Posted on 02/22/2011 1:23:08 PM PST by STONEWALLS
A pirate fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. Navy destroyer shadowing a hijacked yacht with four Americans aboard Tuesday. Then gunfire erupted, the military said. U.S. special forces rushed to the yacht only to find the four Americans fatally wounded.
The experienced yacht enthusiasts from California and Washington are the first Americans killed by Somali pirates since the start of attacks off East Africa several years ago. One of the American couples on board had been sailing around the world since 2004 handing out Bibles.
Their deaths appeared to underscore an increasingly brutal and aggressive shift by pirates in their treatment of hostages.
Killing hostages "has now become part of our rules," said a pirate who identified himself as Muse Abdi and referred to last week's sentencing of a pirate to 33 years in prison for the 2009 attack on the U.S. cargo vessel the Maersk Alabama.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
I agree with you and it’s nice to vent, but that ain’t gonna happen.
No convene a Military Drum Head Courts Martial on the fan tail of the ship for the crime of Piracy and murder on the high seas. When convicted, decorate the ships yard arms with them.
For Obama and Holder, probably their first thought was “we’ve got to make sure no one uses this as an excuse for making any negative comments about Muslims.” Standing with his Muslim brothers is Obama’s first priority, after all.
I remember very distinctly when the Navy SEAL team off the USS BAINBRIDGE successfully shot and killed the pirate on Easter, and Obama quickly took credit and said he was the one who gave them the order. I wonder when he will step forward and take credit for this. I believe he only takes credits for success, especially when it belongs to other people.
“Haul them back to the USA and put them on trial for murder one.”
Naa,
Why waste more of my tax money with a trial and prison.
Better to sink the ship and let “Allah” give them the reward that they seek.
Why isn’t there a Sink First and ask questions later.
“Haul them back to the USA and put them on trial for murder one.”
No. They have no right to a trial in the USA. I have no knowledge what the “Law of the Sea” says about such things or even if such a “law” applies. But for the murder of innocent Americans on the high seas by rogues such as this, I don’t see why summary execution wouldn’t be appropriate.
Heck, I about half expect him to say that the hostages acted stupidly...after giving a shout out to his SEIU buddies.
"Shadowing?"
They should have cut the pirates down "like that much pork."
"Dead men don't bite"
Billy Bones
When I found out about this today, I was wondering if this was actually a botched rescue.
The hanging would certainly be legal, but the Screen Actors Guild might require a union card.
The US government disarms US flagged private vessels by law.
It is indeed (almost) legal. Under the Consittution of the United States, our Congress has the power, "To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations. The United States Congress did pass such a statute TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 81 > § 1651 (current as of Feb 1, 2010): "Whoever, on the high seas, commits the crime of piracy as defined by the law of nations, and is afterwards brought into or found in the United States, shall be imprisoned for life."
I'd rather see Congress expand that power to allow the use of the full force of our military power in cases of piracy and to allow military courts martial with execution at sea for pirates caught in the act. At least we do have the authority to send them to prison for life. The president (or for the next two years, the usurper) has the authority to set rules of engagement, and I'd like to see those rules include deadly force with no attempt at taking prisoners for all vessels engaged in piracy.
“Killing hostages has now become part of our rules”...
NEW RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:
1. Attack all pirate vessels in the horn of Africa with all means at the commander’s disposal. There should be no tactical consideration for the taking of prisoners. Any survivors are eligible for summary execution.
2. Attack all logistical support for pirate operations: ports, docks, storehouses, repair yards, anchorages, communications sites, housing, and miscellaneous land-based facilities.
3. Commence these new orders ASAP. Offensive operations will continue until the current threat is neutralized.
In the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, "maritime piracy" consists of:
(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).[113]
A limitation of UNCLOS Art 101 is that it confines piracy to the High Seas. As the majority of piratical acts occur within territorial waters, some pirates are able to go free as certain jurisdictions lack the resources to monitor their borders adequately.
Also, The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) defines piracy as: the act of boarding any vessel with an intent to commit theft or any other crime, and with an intent or capacity to use force in furtherance of that act.
And finally,
Hostis Humani Generis:
Perhaps the oldest of the laws of the sea is the prohibition of piracy, as the peril of being set upon by pirates, who are motivated by their own needs rather than by national allegiance, is shared by the vessels and mariners of all nations, and thus represents a crime upon all nations; as such, since the time of the Ancient Romans, pirates have been held to be individuals waging a private warfare, a private campaign of sack and pillage, against not only their victims, but against all nations, and thus, pirates hold the peculiar status of being regarded as "hostis humani generis", the enemies of mankind. Since piracy anywhere is a peril to every mariner and ship everywhere, it is held to be the universal right and the universal duty of all nations, regardless of whether their ships have been beset by the particular pirate captured, to capture, try by a regularly constituted court-martial or admiralty court (in extreme circumstances, by means of a drumhead court-martial convened by the officers of the capturing ship), and, if found guilty, to execute the pirate via means of hanging from the yard-arm of the capturing ship, an authoritative Custom of the Sea.
Should a Nation's Executive have the courage to order such, it would be nearly impossible to legally prevent high seas tribunal hearings and execution of pirates.
Letters of Marque and Reprisal followed by...
Pay-per-View
Kill pirates and reduce the deficit in one shot.
1) Get rid of C-!-C
2) USN remove Somalia
3) End piracy
‘Motivated by million-dollar ransoms, pirates have become increasingly bold in their attacks despite a flotilla of international warships patrolling the waters off East Africa. The last time pirates kidnapped a U.S. citizen — during the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama — Navy sharpshooters killed two pirates and rescued the ship's captain.
But Tuesday's bloody events are apt to leave U.S. military planners in a quandary: Do they go after the pirates harder? Do they attack their bases on Somalia's ungoverned shores? One maritime expert said it's too early to tell.’
To early to tell...Hmmm. For months we have been told that the pirate threat was overdone (U S Naval Institute Proceedings has printed several articles to this effect.) All we needed to do was keep our cool and law enforcement responses would be effective. Also they keep saying that pirates would keep to using small vessels and be only a local problem. Since the pirates have shown what they think of the law enforcement response how long is before they start experimenting with using bigger vessels and operating further off shore? The only way the Barbary pirates were completely shut down was because France invaded Algeria in 1830 and conquered the cities on the coast. Even the large scale raid on Algiers in 1816 by an Anglo-Dutch task force only put a dent of a few years in these rovers activities. What now about Somalia?
Only if there is a keel involved in that hauling.
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