www.CostaRicaTicas.com

How about opening a travel agency promoting vacations to NRA members.

They get to to vacation on a freighter in Somali waters on a merchant vessel.

It would be all inclusive...................... food, booze and pirate shooting.

It sure would be more fun than the cruises I've been on!

[quote="Gringo Malo"]In addition, I am thankfull that President Baskin-Robins was preoccupied with more important stuff( welcoming the new First Pooch to The White House)

Actually Obama gave authorization to the Navy to take the shots if the opportunity arose, but the dog was far bigger news than that! LOL

I agree with the board this is something we had to do and they did a great job. The sad part is it will do very little to deter the pirates, 3 or 4 more ships have already been seized. I just cannot believe that our Navy along with the rest of the world's navies can't stop the attacks. I don't think we should do it alone though, after all the majority of ships being pirated are not US flag carries, so the rest of the world needs to step up too. That being said, what the hell is our Navy doing for the most part any how? Is there a war in the South Pacific I haven't heard about? Let's put a fleet with an aircraft carrier or two over there and monitor the sea lanes. With the high tech resources available to us it just doesn't seem to me like it would be that hard to monitor. Create a maritime law that establishes a "no boat" area off the coast of Somali similar to the "no fly" zone we had in Iraq. Make it illegal to come within striking distance of a merchant ship. Like Jazzbo says these guys aren't Governments, they're thugs. Thugs understand only one thing. Catch their ass on the high seas closing in on a merchant ship and say.............. GOOD BYE! I don't think it would take that long before they figure out... It just ain't worth it. Hell, if cost is the problem why not pay for it by charging the shipping line for every save. It would probably be less than they are paying in ransoms now.

Before I start the next section I would like to say I'm a Vet and did my time at the end of the Vietnam Era. I know we MUST have a strong military (otherwise we wouldn't have the ability to do the kinds of things I outlined above) I do not advocate decimating our military. I only argue that much of the (expensive) weapons systems we have are designed more for conventional warfare than it is to fight the biggest dangers that face us today.

While we do the above WE MUST also do something to relieve the desperate situation that fuels the attacks in the first place. Is not providing clean drinking water, life saving medicines, food and sanitary conditions, to the worlds poorest people a lofty admirable goal? Personally, I think that is exactly what the US should be doing. We've spent the last 60 years or so (since WWII) climbing the ladder of success but we failed to bring the poorest of the poor with us. I think when we go back to being a country that does the right thing, the noble thing we will have a lot less hatred toward us. I know now, with our economy in the shape it is in spending more money on humanitarian issues isn't going to be popular but according to ONE.org, a humanitarian organization I belong to, the US spends less than 2% of our budget on all humanitarian aid. That in my opinion is shameful. The world is not the same place it was just 20 or 30 years ago. Today's threats aren't so much from governments as it is from religious fanatics (all of them Christian, Muslim, Jews), terrorist and as in this case pirates. Therefore the practices and policies that were adopted after WWII just don't apply. How many drinking wells could we dig for the cost of 1 B-1 bomber? How many villages could be irrigated and taught how to grow crops for the cost of 1 F-16? Malaria was eradicated in the US in 1949 but still today it kills nearly 900,000 people per year mostly Ch*ldren, infants and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. The drug to fight it cost only $2 per treatment. It saddens me to no end to know this. Maybe I'm foolish or naive to think we could actually make a difference in the world but I for one think we should try. If we do then maybe, just maybe we could end some of the the hate that is directed toward us.

This little handy dandy new weapon is all that is needed along with two Marines on each American ship and my bet is before long the piracy would stop. This weapon can really reach out and touch someone!

http://video.google.com/videosearch?cli ... &ct=title#

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^that should work just fine

A single M60 machine gun walking it's fire across the deck of a 30 foot pirate fishing boat would be effective especially from a higher deck shooting down. For the dummies who try to board at night under darkness, using night vision goggles to 'walk' tracer fire into the darkened boat would really deter attackers. Sink the boats, turn over surviving crew to Kenyan jails and watch this cancerous plague evaporate. If you want to be really punitive, use satellite tracking to track pirates back to their home harbors. Then send in an OH6 helicopter (think Magnum PI heavily armed helos) to sink them in their berths late at night so they can't get out to sea on their little raids.

I'm all for humanitarian support, but pirates and warlords would exist even if we turned that place into a Disneyland at taxpayer expense.

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Providing humanitarian assistance to self employed chicas, one cash grant at a time.

Double/triple post..

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Providing humanitarian assistance to self employed chicas, one cash grant at a time.

Sorry...

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Providing humanitarian assistance to self employed chicas, one cash grant at a time.

One or two pirate boats being sunk under Brother El Viejo's scenario will result in the pirates refining their tactics to include longer range weapons to not capture but cripple the targets. Where does that military scenario end? With those oceans awash in petroleum products to deny any nation's fishing the waters ( that over-fishing by the Japanese especially led to the folks turning to piracy--read Brother Prolijo's link that I referenced.) No, Brother El Viejo's 2-pronged attack of the problem makes much better long AND short term sense. The U. S. has a few military outfits whose tasks are both military and civilian oriented--the Special Forces in particular are both superior fighters and village/ nation builders. The SeaBees could also contribute mightily along with military support and the US Public Health Service in alleviating the horrendous suffering in the Horn of Africa, For an excellent summation that restates Bro Pro's points, please see:

www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/43085017.html

It's always easier to reach for the gun first--the trick is to use it only as a last resort when other means fail. That does not mean we appease Hitler/ that nutjob in North Korea/ the warlords in Somalia/ those wackos anywhere but rather convince him that his/their psychopathy to the contrary,he has or they have a whole lot more to lose than gain if he/they persists in acting. And by the way, let's leave Somalian waters to be fished by Somalians--I consider what's been done to them a sort of "marine piracy".

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I agree 100% with the article you provided and Somalian waters should be left to Somalians but remember the attacks are usually not in Somalian waters but rather in international sea channels.

My solution requires a two pronged approach that must be pursued with equal vigor. The big problem for Africa as a whole is they just don't have vast supplies of oil and therefore the west has shown very little interest in dealing with the political situations that have given rise to the extreme poverty that plagues most of the continent. The approach MUST be two pronged. Force to end the piracy / Compassion to end the suffering.

I suggest the best way we can improve our role in the world community is to start leading by example (again, as we did in WWII, which arguably may have been the last time we did) rather than by using economic sanctions and military might in dealing with foreign governments (as opposed to criminals and terrorist). Instead of feeding the huge "industrial war machine" (Dwight D. Eisenhower's words not mine and by the way if you have not seen the documentary "Why We Fight" you owe it to yourself to see it. Very powerful.) is it not possible to build an economic system that is fueled by industries that improve the living conditions millions of people around the world, improves the environment and makes us a country that is looked upon as someone to be emulated. When we do this and when I say we, I mean the ALL the rich countries of the world be can't do it alone, I believe people will be much less willing to harbor and support the very groups that threaten us the most. For those that believe the humanitarian approach will not work, I think one only needs to look at Humas to see this very principle in action (in reverse). Humas has built schools, provided sanitary conditions and fed the hungry. Even though Palestinians know Humas is radical, they support them because of the good they do for their people. Hitler did the exact same thing for Germany after WWI. Germany's economy was in shambles due to the retribution forced on them by the victors. He gave his people hope and even though he was, in my opinion, insane people supported him and gave rise to one of histories greatest villains. My point is by improving the lives of those suffering, we create supporters not enemies.

From the context, I'm guessing Brother KenLee was talking about a documentary by Eugene Jarecki (there were a series of WWII propaganda films by Frank Capra with the same title, also very good). Anyway, for more on this see:
www.imdb.com/title/tt0436971
Available for under $10 at Amazon and other outlets.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

"

That's it exactly Jazzbo. Thank you for clearing that up for me.

To expand on what KenLee wrote:

The cultures in places like Somalia are very primitive. The people are uneducated and lack the understanding of the luminaries on this Board.

Maslow pointed out in his theory of the Hierarchy of Needs that we must first satisfy our basic survival needs such as water, food and shelter. These people cannot satisfy those needs so they turn to the sea and thievery.

They are not concerned about the second level which is the need for safety. We know that because they do such unsafe things as allowing themselves to be towed behind a warship.

Most of us are at the third level which is seeking to fulfill our psychological needs meaning a sense of belonging and esteem.

It is very difficult to judge those people because they are so primitive by comparison. Primitive does not mean stupid nor does it mean they cannot be vicious fighters. They are just trying to survive and they found easy pickings in the shipping owners. They think the ship owners are stupid because they pay off like a slot machine. Take a ship get food and trinkets.

The strings of the pirates are pulled by very clever and fairly well education “war lords” who do not personally risk anything but get these desperate people to do the dangerous work.

An uneducated peasant or peon cannot fathom what a million dollars is, how on earth could they conceive complicated money transfers. But they do understand shiny new tokens or food or some other form of payment meted out by the “war lord”.

Economics is the key to resolving the problem. Through economic development they can move from the primal level of basic survival to the second level which is the need for safety and comfort. Once they feel relatively safe and comfortable they are in control of their lives. Then they have something to lose. Right now, they are just trying to survive and they don’t really have anything to lose.

Their relative successes of the pirates -- capturing ships and getting a pay off with minimal injuries or deaths - has paid off handsomely. But this is one of the first times they have met the business end of our Special Ops, highly trained men who have no peers. Not even the Brits who invented Special Ops can match our guys; they are finely honed machine which can surgically strike anywhere, anytime.

While killing the pirates is delightful to most of us, it will not resolve the problem because the problem is thousands of people who have no other way to survive.

Those three stiffs will be replaced and the sieges will continue. I think that the Administration and SoCom understand the long range resolution is not killing them but developing alternatives to the need for the desperate soul who have no other choices but to turn to the sea and those low and slow floating slot machines.

Just some thoughts. DC

Good examples of Maslow's theory in the real world. Thanks.

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Providing humanitarian assistance to self employed chicas, one cash grant at a time.

That was actually the first US merchant ship taken by pirates since the barbary war when Jefferson was preisident and tripoli declared war on the United States.
Piracy needs to be handled the same way it was in centuries past- with deadly overwhelming force against the pirates. Paying ransom or negotiating only encourages them as the they see profits increase. I believe we will see a multinational ( french, us, china. britain and russia) effort to effectively patrol the coast and stop ships. If they have weapons they are not fisherman. Any ship attempting to board or attack another vessel should be quickly destroyed. It will take some time but increasing the mortality rate of pirates will make piracy seem less attractive.

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I believe in moderation in everything except excess.
I phuck 'em just to see the look on their face.
Klatu, berata, nicto.

"Aside: I believe the long range record currently stands at 2660 meters held by an Australian. Seventy-five feet is pointblank for these guys!"

Yes it is but given the sea state they needed to be that close.

By the way nice looking bebi P55! Congrats.