am wondering about the details in this matter. How far off was the US Navy and what action did they take when the hostages were murdered?

Better question will be what were Obama's directions in this case.

Why does almost every comment here at TV bring out the Obama haters, get a life people , you lost so live with it

[trisailer]

This is a very frustrating situation and I think that we are only prolonging and making it worse by paying money. Apparently the pirates initially were fisherman, but now with the kinds of money being paid everyone is jumping into the fray. The problem is growing because we are not fighting back.

It seems to me that paying these people is only prolonging the situation and making it worse. Allowing unarmed vessels to attempt to traverse the area seems like an invitation to easy money. We spend billions on weapons that can blow up and kill anything but we can't make things a little more dangerous for a bunch of rag tag pirates? We have shoulder fired missiles that can take down a war plane and mini guns that can shread just about anything in seconds so why don't we fight?

Personally I think it is pushing your luck to make that particular trip in a small boat but if I were to do it I would be armed to the teeth and determined to go out fighting. My dead body would be worthless to them and they would suffer losses for nothing.

The reason that the terrorism business is so profitable is that we are cowards. We hide behind the perception that our government and armed forces will protect us and that is exactly what makes us so vulnerable to those who would terrorise us. There is already billions of dollars being spent to patrol those waters but I think they are a little too heavy on negotiation and a little light on death and destruction for the pirates. I personally would love to see the effect of a few youtube videos showing pirates screeming in agony as the flaming ship under them sinks.

[chuckd]

Breaking : CNN says all four killed by their hijackers.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/02/22/world/africa/news-us-somalia-pirates-usa.html?_r=1&hp

I am wondering about the details in this matter. How far off was the US Navy and what action did they take when the hostages were murdered?

Better question will be what were Obama's directions in this case.

Why does almost every comment here at TV bring out the Obama haters, get a life people , you lost so live with it

Obama is the Commander in Chief of the US Military. Holding this position makes him the ultimate decision maker in establishing the Rules of Engagement.

Since he never served one day in the military and has zero experience in dealing with military situations, how he reacts is pertinent to any situation involving the military, thus the question was more about his total lack of experience than his politics.

Hopefully we won't lose the next time.

[Old Croc]

Arming all ships would bring more problems than fixes.

Apart from the fact it is illegal for most private vessels to enter most countries ports carrying weapons, the escalation of force against the pirates could have catastrophic results. Imagine a fire fight between pirates and a 500,000 ton, fully loaded oil tanker!

There are an estimated 800+ crewmen, from pirated ships, being held hostage in various places in Somali. In the event of an armed raid on Somali soil these people would be slaughtered.

I saw a program on the BBC this morning where an expert (a retired US General I think) suggested one possible solution. He suggested many nations pool together to organise a well trained, well paid, private security force on Somalia. In the absence of a government there, this force could take control of the Pirate towns and prevent the raids from within. It would need a lot of money as the force would have to be well paid.

[metisdead]

Discussion continues here:

CLOSED