Posted on 10/10/2001 12:44:32 PM PDT by Demidog
I just received a call from my contact at Ron Paul's office.
Ron Paul today introduced two bills into the House of Representatives which would authorize the State Department to issue letters of Marque authorizing privateers to attack and collect assets from terrorists who commit hostile acts against the U.S.
This means that you (yes you personallywould be able to help to bring down the rogue and nationless enemies of the United States provided you meet a few requirements.
The precendence for this bill is based on specific Constitutional powers and was seen as a remedy by our founders for those nationaless terrorists who committed acts against U.S. merchant ships on the high seas. We're dealing with Pirates here and a significant effort has been made by Ron Paul's team to create a legal definition for "Air Piracy" which would include hijackings.
The text of the Bills have not been published yet but I will update everyone the moment the text becomes available.
The Bills are: H.R. 3074 and H.R. 3076
Please call your congressman and tell him that you want them to either sponsor or support this bill.
ML/NJ
Best I remember so did CHIEF.
CHIEF Negotiator's last vanity article was a patriotic lament that he (ex-Marine Force Recon sniper) had been denied permission to re-up by his beloved Marine Corps on account of his being "too old" (In fact, I'd bet that CHIEF was probably more fit at 53 than a civilian like me has ever been at 26 -- and I'm no couch-potato slouch. No doubt CHIEF was infinitely deadlier with a rifle, to boot).
The passage of Letters of Marque and Reprisal would've allowed him to re-enter his country's service, on his own schedule, playing by his own rule-book. It's a shame that CHIEF did not live to see the introduction of this Bill by Rep. Paul.
But there are thousands -- if not tens of thousands -- of semi-retired Special Forces like him out there in the Private Sector today. They may be "too old" for regular service by the standards of Pentagon red tape, but they sure aren't too old to call some old friends, re-establish some old contacts, and collect a Bounty. Assuming an Al-Qaeda organization of 20,000 terrorist operatives in 37 different countries, we could theoretically Bounty the heads of every single Al-Qaeda operative at a half-million bucks a head for $10 Billion dollars, plus a couple billion more in logistic support. Now, don't get me wrong -- I'm not saying that Marque-and-Reprisal sanctioned bounty hunters are mutually-exclusive with Government Military action against defined Nation-State targets; they aren't. But the US Government can hardly declare war on 37 different countries at once. Private Contractors working in two and three man groups, by contrast, can more-or-less go pretty much wherever they please.
And bear in mind that, even with Bounties averaging a half-million per scalp, the $10 Billion+ figure represents only one-quarter of the $40 Billion package already approved by Congress for this year, and one-third of the $30 Billion dollar increase in Defense spending already budgeted for next year. I think we should all recognize a bargain when we see it.
Nor is it just the money. A Private ex-military Contractor may be every bit as cost-effective (if not moreso) as Official Government forces in hunting down and terminating/apprehending Marqued terrorist operatives... but a Private ex-military Contractor is never going to ask his fellow law-abiding citizen to surrender his Second Amendment Rights, or to carry a national ID card.
Think on it. Then call your Congressmen.
I am not good at responding.
Private Companies, acting on limited intel capacity and with little profit motivation, are unlikely to be able to extend their bounties much beyond the top 20 or so known Al-Qaeda leaders.
If only Bin Laden and some of his lieutenants are taken out, this could have the effect of martyring them, while leaving the bulk of the recruiting, training, and planning networks in place -- as many as 20,000 different operatives, in 37 countries?
This would be a bad thing.
But to repeat my points of a prior post (just above), there are thousands -- if not tens of thousands -- of semi-retired Special Forces out there in the Private Sector today. They may be "too old" for regular service by the standards of Pentagon red tape, but they sure aren't too old to call some old friends, re-establish some old contacts, and collect a Bounty. Assuming an Al-Qaeda organization of 20,000 terrorist operatives in 37 different countries, we could theoretically Bounty the heads of every single Al-Qaeda operative at a half-million bucks a head for $10 Billion dollars, plus a couple billion more in logistic support. Now, don't get me wrong -- I'm not saying that Marque-and-Reprisal sanctioned bounty hunters are mutually-exclusive with Government Military action against defined Nation-State targets; they aren't. But the US Government can hardly declare war on 37 different countries at once. Private Contractors working in two and three man groups, by contrast, can more-or-less go pretty much wherever they please.
And bear in mind that, even with Bounties averaging a half-million per scalp, the $10 Billion+ figure represents only one-quarter of the $40 Billion package already approved by Congress for this year, and one-third of the $30 Billion dollar increase in Defense spending already budgeted for next year. I think we should all recognize a bargain when we see it.
Nor is it just the money. A Private ex-military Contractor may be every bit as cost-effective (if not moreso) as Official Government forces in hunting down and terminating/apprehending Marqued terrorist operatives... but a Private ex-military Contractor is never going to ask his fellow law-abiding citizen to surrender his Second Amendment Rights, or to carry a national ID card.
Think on it. Then call your Congressmen.
Well done you two.
Who enforces the major anti-piracy treaties?
Mainly, the major maritime/shipping powers: The USA. Great Britain. Japan. Other countries who depend on Free Commerce on the High Seas.
Even in the highly unlikely circumstance that the US employment of Marque and Reprisal against terrorists would be seen as some kind of "banditry", so you honestly think that any of the major maritime powers are actually going to complain?
Methinks it will not be seen as "banditry", and even if it were, the major maritime powers will simply say (in so many words), "We don't consider this US response to be 'banditry', and so we reagrd all anti-piracy treaties as remaining in force".
In other words, it isn't "banditry", and even if it were, all the really important maritime/shipping countries would sweep their objections under the proverbial rug.
Sorry, I'm not buying in on this one. The day of the privateer was NOT all skittles and beer--he had a nasty tendency to chase whatever targets were available and drag his sponsor into unwanted wars.
Again, it looks like Ron Paul is the only person in the whole government who understands and folows his oath faithfully.
As we are proposing it, only those terrorist organizations, and operatives thereof, who have been Marqued for Reprisal by US SecDef, will have any Bounty attached.
Why chase non-Bountied targets? What would a private Contractor get out of it, a few camels and an AK-47 or two? Hardly worth the trouble.
The Marqued-and-Bountied Targets will be the ones who will be hunted, because that's where the money is.
I bet there's a few ex-Russian special forces types that could use the cash and would love to do it - provided we provide the silver platter...
Ron Paul bump!
This thread, like Paul's bill, is designed to stimulate the fantasy of weekend Rambos. This will never happen, and for a lot of good reasons including the one you mentioned.
Anything that Ron Paul does is considered brilliant by his devotees, and this is no exception. It's not even necessary. Any one of Ron Paul's fans is eligible for the current reward if they bring back Osama's head. What are they waiting for?
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.