For US, few options to prevent, fight piracy

[dbackjon]

The U.S. sent warships speeding to the scene. But they were hours away when the brazen pirates attacked, and the world's greatest sea power had to face the fact that it had only limited options to respond to the startling seizure of American merchant seamen.

The outcome for the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama and its crew was still unclear as Wednesday night turned into Thursday morning off the coast of Somalia. The crew had retaken control of the cargo ship from a band of pirates, but the captain was still held by the attackers in one of the ship's lifeboats.

The limits of U.S. power are a hard reality facing the Obama administration, which has so far done no better than its predecessor to thwart the growing threat of piracy along a huge, lawless stretch of African coastline.

President Barack Obama had no public comment but was closely following the pirate-hostage drama, the first like this in modern history involving a U.S. crew, said Denis McDonough, a senior foreign policy adviser at the White House.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090408/ap_ ... /us_piracy

[Col Hogan]

No police department can totally prevent crime...so why would anyone think a country even as powerful as the United States can prevent piracy...

They are working in a space roughly FOUR TIMES the size of Texas...we could put the entire 5th Fleet in that battle space and not completely shut down pirates...

Having said that, if the Obama Administration down not come down on them like a ton of bricks for hitting a U.S. flagged ship, then we will need more than the 5th Fleet to control this situation...

[dbackjon]

No police department totally prevent crime...so why would anyone thing a country even as powerful as the United States can prevent piracy...

They are working in a space roughly FOUR TIMES the size of Texas...we could put then entire 5th Fleet in that battle space and not completely shut down pirates...

Having said that, if the Obama Administration down not come down on them like a ton of bricks for hitting a U.S. flagged ship, then we will need more than the 5th Fleet to control this situation...

What does Col Hogan recommend?

[slycat]

I saw in one article that ships are using barbed wire and other objects to help prevent pirates from getting on board. The best one can do is slow down the attack until possible help can arrive.

[Wedgebuster]

Constant satellite supervision coupled with bomber crews standing by at Diego Garcia, and voila! Pirate busters!

[slycat]

They could also hire Lars Ulrich since he did a lot of talking with Napster about Piracy.

[BlueHen86]

If pirates are so hard to stop the U.S. should hire it's own pirates. We could create jobs and help with the trade deficit at the same time.

[slycat]

If pirates are so hard to stop the U.S. should hire it's own pirates. We could create jobs and help with the trade deficit at the same time.

I like the idea of epic pirate battles

[houndawg]

No police department can totally prevent crime...so ]why would anyone think a country even as powerful as the United States can prevent piracy...

They are working in a space roughly FOUR TIMES the size of Texas...we could put the entire 5th Fleet in that battle space and not completely shut down pirates...

Having said that, if the Obama Administration down not come down on them like a ton of bricks for hitting a U.S. flagged ship, then we will need more than the 5th Fleet to control this situation...

Because we get taxed until we bleed to maintain the world's largest offensive military? We would shut down the horn of Africa overnight if they had anything we wanted to take.

(BTW, police departments don't prevent crime, they respond to crimes alredy commited.)

[Col Hogan]

No police department can totally prevent crime...so ]why would anyone think a country even as powerful as the United States can prevent piracy...

They are working in a space roughly FOUR TIMES the size of Texas...we could put the entire 5th Fleet in that battle space and not completely shut down pirates...

Having said that, if the Obama Administration down not come down on them like a ton of bricks for hitting a U.S. flagged ship, then we will need more than the 5th Fleet to control this situation...

Because we get taxed until we bleed to maintain the world's largest offensive military? We would shut down the horn of Africa overnight if they had anything we wanted to take.

Care to tell me what we went into Bosnia for...or Somalia for...or Grenada...or Panama...or Afghanistan...other than policy issues (agree or disagree)...that tired, left wing claim that we only do military actions is there's oil involved is pretty worn out...you've got to come up with something new...

(BTW, police departments don't prevent crime, they respond to crimes alredy commited.)

Yea, that must be why when you Google "Crime Prevention" all those police department sites come up...or why police patrol the streets...

[houndawg]

Because we get taxed until we bleed to maintain the world's largest offensive military? We would shut down the horn of Africa overnight if they had anything we wanted to take.

Care to tell me what we went into Bosnia for...or Somalia for...or Grenada...or Panama...or Afghanistan...other than policy issues (agree or disagree)...that tired, left wing claim that we only do military actions is there's oil involved is pretty worn out...you've got to come up with something new...

(BTW, police departments don't prevent crime, they respond to crimes alredy commited.)

Yea, that must be why when you Google "Crime Prevention" all those police department sites come up...or why police patrol the streets...

Usually we go in under the banner of making the world safe for democracy, although whose democracy isn't always clear.

Let's see, as I recall, Greanada was invaded just in time to turn public attention away from the Blunder in Beirut. You'll recall that that was the incident where the Marines barracks were blown up by a truck bomb killing a couple hundred troops. Troops that were sent to Beirut of all places, without ammunition for their weapons, such as the M-60 that would stopped the truck bomb a quarter mile away from the barracks. (You're may be one of the few here old enough to remember the nightly news where the Marine in the bunker held up his M-16 to the camera disgustedly while pointing to the empty receiver where the magazine goes.) As public outcry was increasing about the sacrificial Marines, we suddenly invaded a barely known Carribean island on the pretext that the two dozen Cuban construction troops present were an occupying army. Grenada is famous for the fact that more decorations were awarded than the number of troops involved. (Shit, me and some guys from Fuzzy's tavern could have taken Grenada with baseball bats).

Panama was about making the world safe for democracy, officially. Except that at the time it was being run by ex secret police chief, CIA operative, and well known democrat, Manuel Noriega, handpicked by the US. The real reason for the invasion was about maintaining military control of the Panama canal after 1999 when it would revert to Panamanian control. Noriega didn't help his cause by demanding more money for allowing US-bound cocaine (often CIA supplied) to pass through Panama unmolested.

Somalia and Bosnia did have legitimate humanitarian goals, but hey, we had a bleeding-heart Democrat in the White House at the time, what else would you expect? That was back in the day when the neo-cons were absolutely aghast that the president would launch cruise missles at terrorist camps. I remember them all teary-eyed, clutching their protest signs (this was before "free-speech" zones) and whimpering about "wagging the dog".

As for the "crime prevention", you can google until your fingers fall off but it won't change the fact that cops do next to nothing to prevent crime. Not blaming them or saying they don't try, just saying that's the way it is.

[Appaholic]

No police department can totally prevent crime...so why would anyone think a country even as powerful as the United States can prevent piracy...

They are working in a space roughly FOUR TIMES the size of Texas...we could put the entire 5th Fleet in that battle space and not completely shut down pirates...

Having said that, if the Obama Administration down not come down on them like a ton of bricks for hitting a U.S. flagged ship, then we will need more than the 5th Fleet to control this situation...

Hopefully, they'll go after pirates with the same fervor and intensity they demostrate in the War on Drugs....

[D1B]

Care to tell me what we went into Bosnia for...or Somalia for...or Grenada...or Panama...or Afghanistan...other than policy issues (agree or disagree)...that tired, left wing claim that we only do military actions is there's oil involved is pretty worn out...you've got to come up with something new...

Yea, that must be why when you Google "Crime Prevention" all those police department sites come up...or why police patrol the streets...

Usually we go in under the banner of making the world safe for democracy, although whose democracy isn't always clear.

Let's see, as I recall, Greanada was invaded just in time to turn public attention away from the Blunder in Beirut. You'll recall that that was the incident where the Marines barracks were blown up by a truck bomb killing a couple hundred troops. Troops that were sent to Beirut of all places, without ammunition for their weapons, such as the M-60 that would stopped the truck bomb a quarter mile away from the barracks. (You're may be one of the few here old enough to remember the nightly news where the Marine in the bunker held up his M-16 to the camera disgustedly while pointing to the empty receiver where the magazine goes.) As public outcry was increasing about the sacrificial Marines, we suddenly invaded a barely known Carribean island on the pretext that the two dozen Cuban construction troops present were an occupying army. Grenada is famous for the fact that more decorations were awarded than the number of troops involved. (Shit, me and some guys from Fuzzy's tavern could have taken Grenada with baseball bats).

Panama was about making the world safe for democracy, officially. Except that at the time it was being run by ex secret police chief, CIA operative, and well known democrat, Manuel Noriega, handpicked by the US. The real reason for the invasion was about maintaining military control of the Panama canal after 1999 when it would revert to Panamanian control. Noriega didn't help his cause by demanding more money for allowing US-bound cocaine (often CIA supplied) to pass through Panama unmolested.

Somalia and Bosnia did have legitimate humanitarian goals, but hey, we had a bleeding-heart Democrat in the White House at the time, what else would you expect? That was back in the day when the neo-cons were absolutely aghast that the president would launch cruise missles at terrorist camps. I remember them all teary-eyed, clutching their protest signs (this was before "free-speech" zones) and whimpering about "wagging the dog".

As for the "crime prevention", you can google until your fingers fall off but it won't change the fact that cops do next to nothing to prevent crime. Not blaming them or saying they don't try, just saying that's the way it is.

Reps. Great post Dawg.

[Cap'n Cat]

Care to tell me what we went into Bosnia for...or Somalia for...or Grenada...or Panama...or Afghanistan...other than policy issues (agree or disagree)...that tired, left wing claim that we only do military actions is there's oil involved is pretty worn out...you've got to come up with something new...

Yea, that must be why when you Google "Crime Prevention" all those police department sites come up...or why police patrol the streets...

Usually we go in under the banner of making the world safe for democracy, although whose democracy isn't always clear.

Let's see, as I recall, Greanada was invaded just in time to turn public attention away from the Blunder in Beirut. You'll recall that that was the incident where the Marines barracks were blown up by a truck bomb killing a couple hundred troops. Troops that were sent to Beirut of all places, without ammunition for their weapons, such as the M-60 that would stopped the truck bomb a quarter mile away from the barracks. (You're may be one of the few here old enough to remember the nightly news where the Marine in the bunker held up his M-16 to the camera disgustedly while pointing to the empty receiver where the magazine goes.) As public outcry was increasing about the sacrificial Marines, we suddenly invaded a barely known Carribean island on the pretext that the two dozen Cuban construction troops present were an occupying army. Grenada is famous for the fact that more decorations were awarded than the number of troops involved. (Shit, me and some guys from Fuzzy's tavern could have taken Grenada with baseball bats).

Panama was about making the world safe for democracy, officially. Except that at the time it was being run by ex secret police chief, CIA operative, and well known democrat, Manuel Noriega, handpicked by the US. The real reason for the invasion was about maintaining military control of the Panama canal after 1999 when it would revert to Panamanian control. Noriega didn't help his cause by demanding more money for allowing US-bound cocaine (often CIA supplied) to pass through Panama unmolested.

Somalia and Bosnia did have legitimate humanitarian goals, but hey, we had a bleeding-heart Democrat in the White House at the time, what else would you expect? That was back in the day when the neo-cons were absolutely aghast that the president would launch cruise missles at terrorist camps. I remember them all teary-eyed, clutching their protest signs (this was before "free-speech" zones) and whimpering about "wagging the dog".

As for the "crime prevention", you can google until your fingers fall off but it won't change the fact that cops do next to nothing to prevent crime. Not blaming them or saying they don't try, just saying that's the way it is.

Yep, mega reppenheimers.

[AZGrizFan]

Usually we go in under the banner of making the world safe for democracy, although whose democracy isn't always clear.

Let's see, as I recall, Greanada was invaded just in time to turn public attention away from the Blunder in Beirut. You'll recall that that was the incident where the Marines barracks were blown up by a truck bomb killing a couple hundred troops. Troops that were sent to Beirut of all places, without ammunition for their weapons, such as the M-60 that would stopped the truck bomb a quarter mile away from the barracks. (You're may be one of the few here old enough to remember the nightly news where the Marine in the bunker held up his M-16 to the camera disgustedly while pointing to the empty receiver where the magazine goes.) As public outcry was increasing about the sacrificial Marines, we suddenly invaded a barely known Carribean island on the pretext that the two dozen Cuban construction troops present were an occupying army. Grenada is famous for the fact that more decorations were awarded than the number of troops involved. (Shit, me and some guys from Fuzzy's tavern could have taken Grenada with baseball bats).

Panama was about making the world safe for democracy, officially. Except that at the time it was being run by ex secret police chief, CIA operative, and well known democrat, Manuel Noriega, handpicked by the US. The real reason for the invasion was about maintaining military control of the Panama canal after 1999 when it would revert to Panamanian control. Noriega didn't help his cause by demanding more money for allowing US-bound cocaine (often CIA supplied) to pass through Panama unmolested.

Somalia and Bosnia did have legitimate humanitarian goals, but hey, we had a bleeding-heart Democrat in the White House at the time, what else would you expect? That was back in the day when the neo-cons were absolutely aghast that the president would launch cruise missles at terrorist camps. I remember them all teary-eyed, clutching their protest signs (this was before "free-speech" zones) and whimpering about "wagging the dog".

As for the "crime prevention", you can google until your fingers fall off but it won't change the fact that cops do next to nothing to prevent crime. Not blaming them or saying they don't try, just saying that's the way it is.

Reps. Great post Dawg.

Get off his dick, D.

[AZGrizFan]

Usually we go in under the banner of making the world safe for democracy, although whose democracy isn't always clear.

Let's see, as I recall, Greanada was invaded just in time to turn public attention away from the Blunder in Beirut. You'll recall that that was the incident where the Marines barracks were blown up by a truck bomb killing a couple hundred troops. Troops that were sent to Beirut of all places, without ammunition for their weapons, such as the M-60 that would stopped the truck bomb a quarter mile away from the barracks. (You're may be one of the few here old enough to remember the nightly news where the Marine in the bunker held up his M-16 to the camera disgustedly while pointing to the empty receiver where the magazine goes.) As public outcry was increasing about the sacrificial Marines, we suddenly invaded a barely known Carribean island on the pretext that the two dozen Cuban construction troops present were an occupying army. Grenada is famous for the fact that more decorations were awarded than the number of troops involved. (Shit, me and some guys from Fuzzy's tavern could have taken Grenada with baseball bats).

Panama was about making the world safe for democracy, officially. Except that at the time it was being run by ex secret police chief, CIA operative, and well known democrat, Manuel Noriega, handpicked by the US. The real reason for the invasion was about maintaining military control of the Panama canal after 1999 when it would revert to Panamanian control. Noriega didn't help his cause by demanding more money for allowing US-bound cocaine (often CIA supplied) to pass through Panama unmolested.

Somalia and Bosnia did have legitimate humanitarian goals, but hey, we had a bleeding-heart Democrat in the White House at the time, what else would you expect? That was back in the day when the neo-cons were absolutely aghast that the president would launch cruise missles at terrorist camps. I remember them all teary-eyed, clutching their protest signs (this was before "free-speech" zones) and whimpering about "wagging the dog".

As for the "crime prevention", you can google until your fingers fall off but it won't change the fact that cops do next to nothing to prevent crime. Not blaming them or saying they don't try, just saying that's the way it is.

Yep, mega reppenheimers.

You too, buttnugget.

[Cap'n Cat]

Yep, mega reppenheimers.

You too, buttnugget.

Fvck you, Ralph.

[AZGrizFan]

You too, buttnugget.

Fvck you, Ralph.

That's it. The gloves are off now, Hen.

[BlueHen86]

Fvck you, Ralph.

That's it. The gloves are off now, Hen.

Hen? What did I do?

[BlueHen86]

I still think we should hire our own pirates, that or just give Haliburton a fleet of ships.

[CSUBUCDAD]

If the Messiah had any nuts at all he would send a squadron of B-2 over Samolia and flatten every freakin war lords compound in the country. They are the ones that are financing all this piracy and that is the only language they understand. As far as the Captain of that ship being on the lifeboat as a hostage. Let's just say we used to practice and we even used it a few times, a tactic where we would enter the water a couple of clicks from the target under the cover of darkness, navigate to the target position under water, surround the target and take out the bad guys and bring the hostages home. Don't be surprised if that is what happens to end it.

[Cleets Part 2]

If the Messiah had any nuts at all he would send a squadron of B-2 over Samolia and flatten every freakin war lords compound in the country.

Your idea would require a level of "military Intelligence" that we did not posses in 2002 when providing intel on Iraq... in fact so much bad intelligence" was accumulated and disseminated that entire books have been written on our embarrassing lack of knowledge...

yet today (somehow) we know where every Somali warlord camp is...

[CSUBUCDAD]

If the Messiah had any nuts at all he would send a squadron of B-2 over Samolia and flatten every freakin war lords compound in the country.

Your idea would require a level of "military Intelligence" that we did not posses in 2002 when providing intel on Iraq... in fact so much bad intelligence" was accumulated and disseminated that entire books have been written on our embarrassing lack of knowledge...

yet today (somehow) we know where every Somali warlord camp is...

I could find them all in one day using Google Earth. They are the only decent houses(really big houses) surrounded by big walls, in the country.

[UNI88]

I still think we should hire our own pirates, that or just give Haliburton a fleet of ships.

Those would be called Privateers (ala Sr. Francis Drake).

[AZGrizFan]

Why don't they just man all the ships with ex-SEALS?