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Horn of Africa Turns into Pirate Central
Piracy in Somalia replaces fishing as the most profitable industry.
The U.S. Navy says it appears pirates tried to attack a large U.S. military oil tanker earlier this week, according to a Reuters report.
“From all appearances it does look like it was a pirate attack and the incident is currently under investigation,” said a U.S. Fifth Fleet spokesman by telephone from Bahrain.
The attack was the latest chapter in an ongoing battle against modern-day pirates.
Under the cover of darkness, in the late-night hours of September 15, thirty French commandos from the elite frogman unit Hubert Commando were dropped from helicopters into dangerous waters somewhere off the coast of Somalia.
The combat divers swam with their night-vision goggles and waterproofed weapons up to the hijacked luxury yacht, the Carre D’as IV, and snuck on board using grappling hooks and ropes. There, the men entered into a gun battle with pirates who were holding two French nationals hostage. One pirate was killed and six were captured.
The following morning, French President Nicolas Sarkozy held a triumphant press conference at the Élysée Palace in Paris. France’s elite force of armed swimmers took 10 minutes to free Jean-Yves and Bernardette Delanne, Sarkozy said. The couple had been held captive since September 2; pirates wanted $1.4 million for their release.
“The world cannot accept [piracy]” Sarkozy said. France’s show of force was meant to be a “warning” to all pirates in the region, he said, adding “France will not accept that crime pays.” Sarkozy then called on world leaders to mobilize the United Nations Security Council to take action against “this plague” of piracy.
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Annie Jacobsen writes about aviation and intelligence. She blogs at TheAviationNation.com and is working on a new book for Little Brown and Company.
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28 Comments
1. RightwingHippieChick:The British navy has been told not to arrest pirates since they could claim asylum, or maybe, their human rights could be infringed.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1721735.ece
Sep 25, 2008 - 2:01 am 2. Typewriter King:If international bodies were willing to cede some sovereign territorial rights in Somalia to groups of privateers in exchange for cleaning up the riff-raff, the problem would vanish with a whimper.
I bet there are plenty would like to be awarded a duchy in Somalia.
Sep 25, 2008 - 3:33 am 3. Mike:“I bet there are plenty would like to be awarded a duchy in Somalia.”
- Yes, I’m sure many people would love nothing more than to be awarded control over a sliver of land in the crotch-rot center of the world that can’t be governed.
Right.
No, privateers would work, but other compensation would be needed.
Sep 25, 2008 - 5:52 am 4. Ernie G:They’re pirates, for cryin’ out loud. Why can’t the U. S. Navy just blow them out of the water and be done with it?
Sep 25, 2008 - 6:28 am 5. Louis Spielman:Its unfortunate too bad that the liberals and lovers of the third world, and the modern international lawyers, prevent the Navies of the world from utilizing the old law of the sea whereby ANY nation can hang a pirate.
I dare say that a Navy flotilla standing in to a Somali port with pirates swinging from the main yard arm would be most educational for the Somalis.
Sep 25, 2008 - 7:00 am 6. Joe Buzz:Lets see…are there any lessons from history about how to effectively deal with pirates? Nah lets wring our collective hands….a soft world is the criminal’s plum.
Sep 25, 2008 - 7:01 am 7. dan:F-cking execute them. Why is it that only counsel for the pernicious scum have balls these days? “But we’re so much stronger!” the liberal confused cried. Why does anyone listen to these lobotomized fools? What a plague they are.
Sep 25, 2008 - 7:50 am 8. rocketeer:When did we lose our collective minds? The only way you can deal with vermin like this is complete, overwhelming, dominating force. These people are punks in row boats. One Coast Guard cutter on patrol for about a month with orders to blow away these dorks would fix the problem right now.
Sep 25, 2008 - 8:07 am 9. Dave ll:I took a look at your “live piracy map”…and Somalia comes in 5th on the list for piracy attacks! Nigeria and Indonesia are #1 and #2!
Maybe Somalia is getting some attention here because of their proximity to oil shipping lanes or maybe their success in getting ransoms for their thievery, I don’t know..but it looks like they are no better (or worse) than several other areas of the world.
Oh…and I know it’s not a PC thing to bring up here…but all 3 countries are full of your basic Muslim 101 jihadists.
The “Religion of Peace” strikes again!
Sep 25, 2008 - 9:48 am 10. Will:Pirates? There Muslim Terrorists From The 9th Century.
Sep 25, 2008 - 10:00 am 11. Bwrightz:Just a nit-picky observation:
Under Article 101 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (which the US never actually signed, but nevertheless acknowledges as controlling), acts of shipborne thievery must occur on the high seas – outside of state territorial waters – in order to actually meet the definition of piracy. Piratical acts occurring within state jurisdictional areas are simply acts of shipborne robbery subject to national (rather than international) controls.
This is an important distinction, because the UNCLOS, and international law in general, do not allow one nation’s agents to interfere with the operation of another nation’s vessels, unless the flag nation acquiesces. However, ANY nation may arrest pirates (as defined under UNCLOS), regardless of flag-state acquiescence, and exercise jurisdiction over the arrestees. These Somali vessels, operating in Somali waters, are not technically pirates, and therefore not subject to non-Somali interference, without Somali acquiescence.
Why Somalia _wouldn’t_ agree to help from an outside nation (and why/whether such a request hasn’t been made) — and whether the Somali government is functional enough to actually be considered a state at all — is another question altogether…
Sep 25, 2008 - 10:06 am 12. Joe:Too bad the report didn’t go into how the pirates were shelled, and the survivors fed to pigs and sharks.
Sep 25, 2008 - 10:57 am 13. AndrewJ:I foresee a whole lot of nothing done until we start doing what Sarkozy sent his boys in to do on a massive scale.
Rescue all hostages. Kill all pirates. Done and done.
Sep 25, 2008 - 11:13 am 14. LL:Good point, yup the top three are from Muslim countries…Those Muslims are just full of love.
Sep 25, 2008 - 11:44 am 15. Piracy: Everyone’s Concern « Tai-Chi Policy:[...] 25, 2008 Posted by taoist in Crime, Security. trackback Pajamas Media has a report about how piracy along the horn of Africa is getting even worse. This isn’t really anything new, piracy is also a growing threat along the coast of southeast [...]
Sep 25, 2008 - 11:52 am 16. Shef Rogers:I’ll freely admit I’m not interested in Somali pirates at the moment My question is this: Why is PJM wasting electrons on articles like this in the midst of the biggest economic crisis of my lifetime?
Sep 25, 2008 - 12:27 pm 17. Cletus:Don’t count on the British to deal with any pirates. It might lead to violations of the pirates “human rights”.
Sep 25, 2008 - 1:18 pm 18. asdf:What’s bizzare is that merchant ships aren’t allowed to have any weapons on board, and thus are defenseless. Kinda like D.C. Why is the U.S. supporting such stupidity? Piracy is like homelessness–a few bullets in the back of some heads, word gets around, problem solved….
Sep 25, 2008 - 3:41 pm 19. WR Jonas:Non military ships are armed with some sort of sound cannon which actually bombards the enemy combatants with sound bursts. It has been used successfully sevaral times but I agree with most of the folks here, swing em’ from the yardarm. Absolutely 100 % effective.
Sep 25, 2008 - 6:58 pm 20. Georg Felis:I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. I think we should advance these pirates all the rights they deserve.
Rights of Pirates
Sep 25, 2008 - 9:29 pm 21. steveballmer:You have the right to experience Naval Gunfire.
You have the right to expect a short drop with an abrupt stop.
You have the right to take an attorney with you. Take two, they’re cheap.
You have the right to feed an endangered shark in person.
You have the right to discover God. Personally and quickly.
You have the right to become an example to your friends as “What Not To Do”
I have always wanted to meet jack sparrow!
Sep 25, 2008 - 9:59 pm 22. Lugh Lampfhota:Since no government nor the UN will deal with piracy on a systematic basis perhaps the time has come for NGOs with naval combatants and air power. Probably a security corporation hired by shipping and insurance companies. We can all stand idly by as this company bombs the “city” of Eyl to rubble as an example for other muslim pirates.
Of all the problems in this world, two stand out prominently, one is the islamic crime syndicate and the other is governments that won’t perform their basic function of providing common security. If these twin problems are not addressed the result will be the collapse of nation-states and chaos.
We better demand that government do it’s job or our grandchildren will face a bleak future.
Sep 26, 2008 - 6:51 am 23. Bernard Chapin:This was an excellent and informative article. Thanks!
Sep 26, 2008 - 10:40 am 24. Dave Hardy:Put a .50 caliber M2 on each civilian vessel, and a pair of night vision goggles, and watch how quickly the attacks cease. I rather doubt the piratical vessels are up to absorbing a hundred round belt of armor-piercing and armor-piercing incendiary. Or maybe a 20 mm if you want to go fancy.
Sep 26, 2008 - 2:22 pm 25. fred:President Thomas Jefferson bought a Qur’an in London and brought it home and read it.
Islam and Muhammad’s career was revived and then took off in Yathrib (Medina)after an inauspicious start in Mecca where he apparently only had about ten converts. At Yathrib he tried a different tack. He had his sock puppet deity, “Allah,” “reveal” to him that he was to engage in robbery of the caravans, and this helped him to recruit the youngest, disinherited sons of Arab families and the criminal elements in that community. The lure of booty, women, the chance to murder people, and the promise of an afterlife paradise all bulked up his following.
Piracy and robbery are firmly rooted in the oldest traditions of Islam and follow from Muhammad’s example.
The Muslim pirates of Barbary had a lot of success for years obtaining the jizya from the United States and other nations. After he got up to speed about Islam, Thomas Jefferson strongly clashed with his friend John Adams, who wanted to continue paying the jizya while Jefferson wanted to end it. When Thomas Jefferson took office he gave the Muslim pirates the cold, hard steel.
The piracy off the Horn of Africa is just another form of jihad, with the pirates feeling entitled to collecting the jizya.
What should be done? I think you know where I stand on the issue, but others will see through the prism of their own understanding of what is happening there. I recommend more Americans wake up and take Jefferson’s lack of intellectual sloth seriously. Jefferson would find the intellectual sloth of our elites scandalous.
Sep 26, 2008 - 8:15 pm 26. blogengeezer:Onward “Christian Pirates’, Marching as to War”. Oh wait I guess there have not been that many ‘Christian Pirates’? OK, I think I have got it now. “Onward Islamic Pirates’. There, I think that describes it better? Hurry we need more of them in every leadership position around the entire world. Then it will be sooo much safer…
Sep 26, 2008 - 8:26 pm 27. john from cinncinati:where do i sign for my letter of mark so i can go hunting pirates, then the governments revokes it because you did the wrong pirate. then they call you a pirate and hang you. yes private security. Blackwater maybe. the lawless muslim pirates will be the first ones in the Hague demanding protection. mean while they cut your head off and put the video on You tube. they don’t see anything wrong with that, because after all its pirate tradition and you must respect that. bandits on land and pirates by sea… kill them all and let god sort them out.
Sep 26, 2008 - 9:06 pm 28. walters:they should doe like they did in the old days when you capture 5or 6 pirates put gang plank on front your boat goe to the most shark infested waters make them walk the gang plank after word got out on this theyd think twice befor atempting to board sea vessle
Oct 28, 2008 - 11:27 pm