I know nothing about the military, but I’ve watched a few movies in my time, and I thought the military had snipers with long range capability. Why not just position snipers on one of the ships and “take out” the pirates “simulutaneously”...am I being naive, is that not an option at sea because of the movement of the boats?
Rescuing the Captain without a shot being fired is the ideal. If that fails, other options will be considered.
I, too, was thinking, surround the boat, have two or three snipers per pirate, all with ear pieces and have one order sound “fire”. Wipe out pirates, save the captain.
But the lifeboat is a pod. It is covered and the pirates are not exposed.
Also, the sea isn’t a flat stable surface. Even our snipers would be challenged.
I believe it’s a “covered” lifeboat.
They are in a covered lifeboat, so, no targets.
Somebody on an earlier thread pointed out that it’s a hard-bulkhead covered lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama, not an open one. The pirates and the captain are inside, out of sight.
I wondered the same thing; any Marine fresh out of Sea School on the deck of the Destroyer could make the shot easily, over open sights-if we were talking about the open boat that the pirates arrived in. (Do destroyers have Marine detachments? Probably not.)
It’s all about orders from Washington at this point. If I had to guess, the White House will trade the captain’s life for their lives, and they’ll walk.
My guess is that would make them Martyrs, heroes at home to die at the merciless American snipers hand. I think a siege, while it takes time, is a more humiliating thing to carry home. Pray for the Captain’s strength and wisdom. Could you hear the discussion back home.. “So, Frank, I heard your son tried to seize a ship full of Americans. Umm, What was he thinking? That boy has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer.”
Personally, I'd also leave—unannounced—a basket of fruit on the deck. :)
>>>> Why not just position snipers on one of the ships and “take out” the pirates “simulutaneously” <<<<<<<
I’ve been wondering the same thing since yesterday, and yes, a ship the size of the Bainbridge is large enough to provide stable firing platform for snipers.
I will say that unless a Marine unit with snipers was aboard the Bainbridge they would have to be transported in from elsewhere.
Perhaps that’s what’s being done?
There really is no other solution, and it should be easy with only 4 criminal pirates to dispatch.
Ships move on all axes making it hard to properly fix on a target let alone fix on multiple targets. Add to that the fact that the small lifeboat the pirates are in is also moving even more and it apparently has a cover/canopy of some sort.
A better solution might be to allow a Seal team to put some of their training into practice in the dark of night. A half dozen Seals popping up at the side of the boat in the dark might be able to take them out without too much problem.