| Author | Message | ||
     Birdy |
I always thought Pirates caught redhanded at sea could be hanged then and there...OH WELL where's Popeye when you need him? Problem is all the "Powers That Be" are sitting on their hands rather than look like the bad guys for shooting a few pirate or sinking their boats and leaving them to be ate by sharks. So what happens? The pirates get away with this BS a few time and learn that NOTHING will happen. Should have sent the Navy in LONG ago with order to sink and bring the crooks in. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Hasn't terrorism been deemed an "act of war"? That would make it the Military's ball game, not law enforcement. We have military personel who are trained for situations just like this. I am sure they are already in place, or very near there and are ready to accomplish the mission as soon as it is green lighted. The main problem is our leadership lacks a spine! Ronnie Raygun was the last President to take swift and decisive action against another country when the need arose. Bush Sr took action, but it was not swift. Clintion did next to nothing and W basically followed in his father's footsteps. IMO, What we need is another Teddy Roosevelt or JFK. Whether you like them or not, they had the cojones to stand up for the good of our country when the time came. If it were me I'd send in a Seal team, with a Marine detachment in reserve/support, an Air Force plane to capture it all on film and any live captured terrorist turned over to Coast Guard LEDATs. A combined services mission where everyone (but the Army*) gets involved. *No offense to the Army guys or their special teams, but this is a water mission. | ||
| Ourdee |
It is not terrorism, Someone will say then it is war and Geneva convention rules apply. It is piracy, Send em for a long walk on a short plank. Don't bring em back. I don't need to see them. I don't want to rehabilitate them. Serve the cease and desist order on the end of some det. cord. OK, I feel better now. | ||
| Edgydrifter |
The real political calculus is whether or not the American public can stomach Capt. Phillips being killed during a rescue attempt/attack on the pirates. French special forces took back a hijacked yacht earlier today in the Gulf of Aden. One of the hostages was killed in the process, by pirates or stray French bullet is unknown (not that it much matters, but it was in front of his three-year-old son, which is sad). Reading the press reaction here and abroad is very interesting. Depending upon how the source feels about the French, the operation was either "botched" or a "daring success" or somewhere in-between. I suspect reaction to a similar American action in this instance would cover an equally broad spectrum. | ||
| Glitch |
Well it seems what they have are all the other hostages to worry about as well. They have other nations ship held hostage as well. If we kill 'em, they'll not only kill the Captain, but the crews of the other ships as well. What we could do is wait, get our guy to safety, wait, then bomb the snot out of 'em. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
What reason do we have for believing any of the hostages are alive? The captain done pissed em off. Our Country has a policy about dealing with terrorists. This is the perfect time for our new President to show us some reason to get behind him. I hope he don't blow it. | ||
| Glitch |
The president needs to stay quiet on this one. So far he's doing what he needs to do. He needs not to follow Jimmy Carter's lead on this issue. Now that was a mess! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
"Diplomacy" does not work against individuals or groups hell bent on your death or upon making money. Would we work to "negotiate" with the Columbian drug cartels? Would we work to negotiate with the Mexican drug cartels? With what point of negotiation would we begin in dealing with Hezbolah or other Palestinian groups when their singular purpose is the death of every single Jew worldwide? It is the failure to show adequate force in the face of these folks that resulted in the rise of militant islam in Iran. Iran has become the wellspring for what we see today. We should have a navy war ship parked 100 yards from this dingy. We should have four Navy Seal sharp shooters with barrels hung over the rail. At the first opportunity, we should drop every one of these dirt bags. Only then will the other pirates feel that the price of continuing down this course it too high to continue. Obama is a joke and the extremist islamic world knows it. CST (Carter's Second Term) | ||
| Court |
And how the heck do "pirate reinfocements" find the courage to head to the area to "intimidate" the United States Navy. I am convinced that I am terribly confused and we are getting very little accurate information. I mean . . all the visuals we see show the Maersk Alabama being circled by Navy ships and I know the Alabama is long gone, recrewed and the original crew flown back to the US. I doubt all four would show themselves at once but I'm thinking if we grapfruited one of them the other 3 may want to reconsider. I do agree that Obama needs to keep his mouth shut. First of all the last person I was commenting or commanding is a frickin' "neighborhood organizer" from the South Side of Chicago. In addition, there is nothing he could say or do publicly that would not serve to inflame the events. I really hope we get this brave Captain back safely and are able to make an example of these pirates that will send a resounding "•••• with someone else" message to future perps. | ||
| Ourdee |
Hmmm, Use lasers to light the boat on fire? | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
And how the heck do "pirate reinfocements" find the courage to head to the area to "intimidate" the United States Navy. " because they don't FEAR the United States - period !!! The whole western world has become a joke. It's a good thing the turd world doesn't have the weapons we do or we'd be having a tough time of it. It's ok, we will eventually be forced to "man up". I just hope we still have enough "men" left when that time arrives. | ||
| Court |
>>>It's a good thing the turd world doesn't have the weapons we do Perhaps you typed this in 1995. My bet is that at least two dozen countries (many very bad people) have weapons nearly identical to ours. What they lack is the means to deliver them. Fortunately the Unites States is a respected world power with strong leaders and if some nut nation would, for instance, parade a 3 stage ICBM to a launch pad, display it in full view for a week and engage in a "we're going to launch it any day now" taunt our brave leaders would never allow that threat to go unaddressed. Oooops. Wait. Er . . .never mind. | ||
| Etennuly |
What ICBM? It was for their peaceful space exploration program. They are setting up to explore the Sun. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
As long as they don't plan to explore Uranus. Didn't we have a pretty good solution for arab pirates back in the day? | ||
| Slaughter |
My fear is that we don't "Man-up" but that our government-by-concensus will "person-up" with the UN's "help" after much multinational hand-holding and singing of kum-ba-ya. We might get lucky, we MIGHT have people working behind the scenes... we can only hope. Let's make sure we keep power to the teleprompter. | ||
| Etennuly |
No.....Uranus! I heard on a news report that the U.S. ship's crew had no weapons with which to defend themselves. Why? Heck, it has been found here that a lot of people won't even go on a motorcycle ride without some kind of weapon on board. To head out into the ocean, beyond your home nations protection without more than a kitchen knife? That is nuts and the pirates know it. Sure there is the world wide dependency on the Navy. But in this case, nineteen guys with M16's and some training could have prevented this mess, and sent a 'real' message to the pirates. It is so unreal that a handful of idiots need the overkill of a nuclear arsenal aimed at their heads when a simple pistol would do. How about this? Two frog men swim under the life boat they are holding the Captain in, unnoticed, pull out a drain plug in the bottom. As the life boat goes down, physics will say that they have to come out. They start swimming, they will have to let go of those heavy weapons or be dragged under. Pluck the Captain out of the water and let the others swim back to shore with a very large escort. Message sent and received. | ||
| Ourdee |
Hook on to it with a sub and drag it under. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Full media black out, What happens in the middle of the ocean, stays in the middle of the ocean. The burning boat set a drift back to shore will send a message to those that need it. | ||
| Slaughter |
Hate to tell you but those life boats are unsinkable. Blown to hundreds of fragments, about the only thing that will sink will be the paint chips. The boat will stay afloat when it's broken in HALF. Next. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
if the boat is unsinkable then they might have to take a chance and do something out of the ordinary to get him out of there if the pirates aren't willing to let him go to save their own skins. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
Aren't they going to run out of fresh water at some point | ||
| Zane |
What about some special ops types coming in at 2:00 am, drop a flash bang in the one opening on that type of life boat? While the bad guys are disorientated, they get killed by a shot to the head. The tactical situation is crappy but not insurmountable. I have no doubt the brakes are being applied by the lace pantie crowd at the State Department or perhaps the White House. Face it people, we are no longer a super power. We have the means but not the will. It takes both to be a superpower. (Message edited by Zane on April 11, 2009) | ||
| Skinstains |
The Captain should have never let 'HIS' ship be overtaken. I do not for a minute believe the ship had 'no weapons'. The ship should be used for naval gunship practice right where it is and any surviving pirates killed as they try to escape the floundering ship. It's as simple as that, no more pirating of US shipping. Does the Captain die ? Probably, but what real Captain wouldn't expect to go down with his ship ? | ||
| Court |
>>>Aren't they going to run out of fresh water at some point They have 10 days worth of supplies and no toilet facilities. Trust me, someone's coming out before 10 days. I think the Navy is doing the right thing. Sit. Wait. The ship nor anyone from it goes anywhere till the Captain is safely aboard an American vessel. | ||
| Ourdee |
Court, I thought I read it had 10 days supply for 70 people. 70 x 10 = 700 divided by 5 = 140 days. It is a pretty crazy little boat. | ||
| Court |
It's not the big 59 person boat, I think it's a quite small one. We'll see. I can't figure out how I can jam police radar from my car, we can take out enemy radar but we can't keep pirates from talking to their confederates from this lifeboat. There's a lot of this that simply doesn't add up. | ||
| F_skinner |
I can't figure out how I can jam police radar from my car, we can take out enemy radar but we can't keep pirates from talking to their confederates from this lifeboat. Sometimes you want them to talk so you can listen. | ||
| Aesquire |
Hasn't terrorism been deemed an "act of war"? No. It's been reclassified as a "contingency operation". We are not at war with terror. The popular phrase is, was, wrong. Terrorism is a tactic. We don't have a war on burglary. No one wants to say aloud that it's a war between the western civilization dating to the rise of Athens, and the religious fanatics who wish to impose submission to the will of their Priests. A bit long to say on tv, eh? We do have a "war on drugs" but that is a war on the American People. It started as a ploy ( by Nixon ) to get treatment programs for Vietnam Vets who fell for the narcoterrorism of the N. Vietnamese govt. Heroin addiction, etc. Look at the Billions spent today, and very very little for treatment. A few years back a local county got a quarter mil to fly an infrared camera over suburbia to look for grow rooms. Total yearly drug treatment budget? $2000. Pirates are Pirates. they are the enemy of humanity. Where's todays Jefferson? | ||
| Aesquire |
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWQwNTE2OWM2Y jEwMWQzNTM4OTMzZGVhOWM0NDUxOGQ= opinion piece. | ||
| Ducxl |
That guy paints a picture of doom because our laws will prevent us from action.We can't offend the pirates'? What would GW do? |
