Anti-piracy action with style
Couldn't resist this, the picture says more than the newspaper story from aboard an Italian destroyer: http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/...63020&tc=yahoo
Sorry Stan failed to move the picture over, check the sailor out and yes there is no ammunition in the MG42.
davidbfpo
A belated response to ....
Entropy's post # 70 (link for "lawyerly types"). Here is a statute at its best - simplicity.
The only change since Tripoli has been removal of the death penalty.18 USC § 1651. Piracy under law of nations
Whoever, on the high seas, commits the crime of piracy as defined by the law of nations, and is afterwards brought into or found in the United States, shall be imprisoned for life.
Now the Chinese are coming
The Chinese navy (PLAN) are to deploy two warships to the Gulf of Aden, after Xmas: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7789303.stm
I do wonder whether all the navies there are co-ordinated; I suspect the Indian and Chinese navies will not join the CTF / EU flotilla.
davidbfpo
According to Euronews it's been 600 years since the Chinese did such a thing. One wonders if they're still in practice.
Then there's this from the UN
UN Allows Land and Air Strikes to Hunt Somalian Pirates
The Council's move came as the US for the first time supported deployment of the UN peacekeepers in the war torn country which does not have working government for last 17 years. Most of the southern part is controlled by Islamists and the government recognised by the United Nations hardly holds sway over any territory and is weak and divided.
The spurt in the pirates who have earned millions of dollars in ransom by hijacking ships in major sea lanes have created panic and several countries have sent naval ships but without much effect.
The Council decided to give wide powers to the countries whose Navies are operating in areas as diplomats said they were handicapped as they could not pursue pirates on land in Somalia. But by some accounts, the pirates are leading luxurious lives in Somalia on the money obtained from ransoms.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who attended the Council's meeting yesterday, said Washington would set up a contact group to coordinate and enhance anti-piracy efforts and called for setting up a United Nations peacekeeping force by the end of the year.
If you want to blend in, take the bus
Somalia: background report
From The Economist: http://www.economist.com/world/midea...=hptextfeature
Interesting and piracy is only a side issue.
davidbfpo
Apparently Chinese fishermen are:Originally Posted by Stan
China sailor recalls pirate fight
BBC News, 14:45 GMT, Friday, 19 December 2008
If the story is accurate, this sure took some cojones (or the Chinese equivalent):The captain of a Chinese ship has told the BBC how he and his crew fought off a gang of armed Somali pirates with petrol bombs and water cannon.
Nine pirates boarded the Zhenhua 4 on Wednesday but were forced off the ship by Capt Peng Weiyuan and his crew after they mounted an unexpected fightback.
Helicopters from a multi-national force also took part in the four hour battle, which saw the pirates back down.
"After the first attack they retreated but somehow they got very good weapons - anti-tank weapons - which they fired at us, and succeeded in coming up to our living quarters.
"They came to the first platform which is very close to our living quarters.
"We were locked inside and the door was very thick. They were shouting 'open the door'. So we climbed further up and we used everything to threaten them, bottles, petrol.
"Eventually we used high-pressure water cannon to shoot at them. They were also shooting at us and one bullet passed me about 10in (25cm) away.
German navy foils Somali pirates
Justice on the high seas... German Style
Six Somali pirates were captured by sailors of the frigate Karlsruhe in the Gulf of Aden.
However, the pirates were immediately released on the orders of the German government, officials told the BBC.
"We had forces on board the frigate, and they used fast small boats, and together with the helicopter we were able to surround the pirates and disarm them," he said.
He said the decision not to detain or arrest them was taken by the German government in Berlin.
A spokesman for the EU's mission off Somalia, Cdr Achim Winkler, told the BBC's Europe Today programme that Germany would only bring pirates to justice where German interests were hurt.
This would be the case if a German ship was attacked or German citizens were killed or injured, he said.
If you want to blend in, take the bus
When Private Interests Combat Piracy
From ThreatsWatch RapidRecon...
Into this breach leaps American entrepreneurship and straightforward seizing the opportunity.
A Texas based private security firm is now engaged in providing armed security escorts to deal with “open water threats and provide an electronic command center for threat detection and response, leveraging their teams between many vessels across the region.” While the mission was made public a week ago, there is no current indication of deployment or any engagement with pirates.
However, while the United Nations, NATO and the affected nations and shipping lines await decisions to be made, a private company has taken the initiative. Rash actions? It’s hard to tell. Effective actions? We may never know.
If you want to blend in, take the bus
How to Kick Pirate Booty
Foreign Policy's Seven Questions: Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper (The general who whipped U.S. forces in a famous war game tells FP how to crack down on Somali pirates. Ahoy!).
What we’re really talking about is what kind of methods folks might use that are unconventional. You struggle with words because to the person doing it, it’s not unorthodox, irregular, any of those things; it’s very normal. If you think in history, the Japanese didn’t think that kamikaze pilots were unconventional, but the U.S. did and the British did. The insurgents don’t think that IEDs [improvised explosive devices] are irregular or asymmetrical. It’s in the eye of the beholder. I think [the tactics] you’re seeing with many of these pirates—it’s not something they’ve done deliberately with relation to more modern nations—it’s what they do normally.
If you want to blend in, take the bus
New Counter-Piracy Task Force Established
Commander, Combined Maritime Forces Public Affairs
MANAMA, Bahrain – The Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) has established Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) specifically for counter-piracy operations.
The establishment of CTF-151 will allow CTF-150 assets to remain focused on those activities, giving CTF-151 the ability to focus solely on the counter-piracy mission.
“Some navies in our coalition did not have the authority to conduct counter-piracy missions,” said Vice Adm, Bill Gortney, CMF Commander. “The establishment of CTF-151 will allow those nations to operate under the auspices of CTF-150, while allowing other nations to join CTF-151 to support our goal of deterring, disrupting and eventually bringing to justice the maritime criminals involved in piracy events.”
If you want to blend in, take the bus
New Task Force?
The BBC News report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7817611.stm
Lots of questions to ask; are China and India partners? Sorry, this sounds like "spin" and a little odd for the USN to announce when an EU flotilla was announced late '08.
Back to my faraway observation seat.
davidbfpo
Pirate 'washes ashore with cash'
Now this is too rich. When news of this hits the general public, the beaches will indeed be a sight to see
The body of a Somali pirate who reportedly drowned soon after receiving a huge ransom has washed ashore with $153,000 in cash, his uncle says.
A relative of the drowned pirate told the BBC the family was now trying to dry out the recovered money.
The pirates' boat capsized when they were hit by rough seas as they were heading back to their homes in central Somalia, the leader of the pirates told AFP.
If you want to blend in, take the bus
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