Piracy...Why So Hard To Defend Against?

I cant fathom(no pun) we allowed a "mother" ship to waltz in????

WTF???

Poconoeagle wrote:I cant fathom(no pun) we allowed a "mother" ship to waltz in????

WTF???

Just reporting what CNN is claiming.......a pirate Mothership is in the area.....Your guess is as good as mine???

Devil505 wrote:After the hostage situation is resolved, we should approach the Mother ship, order everyone to abondon ship within 30 minutes...No Lifeboats!!...Life jackets only & in the water swimming...& then sink it. (pick up the crew from the water & turn them over to local authorities......unless we can figure out a way to use them as gunnery targets in the water!)

I like that except the local authorities part. If there were any, there wouldn't be any pirates to begin with. Somolia is wide open and run by warlords. These same warlords are directing and finacing the pirates.

coaledsweat wrote:I like that except the local authorities part. If there were any, there wouldn't be any pirates to begin with. Somolia is wide open and run by warlords. These same warlords are directing and finacing the pirates.

Alright, I'd have to agree. So the only sensible thing, to prevent further lawlessness from the survivors in the water....would be to use them for gunnery training targets, I guess.
(but wouldn't that mean we had lied to them when we told them to abandon ship?...Implying we would save them?.....Oh well....As long as we had our fingers crossed when we said that...I guess it's ok)

I just heard that other Somali pirates in the area, holding other hostages, are threatening to kill their hostages if their friends are not freed.

hopefully they are not x-spurt marksman...

Somali pirates in German ship fail to find comrades
By Abdi Guled Abdi Guled – Sat Apr 11, 2:54 am ET
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Pirates on a German ship with 24 foreign hostages said Saturday they had returned to the Somali coast after failing to locate the scene of a standoff involving an American captive on a drifting lifeboat
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090411/ts_ ... _piracy_57



We gotta coordinate with British SAS....German GSG 9 & whoever else & take down all these pirates all at the same time. No press & No prisoners. When Somalian punks realize that piracy will bring nothing but death, the problem will be over. Can't the civilized world out think a bunch of 18 year old Somali punks???
(for Christ sake......The French did it yesterday.........THE FRENCH

Separately, French special forces stormed a yacht held by pirates elsewhere in the lawless stretch of the Indian Ocean in an assault that killed one hostage, but freed four.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090411/ts_ ... _piracy_57

Too much time is passing,contrary to the current "think" I believe in this case the more time that passes without decisive action the less likely there will be a good outcome.Not only that, I absolutely wrangle at the thought we will be made to look like a fool in the end by one of those feather and fluff political decisions.Not only the thug pirates are watching,the whole world is watching.Mike

stovepipemike wrote:.Not only the thug pirates are watching,the whole world is watching.Mike

I agree Mike...& feel this will be the first real test of President Obama. I only hope he decides to act decisively!
If he doesn't, you will not hear a defense of him from me!
(I again state my opinion that..enough is enough & it's time for the world's great powers to coordinate an attack on ALL known pirate sanctuaries (whether at sea or on land)....at the same time (for the element of surprise) & to attempt to retake all their hostages by force. If we fail to do this, we are probably just prolonging their (hostages) hopeless situation & leaving them subject to the ruthless actions of their captors!)

(I would also favor a new international law that would make the penalty for piracy the immediate execution (on the spot) of any pirates captured while committing an act of piracy) I think such a law would have immediate & beneficial effect on the worldwide pirate problem.

Couldn't they dope the food they're giving them? The water? Or couldn't the Seals sneak up on the boat and drill a hole in the cabin and inject it with with fast acting nerve gas? Couldn't they throw concussion grenades in there? Get the captain back knocked out better than this standoff. Drop a depth charge under it, it'll lift up in the air and knock everybody out.
Couldn't they threaten to carpet bomb Somalia? Drop a few dozen daisy cutters on the Mog.
Of course I'm writing this from a warm, safe place; my anger is armchair anger, but this is so frustrating. Those skinnys need to be shown no quarter.

Dann757 wrote:Couldn't they dope the food they're giving them? The water? Or couldn't the Seals sneak up on the boat and drill a hole in the cabin and inject it with with fast acting nerve gas? Couldn't they throw concussion grenades in there? Get the captain back knocked out better than this standoff. Drop a depth charge under it, it'll lift up in the air and knock everybody out.
Couldn't they threaten to carpet bomb Somalia? Drop a few dozen daisy cutters on the Mog.
Of course I'm writing this from a warm, safe place; my anger is armchair anger, but this is so frustrating. Those skinnys need to be shown no quarter.

From an earlier post:
I don't think they have been given food or any fluids at all. (my understanding is that it's a 20 person lifeboat with enough provisions aboard to sustain 20 people for ...something like 10 days??....Anyway, certainly enough to keep 5 people going for quite a while with no need for outside provisions)

Other than that, I think the Navy Seals & the FBI's elite HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) are more qualified to choose specific tactics than any of us are. I don't care HOW they do it but they should at least TRY! (I remain hopeful they will.....time is on our side & the only one who's impatient here is ME! !)

I had heard one report where they were given food & water but no gas. They had asked for it shortly after they ran out. I agree with others here that they should have acted sooner.

I will be really disheartened if they allow the pirates to take Captain Philips and make it to land. This MUST stay on the water until over.

Freddy wrote:I will be really disheartened if they allow the pirates to take Captain Philips and make it to land. This MUST stay on the water until over.

I agree with you Freddy but would be willing to bet that they will not let that happen. (they may claim they will allow it, but it won't happen. If it does......I will hold President Obama personally responsible for a grave error. He's the CinC!)

Freddy wrote:I will be really disheartened if they allow the pirates to take Captain Philips and make it to land. This MUST stay on the water until over.

Well they are not getting to land in that life boat. They are 350 miles offshore. So unless they transfer him to another vessel they are not going anywhere.

Some other things that are unlikely to happen (IMO). I don't know much about tactics, but I know a lot about small boats on the open ocean.

Snipers are not much use here. You're firing from a randomly moving platform to a randomly moving target over a long distance (over 600 yards). Oh yeah, it's probably windy too. I also doubt that it's an open lifeboat. Not gonna happen.

You're not going to drill a hole in the boat and sink it. It's a lifeboat it's designed not to sink, you could fill it with water and it is not going to sink. They stuff those things with closed cell foam. It is also very difficult to capsize a lifeboat (by design), if you do it is probably self righting. I also assume it's enclosed (although I don't know that for sure, most modern lifeboats are totally enclosed).

Assuming it's totally enclosed it's got one or two opening hatches. Hard to rush a lot of guys in quickly. Although is that tight a space I assume flash bangs would be pretty devastating.