UN gives authority to hunt pirates on land, air

The International Herald Tribune / The Associated Press ^ | December 16, 2008 | Ahmed Al-Haj in San'a, William J. Kole and Barbara Surk

[2ndDivisionVet]

I'll bet that a lot of the ransom is going to Jihadists.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Uh, what about at sea?

[Cindy]

Note: Explore this site for piracy alerts, live map, and other valuable information.

http://www.icc-ccs.org

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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=308:weekly-piracy-report&catid=32:weekly-piracy-report&Itemid=10

Weekly Piracy Report
9 December - 15 December 2008

Suspicious crafts

None reported

Recently reported incidents

13.12.2008:1145 UTC: Posn: 13:43N – 048:17E: Gulf of Aden.
One wooden speed boat with 5 - 6 persons armed with automatic weapons and RPG chased and opened fire on a container ship underway. Pirates attempted to board with a ladder. Master took evasive manoeuvres and contacted coalition warships for assistance. A naval helicopter arrived at location. One seeing the helicopter the skiff aborted the attack.

12.12.2008: 1125 LT: Posn: 13:31N – 048:39E: Gulf of Aden.
One pirate boat with seven armed men chased a tanker underway. Pirates were seen carrying automatic weapons, RPG and a wooden ladder for boarding. Later, the boat aborted the chase and headed towards another vessel nearby. A navy helicopter arrived at location.
Description of the speed boat : Wooden construction, 8 – 10 meters in length, blue coloured hull, raised bow, speed about 17 knots.

12.12.2008: 1212 LT: Posn: 13:32.7N – 048:37.5E, Gulf of Aden.
Eight pirates armed with machine guns and RPG in a blue coloured speed boat doing 17 knots attacked a general cargo ship underway. They fired upon the ship with machine guns and attempted to board the ship, twice, using a ladder. Crew managed to detach the ladder even though the pirates were firing at the ship. Pirates aborted the attempted attack and tried to attack other vessels in the vicinity. Coalition forces were informed.

11.12.2008: 0142 LT: Posn: 22:15N - 091:44E: Chittagong ‘A’ anchorage, Bangladesh.
Six robbers armed with knives boarded a tanker at anchor. Alarm raised and crew mustered. Coast guard boarded for investigation. Ship’s stores stolen from bosun store.

[Enchante]

Anyone know if the pirates have recognizable “bases” and clear aerial targets? It should not be difficult for us to obliterate distinct targets if there are docking areas known to be controlled by pirate groups etc..... the tough part will be if they simply fade into the population and ordinary facilities, as so many terrorists love to do.

[Paleo Conservative]

Excuse me, but haven’t nations alway possessed that right?

[jbwbubba]

Simple, put a carrier in the area, even a marine carrier. Fly a regular rotation of UAV’s with hellfire missiles up and down the coast, if you see anything that floats you blast it.

[Army Air Corps]

They do. There are a few villages along the Somali coast that have served as bases. One of them was attacked by the USN within the last couple of years.

[Jet Jaguar]

Bump

[The Great RJ]

I hope we don’t face a real crisis like a 9-11 sized attack on the US and have to wait around for the UN to approve defending ourselves. Those pirates could have been blasted under the common laws of the sea and only India had the moxie to fight them.

[wally_bert]

What about all of the aliens? At least UNIT would try to do something useful with military force as long as Lethbridge Stewart was in charge.

[An Old Man]

Uh, what about at sea?

Two out of three ain't bad. :<(

[Cindy]

Thank you Jet Jaguar.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

/

[FFranco]

the tough part will be if they simply fade into the population and ordinary facilities, as so many terrorists love to do.

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I suspect that is the case. The pirates I was familiar with in SE Asia were merely fishermen taking advantage of targets of opportunity to rob, rape and murder. They would return to their fishing villages with their booty after committing their piracy. I suppose today they are back to working as fishermen.

[SpaceBar]

The U.N. once again trying to usurp authority by default.

[kc8ukw]

My thought exactly. The UN is giving nations the right of self defense now? Sounds like they may be just a little full of themselves.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

“From the Halls of Montezuma
To the floor of the U.N.
We will fight our country’s battles
When the socialists say we can...”

Seriously, Jefferson is rolling in his grave. We didn’t need no stinkin’ UN resolution to beat the Dey of Algiers like a rug when he earnestly deserved it. Quite the contrary: Jefferson went it alone precisely because the timid hankie-flutterers of Europe would not fight back against the Barbaries.

[Paleo Conservative]

My thought exactly. The UN is giving nations the right of self defense now? Sounds like they may be just a little full of themselves.

We should reactivate some Iowa class battleships and park them off the coast of Somalia. We have lots of ammunition that's already paid for.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

One more thing. I blame George H.W. Bush for setting the precedent in Gulf War I that leads people to believe today that we can only stand up for ourselves when given a permission slip by the whimpering, simpering toadies of Turtle Bay.

[LucyT]

Ping.