Posted on 04/10/2009 9:22:26 AM PDT by marktwain
There are four Somali pirates holding a U.S. merchant captain hostage. I have followed the story a bit, but I have not heard any coverage of what the pirates are armed with.
I would like to know what they used to hijack the ship.
I suggest that people make predictions about what they are armed with. I will make mine first.
They were and are armed with edged weapons, knives, perhaps fairly large ones such as machetes or pangas.
This is based on the lack of coverage of the weapons used, perhaps because the media knows that a great many people in the U.S. will be embarrassed to find that an American flagged ship could so easily be taken over by a bunch of rag-tag extortionists with common garden tools.
If anyone has any more information on this, please post. The truth will come out, as the crew is going to be on leave and will be interviewed.
One photo I have shows an RPG, rifle, and possibly a couple SMGs.
Small arms and possibly a grenade launcher or two.
I have no idea what type of weapons they have, but I’m sure 90% came from the U.S. /sarc
LOL its a river of steel don’tcha know.
At best they have “small arms” — and so we become the bad guys because of our “disproportionate response”. I mean, these guys may have knives, and we show up with a guided missile cruiser! How unfair! We are such beasts. No wonder everyone hates us. [/s]
If these pirates are affiliated with the Islamist group al Shabab, they might have AK-47s.
The media yesterday reported AK-47s.
But those jack-asses wouldn’t know an AK-47 from an F250.
Well, this is not about the pirates, but about the shipping company itself and what it’s armed with. Just fire hoses... that’s all they want their crews to be armed with (according to the President of the company...).
Ain't no one come up with a good defense against Strong Words in ALL CAPS yet!
Ah'm pert' near sceart right about now, I don' know about yew.
Dang them Muslims. Dang 'em to heck.
;^)
If only we had better gun control laws none of this would have happened donchano.
AK’s in 7.62x39
LLS
...all part of the evil ‘gun show loophole’ for pirates.
straws and spitballs
Inside the covered lifeboat with the captain, I’d be surprised if they had anything larger than pistols, or maybe machine-pistols. Knives almost certainly: they would be the most convenient weapon to use to hold the captain at close quarters, without risking injury to each other.
I’m going to guess switchblade or lockblade knives, the sort that are easy to carry. Machetes would have been useful for taking the ship, as they’d be something like cutlasses. Inside the lifeboat they would be much harder to use effectively.
There are also hatchets and a few knives as part of the lifeboat’s provisions.
If CNN is to be believed, they are armed with rods, reels, bait, and a hatred of America instilled in them by George Bush.
But really, these are complex operations, 300 miles from shore. I’m not thinking knives. Photos of these guys shows RPGs and AK47’s usually, which I assume is what these particular pirates have.
There has been alot of conflicting information on why the cargo ships aren’t armed. Does anyone know for sure why?
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