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| Africa Horn | |
| Somali pirates to fight to last drop of blood | |
| 2008-10-06 | |
| Yeah, we've heard that before... MOGADISHU, Somalia -- A group of Somali pirates who have hijacked a tanker loaded with military supplies say they will fight to the death before giving in to Russian and U.S. authorities.
But a local official reported that the pirates turned down a demand from Islamist insurgents for some of the arms. The tense situation off the coast of Somalia began 11 days ago when the pirates took control of the Ukrainian vessel MV Faina. They have asked for a ransom of about $22 million, or 11 million British pounds, to release the 21 Ukrainian, Latvian and Russian hostages and the cargo. "If we are attacked we will defend ourselves until every last one of us dies," Sugule Ali, a spokesman for the pirates, said in an interview over satellite telephone from the ship. "We only need money and if we are paid, then everything will be OK," he said. "No one can tell us what to do." | |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #19 On the subject of ARCLIGHT strikes. Would it be possible to have the load out be all JDAMS with their impact point pre-programmed? I think this would allow for some interesting effects above and beyond the sheer awesomeness of just dropping iron bombs. |
| Posted by: Thurong Mussolini2697 2008-10-06 23:07 |
| #18 Old Patriot's answer to everything is ARCLIGHT. Its starting to get old. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2008-10-06 22:37 |
| #17 The devil's in the details. You'd have to time your arclight for when there weren't any hostages around. |
| Posted by: James 2008-10-06 20:37 |
| #16 I remember reading that during WWII, when Russians would catch a German soldier, they would pound shell casings into his kneecaps, and then ask him questions. They weren't really interested in what he had to say, they just enjoyed the idea that he was hoping for an easy death if he told them something interesting. No, no easy death from Russians. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-10-06 19:09 |
| #15 Use Q-Ships. Pirates attack the harmless looking ship, no more pirates. The much-cliched Q-ships are statistically and traditionally useless. And in the Rantburg drinking game, it's a 2-shooter. ARCLIGHT and BUFFs are one-shooters. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-10-06 17:59 |
| #14 "Can I get a YAR?" "Um, yar, I guess..." |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-10-06 17:54 |
| #13 Steve, big difference in cost; ARCLIGHT and other related dumb bombs are cheaper, much cheaper than the precision ordnance that is so in vogue with all the MBA-oriented warfighters ( oxymoron). Since all ordnance has a shelf life ( yeah it might blow up! imagine that) we might as well test it for effectiveness on the mussie rach motels. never saw John Wayne or Clint Eastwood count the shells when they were loading their gun and only putting in 1 bullet for each bad guy. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-10-06 17:02 |
| #12 As I have said before. The reason HOA did not attack the pirates, or deter piracy was a strategic policy that forced the HOA operational commander to shape his ROE's. Now the strategic policy has changed, and so are the ROE's. Look for Max Pain infliction at the source in the near future. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2008-10-06 16:49 |
| #11 Heh, NS. Carpet bombing is sooo last millennium. Nowadays the hot thing is a teensy dragonfly-sized guided munition that flies in your ear and makes your head explode. Instant death and no collateral damage. At least none that can't be fixed with a roll of paper towels and some Spray-n-Wash. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-10-06 15:44 |
| #10 OP wants an ARCLIGHT! Wasn't expecting that. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-10-06 15:31 |
| #9 ARCLIGHT strikes were multi-plane B-52 bombing raids (AKA "carpet bombing") in 'Nam. |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-10-06 15:09 |
| #8 I presume an ARCLIGHT is some kind of shell, probably one that lights up the sky and sends the cockroaches scurrying. Any further information for those of us not in the know about military hardware? |
| Posted by: mom 2008-10-06 15:06 |
| #7 What's a MOAB worth? |
| Posted by: ed 2008-10-06 14:35 |
| #6 I still say the US MUST hit somewhere in the Muddled East with an ARCLIGHT strike to be taken seriously. I do recommend one or more of the pirate ports as an initial pounding. When it's about 4/5 over, hit the ships with Navy SEALS. The pirates won't know what hit them. Until you've witnessed an ARCLIGHT strike, you cannot understand the sheet terror they instill in the recipients. Until the United States shows that it's not only the biggest, baddest dude on the block, but that it's got the biggest booms, we won't be taken seriously. It's time to put an end to all this nonsense and show the Somalis that they are messing with something far larger than they're capable of. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-10-06 14:33 |
| #5 .5MT, it's a 2 shotter if you're drinking bar label, a 1 shotter if you're appreciating a good single malt. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-10-06 14:29 |
| #4 No one can say they didn't understand how things will work when they engage the Ruskies. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-10-06 14:23 |
| #3 I can't remember the rules, in the Rantburg Drinking game is Q-ship a 1 or 2 shoter? |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-10-06 13:34 |
| #2 You don't defend all traffic. You don't attack "probably" pirate areas. Use Q-Ships. Pirates attack the harmless looking ship, no more pirates. |
| Posted by: flash91 2008-10-06 13:27 |
| #1 Maybe they'll get their chance... US to attack pirates? Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:53 The Unites States Navy has its eye on the land bases of Somali pirates, a US commander warned on Sunday. Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, commander of US naval forces in Europe and Africa, was speaking to media on board the cruiser USS Monterey, in Cape Town harbour. He said 20 000 ships passed the Somali coast every year, and to defend them all would require a naval force that did not exist any more. "That said, we know where the pirates live on land, and... I guess we won't go any further," he said with a laugh. "I can't predict, nor do I have knowledge of any operations there. But it's pretty clear where these people are coming out of. We'll see what happens." |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-10-06 13:12 |