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| Africa Horn |
| US hesitates over attacking pirates |
| 2008-12-13 |
| The US commander tasked with tackling Somali piracy, has balked at the idea of attacking the bandits from land or the air. On Friday, the commander of the US Navy's 5th Fleet said a land or aerial attack could target civilians as the pirates are "irregulars -- they don't wear uniforms," Reuters reported. "If you're going to do kinetic strikes into the pirate camps, the positive ID and the collateral damage concerns cannot be overestimated," said Vice Adm. Bill Gortney. The strikes amount to an easy way out of the problem, he added The comments come while the Bush administration has presented the UN with the proposal that all the concerned parties be allowed to "take all necessary measures ashore in Somalia'' to tackle the problem. The imposing international naval armada dispatched to the Horn of Africa for the purpose has been conflicted about arresting the suspects in the absence of a guarantee that they would be subjected to due process. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 Besides which, the military has long term memories of the last time the US went into Somalia and how the military was hung out to dry by the incoming Dhimmocrat President. I don't see they as trusting Hussien to be less of a rat than Billy Bob Clinton was. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2008-12-13 18:19 |
| #6 It will be a somalian sea if the IN does not step up. I would imagine that the US is the eye in the sky for the IN and others. And that would be an appropriate role for the US. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-12-13 14:04 |
| #5 India is stepping up and doing a decent job It's the Indian Ocean, after all, not the Somalian Sea! |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-12-13 13:00 |
| #4 Its not our problem. India is stepping up and doing a decent job while getting good experience that will help them and us in the future. We both stand to benefit more having an Indian navy with practical experience and a level of comfort in using it. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2008-12-13 11:41 |
| #3 ROE: Any small boat within 500m of a ship underway is considered a target. Within 300m it and all aboard will be fired upon and killed, the boat destroyed. If they are boarding, kill them all. No issues that way. As for kinetic action against those inshore? Predators, hellfires and if they have family in there, oh well. They are putting our families at risk, time to do the same to them. That's the only language they understand. Seems this squid hasn't learned a damned thing from the land-side battles we fought in Iraq. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-12-13 11:05 |
| #2 So according to this commander if a Pirate takes his girlfriend on a raid with him then they can't be touched. If there's a girlfriend in the boarding party then you better not shoot toward them or anything. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2008-12-13 10:17 |
| #1 It's primarily a Euro and Arab problem, (plus to a lesser extent India and East Asia). Let them deal with it. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2008-12-13 09:19 |