Re: U.S. Navy kills pirates - Captain held by Somali pirat...

[Guest guest]

Other stories have said that the raid was predicated because officials in the Somali port the lifeboat had tried to reach said they would not arrest the men for piracy, nor would they help release the hostage.

This talk of needing a legal system is very amusing. There is a legal system already, but it is one that ties the hands of nations trying to deal with the pirates. Very typical really of the Western legal system where the criminals have all the advantages.

All that needs to be done is to return to the old law of the sea, the way it was before lawyers mucked it up. Any approach of a small vessel full of men should be considered an attempt at piracy and the crew and naval escort should respond appropriately. Commercial ships should speed up and naval vessels open fire. Raids against ports known to harbor pirates would also help. I don't mean ground forces per se, but rather naval bombardment of boats in the ports, particularly the larger ones they use as mother ships to get hundreds of miles out to sea.

Something else that needs to happen is for some of those investors and bankers who are helping launder the pirate's ransoms and loot need to be targeted. This can be quasi-legally by freezing their assets, direct criminal charges or other means. Make it harder for the pirates to do business and they will slow down.

For all the talk about the Somali pirates, little is being said about the ones in the Straits of Malacca between Indonesia and Malaysia. Those pirates ARE the ones who will kill entire crews to seize the ship. They are also very well organized, trained and very violent. According to the reports I have seen, most of them come from Indonesia and the government either won't or can't do anything about them.

There is also a small amount of Piracy in the Caribbean, but mostly against small boats like yachts, though smaller snatch and grabs against bigger ships might happen, but I don't know.

In a message dated 4/12/2009 3:48:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

U.S. captain held by Somali pirates freed Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.