Posted on 04/06/2008 7:57:38 AM PDT by BlueDragon
MOGADISHU, Somalia: A French luxury yacht seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden with 30 crew on board has arrived in northern Somalia, officials and fishermen said Sunday.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
I thought the French were in hot persuit? Not so hot if these terrorists were able to dock, refuel, take on food and water, go do some shopping,... /s
Same concept should be applied here.
No mention of shopping trips...
If so, French navy should take possession of the vessel and then destroy the port to which it was taken. The host country would understand the negative benefits of hosting pirates.
The President was Teddy Roosevelt, the American was a man of Greek ancestry by the name of Perdicaris, and the Barbary pirate who kidnapped him was a Mahometan savage named Raisuli. Roosevelt sent seven gunboats into the harbor at Tangier and delivered the message “Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead.”
This one?
Teddy Roosevelt: “We want either Perdicaris alive or Rasuli dead.”
I agree. Lay waste to the country for miles around. It's not like there is any kind of real government there that could be influenced, but the tribes that tolerate pirates in their midst should be taught a very painful lesson and reduced to Stone Age conditions-- not that they are much further along the evolutionary scale of civilization anyway.
-ccm
My god, what ineffectual, effeminate asses we must appear to the tree swinging, moon god babbling hordes.They have been preying on tankers, container ships, private yachts and small craft for years now. It is not a question of why would anyone get within 300 miles of the East African coast, but why in the hell is anything larger than a paddle boat allowed to float away from it ?
‘And unburied’
Teddy Roosevelt delivered the “We want either Perdicaris alive or Rasuli dead.” line on the floor of the Republican convention before he was president. Perdicaris was born and raised in Greece, to a Greek father, and a mother who was from North Carolina, where she inherited extensive properties.
Perdicaris was living in Morocco when he was kidnapped by a local group of bandits, whose leader was named Rasuli.
The Moroccan authorites, who maintained a strictly laissez faire policy towards such brigands, were stirred out of their inertial by threats from the United States.
After being released by the bandit, Perdicaris lived out his life uneventfully in Morocco.
The Rasuli continued his career as a kidnapper with minimal interference from the Moroccan authorities,
Brute force is all they understand. We would do well to remember that when dealing with Muslims.
As to my own opinion;
"Destroying the port", might not be best, while it should also be remembered there are various factions in Somalia, and not all of them are taking part in, or approving of lawlessness. The people not making a way of life, as being thieves and murderers, have been suffering it's effects for years.
The question still hangs, who there will gain enough plurality of ascendancy to shape, then enforce "law". Presently, it's not happening...
But outside nations should perhaps pressure those in leadership positions, at that area of Somalia where the pirates are operating. Do a bit of sifting, of who's who, and what's what, before going in with military force. "hand over the pirates or we'll blast ye?"
Before doing anything like that, we'd better know full well what it is, that one is trying to accomplish, and what the other ramifications of doing that would mean.
If it's just revenge, or even punishment, then don't punish the innocent, along with the guilty, if one can keep from it. Doing that, can make a bad situation get even worse.
I'm wondering if there are not agents in other ports in the region whom are sharing with the Somalian pirates, info and itineraries of shipping, which would be headed for transit off Somalia. Been wondering about it for a while...
Radio intel could help. But they could even be passing things along through something as simple as email, at least until the pirates leave shore.
I think there is some bare-bones internet access available in Somalia. The AP stringers get their messages out, and they aint using carrier pigeons.
The article cites a Somalian fisherman witnessing 9-10 heavily armed men headed out to sea some time before the piracy. Now were these pirates headed out, depending on luck, or were they tipped off? It could have been just "luck", I guess...it seems like that was part of the methodology when they began doing this, some years ago. But have they gotten more sophisticated, with a few islamist type sympathizers passing on info, to help steal from, and murder Westerners, and others foreign to islam? You know, the "stick it to *the man* syndrome?" In this case, stick it to wealthy, non-muslims.
That particular ship, with it's relatively high-masted, three masted sailing rig, could be seen from quite a distance. The yacht most likely has radar reflectors placed somewhere in the rigging also, to help it show up on radar better (for increased safety amongst other, larger shipping). Hostages and ransom are part of the booty. On a luxury yacht, there likely be plenty of other booty, of the inanimate kind.
The activities of the corsairs, who did not scruple to kidnap Yankee sailors, led to the new republic's first experiment in geopolitics. It was principally on their account that Congress decided to establish a navy in 1794, and America consistently refused to ransom captives in the European way by handing over money, powder, shot and arms to the Muslims. As President Jefferson put it: "Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute." From 1803 Washington, in effect, made war against the beys. In one episode in 1805 American marines marched across the dessert from Egypt into Tripolitania, forcing Tripoli to make peace and surrender all American slaves, and giving rise to the famous line in the U.S. Marine Corps anthem "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shore of Tripoli". Immediately after the Treaty of Ghent was signed, when the cruising season of 1815 opened, Washington sent out a squadron under Stephen Decatur to punish the Barbary towns for violations of previous agreements. He forced the Bey of Tunis to pay $46,000 in compensation, and in Tripoli he also exacted a fine and secured the release of some Danish and Neapolitan slaves. His squadron was relived by five of the new 'big' frigates under Commodore William Bainbridge who, in June 1815, achieved a remarkable moral victory over the Bey of Algiers, who was given exactly three hours to comply with an American ultimatum to hand over all U.S. captives plus a cash compensation; the Bey capitulated on time.
“Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!”
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