Article

2012-04-03 Africa Horn

Guards, razor wire help keep Somali pirates at bay - NATO

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Posted by Besoeker 2012-04-03 05:59|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ] Top

#1 Offense would be better.

Posted by Frank G 2012-04-03 09:36|| 2012-04-03 09:36|| Front Page Top

#2 pirate-pummelling water pumps

Using a surplus WWII flame thrower would also be useful in demotivating the pirates.

Posted by Chemist 2012-04-03 13:30|| 2012-04-03 13:30|| Front Page Top

#3 Cauldrons of boiling oil would work well.

Posted by gorb 2012-04-03 15:42|| 2012-04-03 15:42|| Front Page Top

#4 "Armed security guards on board the merchant vessels is very effective means of protecting them"

Ironic, considering the amount of hyperventilating when armed guards were first employed.

Posted by Pappy 2012-04-03 16:14|| 2012-04-03 16:14|| Front Page Top

#5 Ironic, indeed. I don't know whether the fuss was over men with guns (oh noes!) or that the pirates (indigenous brown-skinned people engaging in their charming tribal customs) might get shot without due process.

Rather than iron-clad protection, security often means simply making it difficult enough that the baddies to go somewhere else for their boodle. Compared to the expense of losing and ransoming a ship and crew, men with guns sounds very cost effective.

Posted by SteveS 2012-04-03 17:04|| 2012-04-03 17:04|| Front Page Top

#6 Seems like we won't need the Q ships after all.

Pity...

Posted by Steve White 2012-04-03 17:17|| 2012-04-03 17:17|| Front Page Top

#7 On a slightly more serious note, I get the concerns some had about arming merchant ships. There were issues about ports, arms training and handling, storage, licensing and so on. I get that it's a thorny problem, but it wasn't an insolvable problem.

Lo and behold when the insurers got tired of paying, and the owners got tired of paying, and the sailors got tired of sitting in stir in Puntland, the problem got solved.

Posted by Steve White 2012-04-03 17:18|| 2012-04-03 17:18|| Front Page Top

#8 Piracy costs "costing the world economy up to $12 billion a year."

Better impose an individual mandate for piracy insurance...

Posted by American Delight 2012-04-03 17:47|| http://moneyjihad.wordpress.com/ 2012-04-03 17:47|| Front Page Top

#9 Don't give them any ideas.

Posted by gorb 2012-04-03 18:56|| 2012-04-03 18:56|| Front Page Top

#10 Would have been easier to NOT PAY RANSOMS in the first place + shoot first. Sigh. It is almost easy to sympathize with the pirates, considering the incentives that have been offered in the past.

Posted by Scooter McGruder 2012-04-03 20:01|| 2012-04-03 20:01|| Front Page Top

#11 Finally, the Somali's get the bullet-point we sent out.

Posted by Charles 2012-04-03 21:01|| 2012-04-03 21:01|| Front Page Top

23:59 Rjschwarz
23:46 JosephMendiola
23:40 Thing From Snowy Mountain
23:29 USN, Ret.
23:27 USN, Ret.
23:15 swksvolFF
23:14 USN, Ret.
22:39 Barbara
22:19 canalzone
21:49 JosephMendiola
21:41 Procopius2k
21:32 Odysseus
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21:23 Iblis
21:19 lord garth
21:14 Frank G
21:03 Charles
21:01 Charles
20:34 Besoeker
20:14 Frank G
20:11 Steve White
20:01 Scooter McGruder
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19:56 JosephMendiola