Somali piracy

[DisturbedPervert]

Satellites can't see if they are fishing or pirating.

Neither can Indians, they sank a 'mother ship' that turned out to be a fishing boat being boarded by pirates.

[Valmy]

Zapp: "Good job everyone. The mothership is destroyed." (the real mothership is "decloaking" ) "What the hell is that?"
Kif: "It appears to be the mothership."
Zapp: "Then what did we just blow up?"
Kif: "The Hubble Telescope."

[Darth Wagtaros]

Satellites can't see if they are fishing or pirating.

What I saw in 'Body of Lies' says you're wrong. 

Ya. Pick it out of the 30 trillion boats in the area. 

[Sheilbh]

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/04/09/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4931970.shtml

Here's what our "nation of cowards" attorney general had to say:

In reference to whether the pirates may face criminal charges in the United States, the attorney general said, "it is a little early tell, at this point. There has not been an act of piracy I think against a United States vessel in hundreds of years. So ah...I'm not sure exactly what would happen."

Wow, what can you say to ignorance of that magnitude.

What's the ignorance?  I don't think piracy has been a big problem for quite some time.

It reminds me of the story about the Falklands.  Just after Argentina invaded the Foreign Office dispatched a crack team of bureaucrats to the National Archives to look through the papers for 1939 because no-one knew how to declare war

[jimmy olsen]

What's the ignorance?  I don't think piracy has been a big problem for quite some time.

It reminds me of the story about the Falklands.  Just after Argentina invaded the Foreign Office dispatched a crack team of bureaucrats to the National Archives to look through the papers for 1939 because no-one knew how to declare war

I'm not saying it's been a big problem, but there's no way that no American ships have been hijacked/robbed in the last two hundred years.

[Sheilbh]

I'm not saying it's been a big problem, but there's no way that no American ships have been hijacked/robbed in the last two hundred years.

Okay but surely it's not a common enough problem that the AG would immediately have an idea of what legal proceedings take place?  It's just like the war thing.  It's so rare for us to declare war (we authorise military actions now) that I don't know that anyone would know the procedure.

And, like the FCO boys down in Kew, it's just quite funny. 

[derspiess]

What's the ignorance?  I don't think piracy has been a big problem for quite some time.

On top of what Tim said, you would think they would have had a little time to start digging into it by the time he was asked.  Failing that, he could have at least given a better answer than he did.

[DGuller]

Hopefully he giggled because he knew full well that US would take no prisoners.

[jimmy olsen]

What's the ignorance?  I don't think piracy has been a big problem for quite some time.

On top of what Tim said, you would think they would have had a little time to start digging into it by the time he was asked.  Failing that, he could have at least given a better answer than he did.

Yeah, it's not like this problem just came out of nowhere, piracy has been exploding off of Somalia the last couple of years.

[Scipio]

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/04/09/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4931970.shtml

Here's what our "nation of cowards" attorney general had to say:

In reference to whether the pirates may face criminal charges in the United States, the attorney general said, "it is a little early tell, at this point. There has not been an act of piracy I think against a United States vessel in hundreds of years. So ah...I'm not sure exactly what would happen."

And 'Crazy Joe' Biden:

We're not going to settle that here. I think what you should do is contact Jim Jones and the White House," he said referring journalists to the national security advisor.

These are the morons guiding our nation?  I hope that Jim Jones has the sense to say "String the fuckers up.  Pronto.  Preferably after we secure that American."

[grumbler]

I hope France arrests some pirates so we can call wherever they put them the "gulag of our time".

Already done.

The first step that needs to be taken is to make it an international crime for any corporation or individual to pay a ransom to pirates.  If a government does it, then their leader needs to be charged with a violation of the law.

It is payment of ransoms that drives this spate of crimes.  Stop the ransoms, and you stop most piracy.

Summary execution of pirates caught in the act is also warranted and allowed under international law; captains of naval vessels are almost always authorized by their equivalents of the UCMJ to conduct summary courts-martial, and piracy is a capital offense, just like mutiny.

[Neil]

All good stuff, but I suspect the moment a pirate it detained by the RN, he gains complete access to the European human rights conventions.

Even if that were true, the obvious solution is just to sink their ships and not rescue them.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

All good stuff, but I suspect the moment a pirate it detained by the RN, he gains complete access to the European human rights conventions.

Even if that were true, the obvious solution is just to sink their ships and not rescue them.

It might be true. A bit ago the Germans captured a few of the lowlife and they're now on trial under EU law .
Instead of just dropping and stopping them.
Promotion of a legal use of hemp as an added bonus.

[jimmy olsen]

The pirates have received reinforcements, fucking ballsy of them. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30162572/

[Strix]

The pirates have received reinforcements, fucking ballsy of them. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30162572/

Ballsy but stupid. If some nation got some nads they could free most of the hostages held and kill off most of the pirates at one time.