I have been following the Somali pirate/United States Navy fiasco with concern and a hint of shame. Our billion dollar navy looks like a bunch of eunuchs on the high seas. It is a tragedy that the captain actually made it off the boat and swam helplessly under the view of his majesty's ship. If this had been an Israeli vessel, the guy would be drinking hot chicken soup right now back on the moshav.
They might fire a sound weapon to stun and destabilize everybody or sink the skiff and take their chances saving the captain. Encase the whole thing in foam. Make them listen to rap music. Hornblower would certainly figure it out. Shouldn't they at least have had divers under the boat? Maybe it's time to send out dummy ships masquerading as freighters and shiver their timbers?
Drop the gloves. Lie to them. Confetti money. Hang them from the yard arm if anyone knows what one actually is and if it can be found. Forget Marquis of Queensbury. Airlift a bunch of our worst wackos from Sing Sing for a weekend no holds barred pajama party on the Somali coastline. The Russians would be rounding up some pirate relatives on the coast and do some real trading. Of parts.
Time to allow merchant vessels to arm themselves in open sea. These Somali buccaneers are getting fat because the maritime companies puss out and pay the ransoms every time. How will this poor behavior ever stop? In this case, we already know they are not true to their word because they backtracked on releasing Phillips after the pirate hostage was swapped.
Another tragedy is that the boat was carrying aid to starving Africans, including Somalians. I know it's cold but I would cut off all our aid to the continent. They use us, bite the hand that feeds them, cannibalize each other, and decent african countries should have been at the forefront of solving this Somali problem. They have the resources to take care of themselves. Guess it's easier to always have your hand out as a global welfare baby. Do they have the civility required to act like human beings? Doubtful.
The pirates' bravado and strategy has been pretty spot on. Smart to bring additional hostages into the lion's mouth for cover. Hornblower would have the marines on land in Eyl wiping out the warlord's million dollar mansions about now. Then tell the hostage that we're sorry and blow everyone away. They are banking on and exploiting our innate sense of fair play and propriety. Be interesting to see it play out. A-r-r-r-g-h!
2 comments:
"I know it's cold but I would cut off all our aid to the continent."
Ehnng...wrong answer. Here I was feeling awful for you with your pain and disease. Then I read this sentence and the paragraph containing it and I really wonder about you and your compassion for others. You must be feeling better!
Earlier today I was reading about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Sub-Sahara Africa. One source stated that experts think two-thirds of the population will be wiped out by the disease. Is this not something our country should try to help with--give aid to? Should we ignore famine, disease, overwhelming poverty and just say fuck 'em?
Maybe we should all just have at it and protect our own and forget about the rest of the world. But that is not a world I would want to be part of.
CR
I appreciate your post and view on this matter. I spent a few months in Africa in the late eighties and was astounded by the resources there. Yet the people were so busily engaged in cutting each other's throats that the place was a den of graft, corruption and iniquity. And it still is. Look at what Mbeki told the South Africans about AIDS , he told them to eat more garlic, there was no HIV connection. I have a hard time naming a working democracy on the continent, can you? Zimbabwe seemed okay for a while and now it's in shambles. But there is always an easy answer, blame the white man, blame the colonialists. I am sincere in my belief that they will only succeed when the Africans find the strength to right their own ship. If they are going to continue to game the rest of the planet and terrorize their waters, and plot genocide in Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Nigeria, etc., I think it's time for tough love. And for that I will probably pop a stitch and bleed to death.
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