This is insanity. Exactly how long are we to put up with this crap???
"We" don't have to put up with it at all...... stop sending ships through that area....... The only reason why countries keep sending ships through that area is because it's quick and thus, cost effective and it's not their country, so they can dump their waste and pollute their country's waters all they want...... but it's no longer being very profitable is it? Not if you have ships being taken over and held for multi-million dollar ransoms.
Instead we have companies paying ransoms to get their ships and crew back, and we have multiple countries sending military vessels and troops to patrol those waters...... which adds on top of the overall cost of those ransoms.
Countries have been having a cheap way of cutting their shipping costs by going through their waters for a long time and now that it's not becoming profitable, we have people crying foul and trying to get that back..... which was never theirs in the first place.
Just think about what would happen if we opened up the north for open-wide shipping by every country out there? Further pollution and contamination would occur in Northern Canada and it'd be our responsibility to clean it up and deal with it, while not getting any real return from these countries using our waters to save themselves some money........ I'm sure a few people would get fed up and depending on how bad it got, resort to similar tactics..... you never know.
The solutions are simple, but varied.
1. Make it illegal to pay ransom. Institute a Law of the Sea where any ship and cargo freed by the paying of ransom can be seized the military force deployed in the Gulf in anti-pirate operations, and sold to the highest bidder to pay for those operations.
That won't solve anything and you would only end up having more hostages killed..... great way to punish the victims while ignoring those you feel are causing the problem....... it won't stop anything and if these pirates don't get ransom money from holding ships and hostages, then they'll just kill everybody on those ships, take those ships, strip them down of their cargo, equipment and resources and sell them on the black market...... nothing is solved.
2. Arm merchant men. A half dozen Remington 12 ga shotguns, at $400 bucks apiece, and $500 per man to train the crew in their use. A bunch of buckshot. Try boarding THOSE ships.....and I happen to know a guy that would love a job training the boys.
Then the pirates will obtain larger caliber weapons with longer ranges (Sniper rifles, 50.cal machine guns), or larger explosive weapons to take those people out....... it will only increase and nothing will change except more violence and more deaths.
3. Take military action against pirate nests ashore. Don't arrest anyone.
That won't stop anything, only piss off Somolis further and increase their aggression and tactics..... that and it's not our country to invade and attack...... we're in their waters, remember that...... and remember what happens when you think you can get what you want just by blowing things up and killing people. Your victims gain more sympathy and more support, your problems don't go away and the conflict and issues only escalate.
4. If a ship is taken, initiate immediate, overwhelming, violent military action. Take no prisoners.
And further risk killing the hostages and crew of those ships taken over, either by the pirates killing them or them getting killed in the crossfire and die at the hands of those wonderful trigger happy military heros........ threat of dying from being a pirate will not deter these people because the gains outweigh the risks....... as said before, if something like that happens, then they'll just board the ships, kill everyone and take the ships back to shore, strip them down of their cargo and resources and sell them to the highest bidder.
The Canadian Navy is currently engaged in catch-and-release operations against pirates....we catch them, take their AKs (20 bucks each in Somalia) and let them go. Personally, I think we should set them adrift in their boat, and use it for target practice.
We used to be a LOT smarter than this, as a society.
Indeed, we used to be a lot smarter then this...... the smartest thing to be doing is moving our ships outside of their waters and way out of range of the pirates...... increased shipping time and feul costs don't compare to not saving hostages, wasting money on ransoms and military patrols.
^ But that's just too simple I guess..... us being smarter indeed. :roll:
