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I swear to God that this is the last time I am going to write about this whole Somalian pirate crud, but I am going to write about it today for two reasons. One of those reasons is to set the record straight, and the other is to recommend a course of action in order to deal with this scum.
First off let’s give credit where credit is due. Yes Obama gets the credit for ordering the takedown of the pirates holding Captain Phillips and his subsequent rescue as well. It is common knowledge that virtually all Seal Operations are authorized by the President, because they are his go to guys for the dirty work and they are damn good at it to.
Now while Obama may have authorized the operation the credit for the operation goes to the planners who put it together, and the operators who executed the plan. No President sits in on the play by play details of putting a plan together. Obama probably had no idea what assets the commander in the field would use be they Seals or Marines and what their equipment might be.
Now on to the course of action I think should be taken in order to deal with this ocean going scum. Right off the bat I would say that we have to have our US flagged merchant marine vessels armed well enough to sink these idiots and kill them. I also believe that our Naval and Marine forces should have a heavy presence in the pirate’s area of operations so they can hit them at every opportunity.
The reason I believe that we should have a strong military presence there is that the pirates have already expressed that they will kill anyone on board a ship under the American Flag. The stated that there would be retaliation for the killing of the three pirates involved in the attempted Maersk Alabama highjacking.
As of this morning there had already been a retaliatory strike against an American congressman by the name of Donald Payne (D) who was leaving Mogadishu. A group of Islamist insurgents fired mortars at the airport as the congressman’s plane was departing for Nairobi Kenya.
The House Sergeant at Arms office confirmed that the State Department reported the attempted attack to them and that the congressman was fine. They also reported that they believe that the attack on the congressman’s aircraft was in retaliation for the deaths of the Somali pirates holding Captain Phillips and his rescue.
Since it is clear that we will be withdrawing US combat forces from Iraq at a steady rate pretty soon I think some of those assets should be brought to bear on those that would threaten our shipping interests and the personnel engaging in sea-going commerce under a US Flag. I really hope for our sake that President Obama passes this test with flying colors. I also hope that he sends them the message that our colors don’t run, never have and never will.
That’s it for today my friends I will be back tomorrow and hopefully earlier than this. Have a good evening and CIAO4NOW!!!!!
This is what day three of the standoff between the US Navy and four Somali pirates with one hostage in a lifeboat that is out of gas? It seems absurd that we would even be attempting to negotiate with rabble like these pirates, but here we are doing just that. I think that this sends the wrong signal to those who might attempt this sort of crime against us for more sinister purposes.
Now I will tell you that while this situation is not in itself political the policy that the navy is following most certainly is political. The policy that the navy is operating under is political, because the navy gets it orders through a chain of command and at the top of the chain is the Commander in Chief.
Recent Presidential history has shown that Barak Obama practices the policy of appeasement. Appeasing any groups that have hostile intentions against us, whether they are Al Qaeda or Somali pirates is the wrong message to convey. Appeasement is a sign to people like these that you are weak and unwilling to defend yourself and therefore you will be a target for these groups again in the future.
Recent news reports have indicated that a US navy amphibious warship is currently steaming into the area. This is good news if the Commander in Chief is willing to use the marine force on board to free the Hostage Captain Richard Phillips and to capture or kill the pirates; otherwise it is just a poor show of force and will be ineffective.
Recent reports also show that several high jacked vessels, hostages, and pirates are also headed to the area to confront the navy and to heighten the tension that is already palpable in the standoff. It has also been reported that a negotiator for the Somalis have said that they want 2 million dollars ransom for Captain Phillips or they will kill him.
I think that we are going to allow this whole situation to get out of hand and I don’t understand why. We didn’t let the Barbary pirates get away with messing with our merchant shipping interests in the 19th century, we just sent in the marines and the problem was settled short, sweet, and bloody for the pirates.
I think we should do the same thing here, because the bullets we use on the four Somali pirates will cost less than 2 million dollars and will send the message that this sort of monkey business involving our shipping interests will not be tolerated any where in the world. The last thing these animals will understand is appeasement, but they understand violent action quite well, and just like any other bully if you bloody their noses they will run away crying back to their hideout.
However I must unfortunately tell you that I think this situation will continue to deteriorate in the pirates favor. The reason I believe this is as soon as the other high jacked vessels with their hostages arrive, it ceases to be just about our interests or concerns and becomes a multi-national concern. This will not be good for us, because other nations will want to negotiate with the pirates rather than use force, and our military superiority will be circumvented.
That is all I have to say on this subject right now and for the record I really hope I am wrong about how this looks likely to play out. Unfortunately I don’t think I will be and it has been proven in the past to me on matters such as this that I am rarely ever wrong. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, T.G.I.F. CIAO4NOW!!!!!
