I should say so.
Posted on 10/31/2009 6:03:08 PM PDT by naturalman1975
UP close and personal, the modern day pirate gang is a mob of scruffily dressed Somali males armed to the teeth with AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons.
And the group encountered by those aboard the Anzac Frigate HMAS Toowoomba in the Indian Ocean last month were distinctly unhappy that their plan to hijack a Portuguese freighter had been thwarted.
But they weren't about to admit they were pirates.
Communicating through a Somali language interpreter, Lieutenant Jace (Jace) Hutchison, officer in charge of Toowoomba's nine-member boarding party, asked just what they had in mind in approaching the Portuguese vessel.
They told me their water was too hot to drink and that they were closing in on the merchant vessel to ask for more water, said Lt Hutchison. But they had plenty of water aboard, he added.
Also aboard the twin outboard motor-powered vessel were six AK-47s, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and four rockets plus a G3 automatic rifle and several hundred rounds of ammunition.
They also had mobile phones and GPS satellite navigation equipment.
But they were unhappy and scared, Lt Hutchison recalled.
When we did identify who we thought the captain was, we decided he was probably the one who looked the least scared, he said.
He also didn't seem to want to help out too much.
Lt Hutchison had no doubt at all piracy was the plan. The skiff was about 100 nautical miles (185km) off Somalia. There was food and fuel aboard but no fishing gear.
With that many weapons, it's a bit tough to convince anyone you're fishermen, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailytelegraph.com.au ...
I should say so.
Good for ya’
If these encounters occur on the open seas, I don’t understand why any nations navy reports it. Shoot them, sink them and sail on.
When the pirates get real warships, then we might be more worried.
Pirates used to get death by extreme prejudice back in the day. Now we get them alive and send them to sensitivity school and get them college degrees.
I’ll remain unimpressed until the story ends with pirates swinging from yardarms.
Why would they “arrest” the Somalis when a bullet apiece would have been far less costly, and a much better deterent to future piracy?
They could have simply towed the pirates’ vessel, complete with dead bodies, into the nearest Somali port.
Back of 1,000 yards for gunnery practice.
“Well, lads, it would appear that our friends in the Navy have taken Rule 303 to an entirely new level.”
Amen. Gunnery practice. That will discourage piracy: fewer pirates returning to port.
Or attached to a chum line trollong for sharks...
how bout some cinder blocks with a bit of rope right before the treading water drill.
Better yet, leave the fuel lines -- and enjoy having a moving target... But be sure to get lots of videotape -- to show all over the coast of Somalia...
Shoot the scum like a pack of rabid dogs and be done with it. They’re not going to stop with a little pat on the hand and ‘bad boys! bad boys! Now stop! OK?’....
These people are brainwashed into being rabid and they think they’re going to get 72 virgins when they die.
Kabooom...you’re on your happy way!
Shoot the scum like a pack of rabid dogs and be done with it. They’re not going to stop with a little pat on the hand and ‘bad boys! bad boys! Now stop! OK?’....
These people are brainwashed into being rabid and they think they’re going to get 72 virgins when they die.
Kabooom...you’re on your happy way!
SMLE — my jungle carbine kicks like a .303-powered mule...
Believe , in Aussieland, its “Good on ya.”
Does anyone remember keelhauling?
Kill ‘em all but one. Let him return to tell the story.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.