The U.S. military says pirates killed four American hostages they were holding on a yacht off Somalia’s coast.While yeachting unescorted in pirate-infested waters is probably not the safest way to spend a vactation and it was not the safest choise to make, these are US Citizens and there certainly needs to be a response that killing US Citizens will have a cost and will not be unanswered.
It is certainly time to take a hard stand against the pirates including revising the rules of engagement to allow for appropriate interdiction of this threat. Far too many ships have been held for ransom with their passengers and crew harmed and far too much ransom has been paid to encoyurage mnore acts of piracy.
After the yacht passengers had died, the Navy boarded the vessel:
...Two pirates died during the ensuing confrontation, and 13 were captured and detained. The remains of two other pirates who were already dead also were found. In total the U.S. said that 19 pirates were involved in the hijacking of the Quest.
13 captured? Sheesh, the US Navy is either losing its touch, hamstrung by ROE, or suffering from having lousy aim. Now we face the prospect of 13 trials with appointed public defensers and nice housing is US jail cells for an extended period of time. That's no way to fight piracy, as it certainly does not deter the pirates form siezing vesels for ransom or simple murder and plunder if all they face is a warm cell at the end of their exploits rather than a long drop with a short rope.
Perhaps it is time to expand the Marines' record of anti-piracy operations from the shores of Tripoli to the shores of Somalia?
1 comment:
I thought a B52 wing would have a certain flair, but perhaps the Marines are a better choice - less collateral damage.
Not that the present doofus-in-chief will do anything except break out the teleprompter for another empty speech.
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