Pirates take American yacht...what to do?

[mike_s]

Fourth, mandatory life sentence for any person convicted of piracy. .

F*** that.... to hell with "life sentence". ......hang or shoot their asses.



Americans on hijacked yacht slain, defense official says - CNN.com

 

[ONESPEED]

Let them get back to their village, then smoke the whole lot of them.

 

[Tao of the Dive]

Sadly all four hostages have been killed during negotiations.

Which shows that we are now well past the reasonable, civilized point where negotiations are still effective. These men ccould now be classified as terrorist pirates, and we do not negotiate with terrorists. And as irecall, they used to hang pirates, and leave them strung up to dissuade other locals from taking up arms.

 

[mike_s]

Which shows that we are now well past the reasonable, civilized point where negotiations are still effective. These men ccould now be classified as terrorist pirates, and we do not negotiate with terrorists. And as irecall, they used to hang pirates, and leave them strung up to dissuade other locals from taking up arms.

you would think that the US wouldn't have been soft on the last instance.

Yeah.. the SEALS shot/killed three of them, but he survivor they brought back to New York and put him in a jail cell nicer than where he was living in Somalia


and guess what, while he pled guilty, it wasn't to piracy. It was to hostage taking and kidnapping.


So now we are providing him a place to live, three meals a day, and cable TV.

 

[Cave Diver]

What is sad is that people like EmptyTank believe this would be OK because they knew the dangers

While I don't particularly think that it's ok, I do think a line has to be drawn somewhere. I'm all for people having an adventurous spirit and chasing their dream, but at what point should they quit expecting another group to put themselves in danger because they knowingly put themselves at risk?

No, I don't think that the pirates should be allowed to run amok unchecked, but when people undertake risky endeavors, they should have a decreasing expectation of help.

 

[drbill]

First, my condolences to the families and friends of those killed.

Second, one has to question the wisdom of anyone sailing into those waters alone.

Third, the Somali pirates began as an effort to prevent the large scale foreign fishing and dumping of toxic waste that was impacting their waters. On that basis I think they were right. However, it is very obvious that the initial, understandable focus has shifted into acts of piracy which need to be stopped.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Where were they picked up? Just as point of reference.....were they in international or Somolian waters?

While I don't particularly think that it's ok, I do think a line has to be drawn somewhere. I'm all for people having an adventurous spirit and chasing their dream, but at what point should they quit expecting another group to put themselves in danger because they knowingly put themselves at risk?

No, I don't think that the pirates should be allowed to run amok unchecked, but when people undertake risky endeavors, they should have a decreasing expectation of help.

 

[mike_s]

Where were they picked up? Just as point of reference.....were they in international or Somolian waters?

I believe they were 200+ miles offshore



Several years ago, the pirates came 10-20 miles offshore in "day boats". So the ships moved further offshore. This was just a short term solution, as pirates got longer range boats.

now they use "mother ships" that stand offshore 200+ miles and then launch smaller boats from it to take over ships.


Finding ships isn't hard. radar can see 50 miles or more (depending on model).


Heck, half the commercial ships out there can be tracked in real time on the internet and give their exact location. So all you need is one pirate on shore checking every now and then and then radioing that "this ship will be here in a few days".



"fake trials" in the court system aren't going to stop this.


this problem isn't going to get fixed until we start blowing their asses out of the water.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I believe they were 200+ miles offshore

That is my understanding as well (but am unable to locate where I heard that which is why I asked). I do not believe that anybody should expect their government to let them get murdered when they were not breaking the international water mark. Should we give the Somolians more ocean and make it 400 miles? 600 miles? If they were 50' off shore waving an american flag and mooning the pirates then yes, I would agree. They were not.

 

[mike_s]

That is my understanding as well (but am unable to locate where I heard that which is why I asked). I do not believe that anybody should expect their government to let them get murdered when they were not breaking the international water mark. Should we give the Somolians more ocean and make it 400 miles? 600 miles? If they were 50' off shore waving an american flag and mooning the pirates then yes, I would agree. They were not.

This says they were 275 statue miles off Oman.

BBC News - Somali pirates seize American yacht crew off Oman



so.... these were "long range" Somalia pirates that intentionally were along way from home.

this diagrams shows how far they are expanding now over the years...