Somali women flocking to port in hope of marrying pirates

I would think that with all the modern, high-tech surveillance and other monitoring equipment that is available,"suspicious boats" could be monitored and intercepted somehow whether by aircraft or watercraft. I know it is a large area, but some of these devices are pretty sophisticated and could provide invaluable information concerning potential pirate activities.

Kill them all, blow up their boats. What other "responce" is available? Make them tea? Bake a cake? They do it because they can get away with doing it; make the price too high, and it will go away.

Every pirate needs a wench!

Until ALL the countries whose ships have been attacked make some concerted effort to stop this piracy, it will continue. And until the world community of nations makes it clear that piracy will not be condoned, it will grow.

An interesting fact was that the American ship did not have any type of weapons on board for them to use to protect themselves. I agree that violence isn't the long-term answer, but why are we allowing our own people to go into danger zones with no way to defend themselves? Where are the NRA protests? Where are the military ships we have patrolling there? Could they not do like was done in WW2 and form convoys of ships, guarded by military ships?

There's actually a relatively simple and cheap solution to this problem.

Merchant vessels are unarmed; however, they carry a ton of fuel oil to run their main engines. Simply run a pipe into the fuel tanks, add a pump, then run pipes down each side of the ship with some atomizer nozzles and an ignitor.

When the pirates pull alongside, you active the pumps, spray fuel oil on them and their boat, ignite it, and leave them burning in your wake.

Cheap and easy.

Want to end this problem real easy, keep weapons onboard train the crew and if or when attacked show no mersy kill them and drop them overboard. Once the bodies wash ashore (or become shark bait) maybe it will sink in you dont take on the ships.

Why not a military solution: equip every American ship with RPG's, one man trained to use them, and announce to these animals we're going to blow them out of the water if they come within oone hundred miles of an American vessed. That wouls send a very appropriate message.

Sounds like they need to hire armed ex-soldiers as the crew.

If we cant stop 17th century-like "piracy" off the Horn of Africa in the 21st century, How are we going to deal with better armed and better trained terroist cells around the world?? Maybe we need to just let the East India Tea Company handle it? Take that Jack Sparrow !

I found this article interesting and very true!

Of course, given the fact that Somalians face some of the worst living conditions in the world, the piracy option is very attractive. The name of the game of their daily struggle is "survival of the fittest"...what are their alternatives???

We wants the redhead!!

With regard to " the cost of doing business ". Are the corporations able to deduct these payments as cost of doing business? If so, they have no incentive to not keep paying. If the payments to pirates were out of profits there might be a different attitude toward " just paying ". Perhaps legislation would help.

Aaarrrgh!

I'm not sure killing them would be a deterent. Ask yourself, would you rather live in Somalia, or die at sea raiding a cargo ship? If you think the answer is obvious, you need to visit Somalia.

ARRRRRRR !

What ever happened to not negotiating with terrorists? If they are getting paid 50 to 100 million a year in ransom, why can't we nip it in the bud? Giving them what they want will only make them come back, possibly even in higher numbers. I agree with Holmes, a military siolution is the best way to go here.

I agree with Richard, give them fair warning that they are in danger of being shot at and if they don't leave the area just use artillery. I know most of these ships don't carry weapons, but in these times it may be necessary to equip all vessels privately owned with them.

'...shores of Tripoli..." Ring a bell? Every current and former U.S. Marine could tell you that if it weren't for the valor of young Lt. Pressly O'Bannon that they'd still be taking our ships off Libya's coast.

The question is: who is going to pay for the extra cost associated with it; the burden is going to be the shipping company customers and then, they will push it to the consumers like you and me!!! If so, then, how do we reduce and share the cost... ??!!!

Simply include them in the new immigration bill and make them US citizens. Then they can collect unemployment, social security, free lunch programs, and maybe even free health care. Not to worry. The Chinese will be happy to lend us money to pay for it all.

This is almost ridiculous. Here we are in the United States debating on national TV how to get these attacks to stop. It does not take rocket science to figure this out! Use the technology that we have, share if we have too with out countries, and blast these boats to Timbucktoo (Which in reality isn't all that far, LoL!). Why are debating this? Why aren't we using weapons that can clearly take care of these pirates? This is just insane. Don't use this area to ship goods through and if it's needed, use weapons to get these thugs away from the boats. Don't waste time or money debating this, seriously!

It is unreal that we are not fighting back against these pirates. It doesn't make a bit of sense. There is no excuse to let this keep happening. In the old days, ships fought back. It is almost surreal that we now once again have pirates but we are too politically correct to shoot them. Just let them have the booty. Disgusting.

Are you people crazy? Jackie?

April 9th, 2009 12:37 pm ET

"Until ALL the countries whose ships have been attacked make some concerted effort to stop this piracy, it will continue. And until the world community of nations makes it clear that piracy will not be condoned, it will grow.

An interesting fact was that the American ship did not have any type of weapons on board for them to use to protect themselves. I agree that violence isn’t the long-term answer, but why are we allowing our own people to go into danger zones with no way to defend themselves? Where are the NRA protests? Where are the military ships we have patrolling there? Could they not do like was done in WW2 and form convoys of ships, guarded by military ships?"

Do you realize how expensive and stupid that is?

We're not facing a pack of German U-boats. We're facing young men who have found a way out of their crappy and meaningless lives.

I say this, why not send Marines and the Navy to clean up the problem. Heck, it worked in the Barbary Wars when Thomas Jefferson was president...

Why not just erase Somalia from the map with a Nuke! Problem solved. Anyone else wants a piece of the action nuke them too!

Yes, Michael. That wouls send a very appropriate message. don't come within oone hundred miles of an American Vessed!
You, sir, are an idiot. That's just what we need, RPG's on civilian ships with one lone person responsible for using it.

We've already dealt with this problem. Thomas Jefferson sent the US Marines to the Barbary Coast. That's why the Marine Hymn says "to the shores of Tripoli." What ever happened to "don't mess with the U.S."? I guess a "modern, Eurpoean Nation" like the United States just negotiates with terrorists.

They should have just used uTorrent.

Lets just give the pirates a huge amount of cash (around the same amount as the AIG bailout), so that the United States can keep looking stupid.. Pirate solution..? Follow them back to their hometown, and later, drop a few bombs on them and see how many more ships they hijack in the future. If we can have airline pilots with handguns on our world wide planes, then we sure the heck can have ships armed also for protection against these pirates (who from the videos, look like some are only teenagers).

You all overlook the obvious, just stop paying.

The incentive is money, take it away. In the short run they hold the boat and crew hostage longer, and maybe they even notch it up a level and kill some hostages. Stand firm, dont pay. Eventually they will stop.

Somali Piracy will continue until the pirates and their town are utterly destroyed or Somali is bribed into normalcy. Either solution is only temporary now that Piracy has entered Somali culture. The history of the Barbary Pirates is quite relevant here.

RPG's on board, I like it. If the airline industry can justify the pilots carrying pistols, certainly the maritime time people should be justified in carrying heavy duty weapons for protection.

...arrrrgh....

I agree with Michael. Put one trained person on board with a machine gun, etc. Blast them out of the water.

I have to agree. Kill them all. They are going to keep doing this sort of thing until something stops them. We have such a wide array of technology now that it should be easy to keep a very close eye on them. If people don't want to kill them, threaten them. Do something. We can't just let this sort of thing keep happening.

And honestly, I find it very sad that women are flocking to these ports to possibly marry one of these creeps. It's terrible that the country is in such shape that the women are like that. We still need to do something. We're losing more money by just letting them pirate us. Bullets are cheaper.

The problem is that you can't necessarily arm vessels that travel into the ports of foreign countries. Think about this... would you want a Russian or Chinese container ship that had RPGs, Flamethrowers, or any weapons pulling into San Fransisco bay or Boston harbor? I'm pretty sure there are plenty of international laws that prevent just this sort of occurance. So arming the container ships isn't a viable solution. The idea of convoys with military escorts would be far more workable.

I agree with Ian R !!!!!!!!!!!

The simple short term solution is a military escorted convoy system until the the long term solution resolving the political inistability in the country and living conditions improve substantially.

I think most of these comments shows how little the public understands the problem.

Risk of death is not a deterrent when you're living in somalia, the conditions in somalia are so bad that the risk vs. reward of piracy is too great. Even if they die while trying to hijack a ship.

You have to fix the underlying proverty / lawlesness of somalia and then the risk of dying while doing piracy will seem too great.

Give the pirates access to the TARP like everybody else. Taxpayers can foot the bill.

How is "Women flock to port to marry pirates" not a great t-shirt candidate?

They aren't killing people, so it is kind of hard to justify taking them out with snipers. (But it isn't out of the question. They are carrying AK-47s) The area needs an armed internationally accepted escort service, immune to Somalia's "arms trafficking" BS laws to keep a safe corridor.

The pirates reneged on their exchange agreement. Why you anyone expect them to even honor some sort of pirate code, or even have honor or morals?

If this were a Russian ship, I'm sure that Putin would have blown up the boat WITH the captain by now.

4 snipers and 4 headshots would send a good message to not mess with the U.S.

We'll just need to wait this out.

Majority of Somalians are poor, uneducated, and morally ignorant due to the conditions of the country's lack of leadership. The people's souls are lost. What do you think will happen? The Somalian president is probably related to a pirate. I love Ian R's solution. nice.

Easy fix, arm the boats traveling through the area. I'm not sure why this is so difficult a concept for people to comprehend. If all the sailors had guns, the pirates would stop hijacking them because they would die. Its like waving food infront of a starving person and saying "please don't take the food, if you do we will pay you more money than you could ever imagine, but please don't take it."

the international world UN mainly are run by a bunch of pussies. Everyone is scared of hurting someones feelings no matter how much they steal from you.

Everyone seems to think these pirates value their own lives. The point of the article is that conditions are so bad in Somalia that risking your life is a small price to pay for the potential reward. The way to stop the piracy is two-fold. Work to improve conditions in Somalia, and make the consequences of piracy worse than the alternative. Right now, the alternative is die on the ground with no hope, or die at sea with the possibility of getting rich. Which would you take in that situation?

Its really very simple AND cheap. Arm the merchant ships. Arm them to the teeth! Im talking a few five inch deck guns, maybe a few shoulder fired missiles, AKs and or M16s, and side arms. There is NO reason what so ever to have merchant ships on the open seas, unarmed and open to attack. You sure as heck wouldnt catch me on the open sea unarmed!

Arming huge merchant ships with the gear I have spoke of will quickly render the pirate operations unfeasible. A lightly armed merchant ship would make mincemeat of Somali's in their jon boats!

It appears that 4 people on a small boat with automatic weapons have taken over a ship with 20 crewmen on it. Would it not be cheaper to put armed guards on these vessels then to keep paying ransom to these pirates?

Yarrrr.... It's a good time to be a pirate. Plenty of booty and plenty of booty.

I wonder why every comment that mentions killing them has spelling errors?

IT IS MY HUMBLE THEORY THAT SOME OF THE "SERVICE" MEN IN EACH OF THOSE HIJACKED SHIPS ARE WORKING TOGETHER WITH THE PIRATES. IT IS VERY SUSPICIOUS THEY ATTACK THE SHIPS WHERE THE CREW IS UNARMED. .. HERE IT COMES MY QUESTION: HOW COME, AFTER ALL THESE HIJACKING AND AFTER KNOWING THESE WATERS ARE FULL OF PIRATES, THERE ARE STILL SHIPS WHICH DO NOT HAVE ARMED CREWS? SOMETHING IS FISHY IN FISHLAND.

The answer to this problem is simple. The west should stop selling arms to those rogue nations so that the war on the ground will stop in all those countries.

Hypocrisy will not help. Unless there is arms sale embargo to those failed states- Somalia, Eriteria, Ethiopia, and even militants in Nigeria, nothing can be achieved- PERIOD.

You don't send food aid with one hand and sell arms and amunition with the other hand and expect peace.

isn't this problem over a year old? why don't the US Europe and Russia have over 50 destroyers and smaller patrol boats in that shipping lane? What about a small carrier with helicoptors

the US needs a Constitutional amendment to ban the marriage of pirates and wenches

The only way to handle pirates is the tried and true traditional method used succesfully for hundreds of years.

Find the pirate base, destroy it, and sink every boat in the vicinity. After that monitor the area for new boats which you continue to sink until none are left and the price of piracy has become to high for those who have chosen piracy as a career option.

Sadly we are in the situation we are in becuase of two factors: (a) lawyers who want to practice law with pirates who could not care less about the law and (b) the press which will immediately jump on any nation or military when they use the iron fist to solve the problem.

This problem will very much continue until someone decides to go medieval and solve the problem! Pirate cannot operate for long without a fixed base and that is there achiles heel.

Some of these ransoms they're paying is ridiculous. $3 million. For MUCH LESS that you can hire a few well trained private soldiers to patrol these boats & defend them. It would also be telling the crew that you care about their lives. That's what I would do.

That is a lot of money in Africa. Wow!

Idiots, talk about desperate housewives.

In a CBC news report yesterday, the Somalis were described as angry fisherman whose livelihoods were destroyed by foreigners fishing in their waters. There is no Somali government to defend its territory. Also many nations are dumping their toxic wastes on Somali shores. The locals have responded by taxing all those nations involved in the only way they could. So, it is a tricky situation to resolve.

Maybe we should give the Somali pirates some stimulus money and hope they go away. Everyone else is getting it why not somali pirates?

It the UN worth pirating? NAH!

When I think pirate, I think ARRRGH

There are too manky ways to solve this> the problem is we have a stupid government in place now. How about back in the 1800's the same thing was true. Exactly , muslums pirates, we sent in the marines and cleaned it up. It was then called Tripoli, from the halls of Tripoli. Do it again, history repeats itself, it worked once. SEND IN THE MARINES. Not with chicken Obama in charge, we are to arrogant,. Another Presidental waste.

Yeah, they live in a hell-hole, but they made it themselves.

I like the way these people in the comment section think. They understand that the number of pirates skyrockets when they are paid by the people who they stole from and live like kings. Death has a way of taking the incentive out of the recruiting process. Sure the piracy problem won't disappear if we meet force with force, but it sure will keep the number and boldness of the pirates down within manageable ranges. And then maybe we can try some futile nation building exercise with the help of the defunct UN, you know just to keep the hippies happy.

This is why our founding fathers gave us the second amendment. The merchant ships have the right to defend themselves and their cargo. They have the right to not go out and be sitting ducks! Arm the crew and Train them on how to defend themselves and when to use deadly force. Mount a few 50 calibers to the ships and give pirates fair warning of the concequences if they get too close. Send a strong message, "DON'T TREAD ON ME." Paying ransom will only reward the existing behavior.

Let's send some ninja over to deal with the pirates.

If not, then I'd like to see all of our worlds naval assistance in the area move in on somalias ports, start searching and controlling. I don't know if the Somali gov would give us a thumbs up or not but who cares.

I agree with you guys – here's my question? I realize that large military ships can't protect the entire area – BUT, I think these AL guys were chased for hours. Why can't we zip off a helicopter or airplane from a navy ship once they receive a distress call to blow the pirates out of the water – quick & effective!

Why not send decoy ships? Have them look like the unarmed ships but have commandos aboard who will take care of the pirates when they try to board. In the present situation with a ship's captain held hostage in a lifeboat: send in some Seals to rescue him.

I am agash that there is no technical way by all the US agencies doing info gathering business to be able to track the mother ships of these low life and then dispatch a warship to take it off. You tell me a dingny can take a cargo ship 350 miles off coast, get the f... mother ship off water and none of these will happen far off the coast. The reason this is happening is that there is no real motivation by the one able to do it to do so, it doesn;t hurt back home, so we will pretends to care by disapatching a handful of ship to patrol over millions, yes millions of square miles of oceans, a joke, and then we obey by the rules of the sea against a group who simply don;t, come on. We do not want to really deal with this til it hits our backyard, point.

Duh. We ARE the United States.......we can't take care of Blackbeard the Pirate? Are we afraid of his parrot? C'mon, wake up....arm those merchant vessels, you idiots.

Get an Old frighter and put mercenary's on it and kill them as the try to come aboard. Then go troll somplace else for some more to kill.

I find it totally ridiculous that in a day and age such as this, this lunacy is going on. Raid Somalia, round these bastards up, put their asses on a freighter and blow it up at sea. End of discussion. And yes, I'm Black. Wrong is wrong. And this is definitely wrong.

Argggghhh.
Grab their eye patch and pluck their parrot.

Pirates are still around? And we didnt see them coming??

Let's send those women back a bunch of dead pirates to marry.

This is the perfect situation for the United Nations to show its potential. The situation affects many nations, and can be solved best with collective effort

Coming from current Naval Officer, to monitor that much water is virtually impossible without shifting significant resources(ships/planes.etc) which can be done for only for a short duration. Bigger problem is prosecuting the pirates once caught. Somalia has no standing court system. Kenya lets us prosecute some but have to bascially catch them in the act. Short term solution is stopping pirates, long term solution is removing appeal/need for piracy. A big reason a lot of Somali's are had to shift away from fishing is due to fact no one was enforcing their fishing exclusion zone.

The US won't do anything, not because we lack the means, but because we lack the will. We've got more money than stones, and the pirates are taking both. This humiliation can easily end whenever we decide to grow a pair and end it. I'm going out to get my USN tattoo removed and buy a dress.

Captain Somalian Softfoot here. I just would like to say that with my new found riches I was able to purchase this here computer to post in ye article. Me mates and I have been terrorizing the high seas here for quite some time, and while the money is easy, all those lonely nights at sea is tough.

its nice to have a throng of women come to the beach when we return to shore. The men become restless all those nights out at sea.

"Every Pirate needs a vwench,"?- May be in hell!

Everyone suggesting violent reactions by crew are missing the point, if your a freight sailor, your not a militant, chances are you have little or no miliatry training.

What you are facing is a guerilla force that operates on the open seas.

Advantage Pirates.

One solution is for private security companies to offer chaperone services, and handle the violence with trained paid ex-military. Paid for by the shippers hiring the services. Their ability and resources would be far superior to the gurilla forces, and after one or two pirate ships being sunk, the word would be out that if there are two ships traveling together than one is a protector.

Sure this is an expensive solution, but its cheaper than the alternative. With proper communication and planning between shipping companies, one security ship could serve a convoy of ships from multiple companies even. The expense could be split and problems solved on all levels.

No, no, no. The "root causes" of piracy are not poverty and governmental instability. The root cause is that there are bad bastards who will do evil things to get what they want. And a perfectly acceptable solution to that root cause is to make the eager wives of these pirates into their widows.

During WWII merchant ships were armed with deck guns to thwart off German U-Boats. Why, as some have said above, is it so hard to place a contingent of guards with a couple .50 cal's and plenty of ammo on these ships?? That would solve everything. Money talks, and i'm sure there are PLENTY of inactive Marines willing to do it, if the price is right.

Wow. I have to say I'm appalled at some of these other comments. So these poor people live in an ungoverned society that's pretty much abandoned them to their own devices and thus they obviously turn to a life of crime, so the best solution is just to start killing them off? These are human beings, too, you know. They haven't been overly violent in taking these ships – the crews are released unharmed in most cases. Treating them like animals will only cause them to arm more and become more violent themselves and make the US and the other affected countries look like huge bullies who refuse to use any other option besides wanton violence to solve their problems. The cost thus far has only been in dollars, why would you want to add human lives to it? Where the hell is your compassion?

I always wonder where the United Nations are in cases such as this in Somalia.

The answer is simple: Kill the pirates.

They decided their life was forfeit as soon as they decided to take something forcefully that did not belong to them.

Self Defense is a human right.

Here's a simple non-lethal solution. The army has a "ray Gun" that makes the water underneath the skin boil to 130 degrees instantly. Put that on a ship and boil a pirate into submission.

The proper response is to arm merchant ships with military assault rifles of whatever type and train selected crew members in their use. Once ther pirates see water geysers from bullet impacts walking towards them, they will lose interest and shear away.

I was in the Navy, and discussed this with another ex-sailor at the train station this morning. The ships should turn towards the pirates, reducing their profile, increase speed, and bear down on them.

If they pull within close enough range to engage the pirates, they should try to hole the hull, and leave the boat in a sinking position. Make sure it sinks, and leave the survivors in the water to the sun and the sharks. When they stop returning to port, their friends will get the message soon enough.

Ahoy, me thought this story was great but I'm afraid you'll catch on t' my job and steal my gold Aye, me parrot concurs.

Heres my problem. Every time a company pays the ransom do they not understand what they are funding, nor advocating?

We know Al-Qaeda has roots in that region, how much is the guess this money is filtering into efforts to kill people abroad though these groups?

Time to make a stand. The longer we sit and watch only the worse and possibly more tragic events will take place. Level them. You cannot work with uneducated evil. This will cont to breed and as the money keeps coming in so do the better weapons, equipment, and greed.

Outfit a merchant ship with arms and SEALs to act as a decoy, similar to those German Raiders in WWII. Then go trolling for pirates......

Any commercial vehicle carrying arms or armed people is subject to Somalia's arms trafficking laws. The crew can actually be imprisoned. It's okay for the pirates, though, 'cause the weapons weren't trafficked in. They were already there.

ARRRRGGGGG!! There's much booty to be had!!! AAAARRRRGGGG!!!

Give war a chance.

Yo ho Yo Ho A pirates lifes for me!

Why not use 3 sharpshooters firing at the same time to take out the 3 pirates and free the captain DAH

If anyone had read the article you would have read they couldn't keep weapons on board because the fumes from the oil they were carrying was so strong if they fired a gun it would ignite the oil and blow up the ship.

Personally, I like Ian R.'s idea. We need to send them a message that they can't get away with it anymore. Again, violence is not always the answer but I think with this problem it is the only answer.

We can see a pack of cigarettes from a satellite in the sky but we can't find pirates? Come on! Send a small fleet of Navy Destroyers or subs and start blasting. America is already the laughing stock of the world because we can't win a war anymore unless we drag it out for 20 years. And now we are going to have a people that is so poor they can't even buy a weapon take us hostage! Please – would you like me to run this country for a week? I'll take care of this problem...

The solution to the "pirate" issue is simple. Arm and train the merchant marines and civilian sailors. As a Navy veteran, I can tell you there is considerable time to set up defense when hostile craft approach. A couple of .50 cal and an RPG or two along with side arms can repel the attack. Bottom line.... continue to sail into dangerous waters without defense, negotiating with hijackers and paying ransoms will only perpetute the attacks. I simply can't understand why shipping lines continue to send their ships into peril without a realistic defense strategy. I hope the sailors get hazardous duty pay!

most of these responses are so ignorant, that you can tell
they were posted by americans..

As larsen said "So you can see that it really is — the root conditions of poverty, lawlessness and civil war on the ground in Somalia are really what are breeding this problem." None of those things are OUR problem. What is OUR problem is that they are taking OUR people hostage and putting OUR peoples lives at risk and all you guys seem to care about is changing the conditions on the ground there. Um yeah no how about you protect OUR people first before you start just handing out free food. Free food hand outs to countries do not work, they do not change the conditions and in the end you just end up with useless Christian camps over there claiming their helping countries in need when they are just spreading the propoganda of the christian faith. Fight back and stop being a bunch of liberals about everything.

To those who say arming the crew is the answer: It's not that simple. Training civilians to fight effectively and cooperatively without harming each other or damaging their own ship, and to overcome the human instinct against killing, is not a trivial undertaking. Also, what happens when a certain percentage of the crew decides they'd rather not risk their lives to save their company a few million in ransom?

This is real life, not an action movie.

Sure, some hijackings would be prevented. Others would not be. The only thing for certain is a whole lot more people would die.

These shipping companies need hire a privatized security company. Like BlackWater to set up some decoy vessels wait for the pirates...Kill them all and turn their boats into drift wood. Post pictures of their bloated floating bodies in these "pirate port cities" See if those women wanna marry a rotting corpse. Whatever happened to good old American can do. Meet violence with shocking, devistating violence.

I will simply part the seas beneath these heathens and demand they think green.

You have to look at it from a human perspective – If your children, family, or friends were wasting away from hunger, war, disease and there was no future hope that it will change, what would you do? I assume most men reading this comment would do the same thing that the poor/poverished fishermen are doing signing up as pirates. No matter what the consequence, most men (and women) would take serious action and risk serious consequences to give the children a better chance. Would you be able to resist becoming a pirate if you saw your son/daughter's stomach swollen from hunger? Would you sit and watch your family die? I doubt it. Most of those men are traditional fishermen and have no other option but to rob the International community to save their families. I wouldn't proclaim that all these pirates are doing it for families, greed will always play a role, but think about it. I know if my children were starving and sick, I'd be pretty desperate for help.

....hello....I'm thinking this is how we are getting our money back from China...hello folks! Those pirates are probably employed by the US! We rock, when in doubt we find a way! Blame on some random pirates...nice job!

Piracy not so bad versus conditions in Somolia? Piracy looks great versus condition here in the USA!!! One score for a $100 million payday and a bride waiting in port, sign me up.

The Nazi's had an idea to take care of this...Commerce Raiders. Looked like a freighter, but when someone got to close, down came the freighter facade and their 5 inch guns blasted the Brits to bits. Should be easy to adapt this 1940's technology.

Seems someone with some resources would have an opportunity to start a successful security service for hire. I wish I knew how to go about such an effort...

Larry
http://www.damnineedajob.com

1) The ocean is freaking big. To find a random ship is like looking for a needle in a haystack...a really really big haystack (10 mil sq miles). Satellite technology is spying on things where the location is known, but finding moving objects is harder
2) Our technology is not up to snuff with Under Siege 2 spy technology. Looking at a boat from keyhole images will tell you there is a boat. Even if you could spot a "dime" on the boat you still don't know if that boat is a pirate or just a cargo ship
3) Not paying the ransom = dead hostages
4) Attacking this port town = dead hostages
5) Imagine if you were the hostage or if you had a loved one who was a hostage – how would you feel if your company didn't pay the ransom?

Something has to be done. It's not as easy as "blow them up". Anyone who thinks it's that simple is very naive.

Infiltrate the crop of would-be brides. Seduce the pirates. Create a domestic environment they can't refuse and then a flock of kids. Turn the guys into family men with little league obligations.

Why nay send decoy ships? Be havin' them look like th' unarmed ships but be havin' commandos aboard who will take care o' th' sea dogs when they try t' board. In th' present situation wi' a ship’s captain held hostage in a lifeboat: send in some Seals t' rescue th' lad's.

pouvez vous bezer mon Derriere Americano, iggy. We aint iggurint, we's stupid.

Simple. Give the crew appropriate weapons. If an unwelcome boat approaches, shoot them. Isn't that the appropriate open water response?

I love Ian and Michael's ideas . . . I'm with you!

shheeee i want to be pirate too..........i work 50 hrs weeks for 20,000 a year !!!!

Time to toughen up, no? Brinks truck drivers are armed, why not crews of ships in dangerous waters? We certainly have the weaponry and surveillance gear to annihilate anyone posing a threat. At some point, ship owners and their insurers will figure this out. I'm amazed the world tolerates this nonsense.

we should take the pirates in with open arms, feed them, bathe them, show them how wonderful it is to live in the USA.
This would surely reform their thinking!

Typical American comments...we just can't kill the whole world to save MONEY!!!....u people are really wrmongers maybe its time that WE americans looked at the root problem and fix it or take a different shipping route..no we want to blow up everyone..seems like our attitude is definitelyhelping us with the rest of the worlds...as long as we keep this attitude the world will not respect us..thank god Bush is not in office or we would be at war with Somalia also..WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!

Wow....did noone understand, hear, or care what the root problem is here. Undeniably the conditions in Somalia. It is wonderful that most of us living here in the U.S. have not lived in a position where you had absolutely nothing and still had a family to care for or a life to live. But I know, when the chips are down I would do anything for my children and family to provide and care for them. Many of us would, if in the same situation. When you face death daily, then the possibility of being killed is no longer a threat when the possibility of outstanding amounts of money and a way to provide for yourself or family is a realistic outcome.

At some point the actual issue which is causing the problem will need to be address so that the outcome will stop. Military backlash is like having a tumor and giving someone an aspirin. The problem and pain will still be there. At some point the root of the problem has to be address. Military assistance may be needed as well....but that definitely won't fix the root problem. Poverty and a sense of hopelessness.

Everything affects everything else.

I agree with Ian R. on the low cost solution. Maritime law as we know it now does not allow merchant vessels to carry tactical weapons. However this law does not stop each vessel to do all it can do to "protect" herself and her crew. While we are waiting to change maritime law, the ships should "protect" themselves anyway they can.

Alternatively, the Americans can also, using appropriate firepower and persuasion, clear all the settlements along the Somali coast. Its not like there is "government" to oppose them in the UN.

With regard to arming the merchants...the reason there have not been many deaths to date is because the pirates know there will not be a great deal of resistance on the ships. Once the ships starting fighting back the pirates will escalate their use of force. They will become exceptional killers in addition to boat boarders. And now you have running gun battles at sea by non qualified personnel. Reecipe for disaster. Dont forget motivation factors....Ship's Captains would be fighting and risking his life and his crew's life for a cargo that doesn't belong to them(doesn't stand to profit).....Pirates putting food on the table for their families........ Ship's crew are paid to sail ships not fight pirates. Should we arem every bank teller? Every American in a city with a high crime rate? Who hands out justice? Thoughts to be considered....

The solution t' th' “buccanneer� issue be simple. Arm an' train th' merchant marines an' civilian jacks. As a Navy veteran, I can tell ye thar be considerable time t' set up defense when hostile craft approach. A couple o' .50 cal an' an RPG or two along wi' side arms can repel th' attack. Bottom line…. continue t' sail into dangerous waters without defense, negotiatin' wi' hijackers an' payin' ransoms will only perpetute th' attacks. I simply can’t understand why shippin' lines continue t' send the'r ships into peril without a realistic defense strategy. I hope th' jacks get hazardous duty pay!

It doesn't sound like just giving the crew a bunch of guns would solve everything. Besides the training required there, it'd start prompting the pirates to begin firing on crew as soon as they could be seen. These pirates may have more experience and accuracy with firearms and firefights than a civilian crew, and they don't stand to lose as much if the boat they hijack happens to have flammable cargo that starts burning or explodes as part of it.

Besideswhich, we need to look at the source, not just fight symptoms. So long as this remains a profitable business and has a good risk vs. reward factor when compared to normal Somalia life, more people will engage in it. Armed escorts are an option, but that's a question of how many ships we have in the area – besides which most of the ships hijacked have been from foreign countries and I'm sure many of the people saying 'just give them guns' are also opposed to the 'America as world police' role.

We are a part of the world and Somali is a part of the world. If one of your finger get a simple wound, you will treat it medically so you can keep it as a part of your body. The solution is, let's help them establish a governement then law can be applied. In stead of being destructive to the society we can chnage them to be productive. I think God/Universe is telling us indirectly pay attention for this failed state. I think some of them are saying just have machine gun on board blha blha, how many somalis are u gonna shoot? all your life or for generation? the most worrying one is , it can be heaven for for terrorists who can strike any where. The sheep is simple one.

somehow, i root for the pirates... where is my bottle of rum?

Yes I believe making piracy a life of certain death would be doing the world a favor, their nothing more than thugs looking for a quick buck.
Their choice would be this, do the right thing and stay home and fight to change their own country or suicide at sea. Coming home from fighting unarmed civilians at sea as a pirate should not be an option.

Simple. Give th' crew appropriate weapons. If an unwelcome boat approaches, shoot them. Isn’t that th' appropriate open water response?
Ya horn swogglin' landlubber!

How about a flame thrower on board ship? A flame thrower would be a simple, cost-effective deterent that would deter uninvited guests. This coupled with high-pressure water hoses would be enough to deal with intruders. Also, bullet-proof, high-decible loudspeakers mounted the the outside of a ship would be very effective.

Wow….did noone understand, hear, or care what th' root problem be here. Undeniably th' conditions in Somalia. 'Tis wonderful that most o' us livin' here in th' U.S. be havin' nay lived in a position 'ere ye had absolutely nothin' an' still had a family t' care fer or a life t' live. But I know, when th' chips be down I would do anythin' fer me children an' family t' provide an' care fer them. Many o' us would, if in th' same situation. When ye face Davy Jones' locker daily, then th' possibility o' bein' killed be nay longer a threat when th' possibility o' outstandin' amounts o' treasure an' a way t' provide fer yersef or family be a realistic outcome.

At some point th' actual issue which be causin' th' problem will need t' be address so that th' outcome will avast. Military aftlash be like havin' a tumor an' givin' someone an aspirin. Th' problem an' pain will still be thar. At some point th' root o' th' problem has t' be address. Military assistance may be needed as well….but that definitely won’t fix th' root problem. Poverty an' a sense o' hopelessness.

We be a part o' th' world an' Somali be a part o' th' world. If one o' yer finger get a simple wound, ye will treat 't medically so ye can keep 't as a part o' yer body. Th' solution be, let’s help them establish a governement then law can be applied. In stead o' bein' destructive t' th' society we can chnage them t' be productive. I think God/Universe be tellin' us indirectly pay attention fer this failed state. I think some o' them be sayin' jus' be havin' machine gun on board blha blha, how many somalis be u gonna shoot? all yer life or fer generation? th' most worryin' one be , 't can be hea'en fer for terrorists who can strike any 'ere. Th' sheep be simple one.
Ya landlubber whut deserves the black spot

It is actually difficult to hit someone on a small boat bobbing in the water. Hand grenades will do fine but won't damage the hull of the container ship.

How about a flame thrower on board ship? A flame thrower would be a simple, cost-effective deterent that would deter uninvited guests. This coupled wi' high-pressure water hoses would be enough t' deal wi' intruders. Also, bullet-proof, high-decible loudspeakers mounted th' the abroadside o' a ship would be very effective.
Ya swabbie whut deserves the black spot!

We have our own pirates here, in the banks, brokerage houses. Most of our pirates are called CEOs. The loot that the Somali pirates have gotten is nothing compared to what our pirates have stolen. We don't have enough eye-patches to go around. Unfortunately the head of the SEC and Fanny Mae were wearing patches over both eyes.

Yes I b'lieve makin' sweet trade a life o' certain Davy Jones' locker would be doin' th' world a favor, the'r nothin' more than thugs lookin' fer a quick buck.
The'r choice would be this, do th' starboard thin' an' stay homeport an' swashbuckle t' change the'r own country or suicide at sea. Comin' homeport from fightin' unarmed civilians at sea as a seafarin' hearty ortin't be an option.
Ya landlubber who ortin' t' be keel hauled!

Military action is all about using terror to send a political message and achieve a political and diplomatic goal. Let's face it, a sanitized war doesn't work because the fear factor is largely gone from the fighters and their civilian supporters.

Completely destroying one of these port cities will send a better message than any diplomacy only solution. For those of your who remember Viet Nam it was only the massive bombing of North Viet Nam that brought them back to the peace table. Had they known that that would be the response if they invaded the South they never would have invaded.

Let's use history as a lesson and if we have to use military force let's use it correctly and forcefully to archive our political and diplomatic goals

A couple of well positioned 50 cal. machine guns on these ships ought to do the trick.

Aaaaarrrrg! Don't ye be dissin my mateys

Let me get this right.....a U.S. Navy warship with a full crew VS 4 rogue "pirates" in a lifeboat? And the problem is? We're showing no control over a situation this small and wonder why problems like this exist. Gimme a break.....let the highly trained men in our Navy use their training and resolve what should be a lunch break fix.

Bring back the privateers

We be havin' our own seafarin' heartys here, in th' banks, brokerage houses. Most o' our seafarin' heartys be called CEOs. Th' loot that th' Somali seafarin' heartys be havin' gotten be nothin' compared t' what our seafarin' heartys be havin' stolen. We don’t be havin' enough eye-patches t' go around. Unfortunately th' hade o' th' SEC an' Fanny Mae be wearin' patches o'er both one good eye.

I really think they should just let them do it. It's entertaining for me, them, and even the crews. What's a few million bucks here and there? I am very intrigued to see what they spend their money on? Faster boats? Lavish pirate garb? Gold bullions? Maybe even a neat flag with a skull. Probably just Escalades and playstation 3's though.

Considering the conditions here in the US, I may eventually have to go to Somalia and marry a (female) pirate!

I'm sure that if we threaten them but at the same time offer some help to get their country back together, they would be receptive. You know, like we did with Iraq? ... oh, never mind!

I AGREE*********KILL THE BUGGERS^^^^^^^^^WAIT_______
THEN THEY WILL KIDNAPP AN INOCENT PERSON ^^^^^^^
TAKE THEM ON THEIR LITTLE BOAT
AND MAKE THEM KNOWN TO THE BOAT CAPTAIN<<<<<<
THEN THEY WILL STAND BEHIND THE INOCENT BODY*****
THEN WHAT IS THE CAPTAIN TO DO???????????

I think is time i write a book about the trouble in the sahara, this people has been on scavanging either thru water or desert , repossesing everything a passerby have on him or her, this problem has been on for as long as the world, travellign thru the the horn of Africa is like passing thru the wilderness either by the sea and land. the final solution is what is coming to board light now, it has keep happening because most people robbed are belief to be donig there buisness and they have right to eat part of it, but i think is time for change and the change is simple, getting to the root of the GODFATHERS, and there will be peace forever, when you are a victim once you wonder if you are the first victim untill you get to 1,000 people telling you there ugly tales of passing the Horn of Africa,please try to know the real meaning of the tuareg and there jobs. expect my publication soon

For all of you who keep stating what seems so obvious-arm the crews-it isnt done for a number of reasons including the threat of causing a massive fire or explosion should a shootout ensue.
Do you really think nobody has thought of your 'brilliant' idea of putting weapons in the hands of the crew?

Put security on board. Give them guns. If the ship worth millions...spend few thousands...lots of ppl are out of work.

The words of one pirate from that lost age, a young British man called William Scott, should echo into this new age of piracy. Just before he was hanged in Charleston, South Carolina, he said: "What I did was to keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirateing to live." In 1991, the government of Somalia collapsed. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since – and the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country's fish supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas.

Yes: nuclear waste. As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died.

This pirates are fools Messing with the United states coast. Did anyone see them on cnn last night. They look ridiculously ugly and hungry, I mean the somailans or whatever they call themselves, Why would they hold the captain captive. Gosh America is too nice. I wish the US state navy could blow their brains off.

It seems that these poor chaps and their families are without proper medical care and left with little opportunity for higher education.
We should convert some old militarty vessels into floating medical faciilties and schools! Then the pirates could get their needs met and not have to resort to desparate measures.
Jeff,

Why don't they try to steal from a North Korean ship heading toward Iran for missile deals. Kim will nuke the hell out of them with a long range missile. I only mess with the US/UN but wouldn't dare mess with dictated communist. Our problem is we have too much mercy and human rights and apply them to wrong crowd.

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum, a pocket full of dollars and some trident gum

Hey, let's impose a another tax on all american families that make over $250K and use that money for their port weddings. Throw in free college tuition and healthcare as a wedding gift.

You be havin' t' eyeball 't from a crewmate perspective – If yer children, family, or shipmates be wastin' away from hunger, war, disease an' thar be nay future hope that 't will change, what would ye do? I assume most men readin' this comment would do th' same thin' that th' poor/poverished fishermen be doin' signin' up as seafarin' heartys. Nay matter what th' consequence, most men (an' lasses) would take serious action an' risk serious consequences t' give th' children a better chance. Would ye be able t' resist becomin' a seafarin' hearty if ye saw yer lad/lass’s stomach swollen from hunger? Would ye sit an' watch yer family sink t'Davy Jones' locker? I doubt 't. Most o' them men be traditional fishermen an' be havin' nay other option but t' rob th' International community t' save the'r families. I wouldn’t proclaim that all these seafarin' heartys be doin' 't fer families, greed will always play a role, but think about 't. I know if me children be starvin' an' sea sick, I’d be pretty desperate fer help.

[...] Real Pirates Call for Real Housewives Posted on April 9, 2009 by wynner Somali women flocking to port in hope of marrying pirates [...]

Pirates operate the same as any predator. It's a risk/reward calculation. The risk is very high... but not that much higher then the reality of daily life in Somalia.... but the reward is incredibly high... so they do it.

To reduce the frequency of piracy (you probably can't eliminate it entirely, just like you can never eliminate crime entirely). You need to change that equation on both ends.

Increase the risk by arming the merchant vessels (Yes, there is a risk to crews if there is a fire-fight but the risk to pirates is also much higer.... and trust me predators go after the easiest and safest prey they can find)... by sending out the occassional Q-ship (a vessel dressed up to be a merchent but actualy carrying a proffesional security detail) .... by greater naval patrols and by making piracy on the high seas on automatic capital offense.

Reduce the rewards by adopting a "No Ransom Ever" policy. Thus the incentive for taking the risk disappears.

Do those 2 things....and Piracy will drop significantly.

Passive compliance led to the 9-11 disaster in this country. Airline crews were instructed to co-operate with hijackers and do as they say. We see where that led and certainly have a different mindset today. The same needs to apply to cargo vessels. They need to blow away any approaching small boat and not with water hoses and evasive tactics.We need Thomas Jefferson's approach to the Barbary pirates and start acting like Americans.

Where are all of you when it's time for voting at the polls?? 90% of the posts here call for either a military action or act of violence to send a message. Do you honestly believe that the new president that the majority of the country elected will take ANY action against these pirates that does not include paying them the money as has been done already? So don't be surprised that we are laying down and taking it. Bush would have taken care of this the old fashioned way: Don't mess with the USA.

A sea dog says 't this way:
I really think they ortin' ta jus' let them do 't. 't’s entertainin' fer me, them, an' e'en th' crews. What’s a wee cargo holds o' bucks here an' thar? I be very intrigued t' be seein' what they spend the'r treasure on? Faster boats? Lavish gentleman o' fortune garb? Dubloon bullions? Maybe e'en a neat jolly roger wi' a skull. Probably jus' Escalades an' playstation 3’s tho.
Ya swabbie whut deserves the black spot!

What else ye got? An' be quick about it, I be shippin' out soon!
See How A Pirate Would Say It

New! Translate Yer Own Website!
If ye'd like t' hear how'd 't soun' if a pirate read yer web page ter ye, enter the ARRRRRL (URL) below decks. And be quick about it, I ain't got all voyage:

Considerin' th' conditions here in th' US, I may eventually be havin' t' go t' Somalia an' marry a (female) seafarin' hearty!

I’m sure that if we threaten them but at th' same time offer some help t' get the'r country aft together, they would be receptive. Ye know, like we did wi' Iraq? … oh, neremind!

If you do not negociate and blow everyone up, what is the incentive for more piracy?

I AGREE*********KILL TH' BUGGERS^^^^^^^^^WAIT_______
THEN THEY WILL KIDNAPP AN INOCENT SWABBIE ^^^^^^^
TAKE THEM ON THE'R WEE BOAT
AN' MAKE THEM KNOWN T' TH' BOAT CAPTAIN<<<<<<
THEN THEY WILL STAND BEHIND TH' INOCENT BODY*****
THEN WHAT BE TH' CAPTAIN T' DO???????????

yar.

Desperately poor people from one of the poorest and most desperate countries on earth getting money from companies based in the richest and most pampered country on earth. And we call them "creeps"?
That having been said, I would certainly be upset if one of my family were taken hostage or killed because the shipping company did not provide them with means of self defense. The companies risk crew lives for profit and pass the cost on to the customers. Maybe the focus should be on these companies.

Dig out some old (preferably inexpensive) nuclear weapons from the parts bin, send them in an unarmed drone, and drop on the entire population of Somalia. Cockroaches exterminated!

It takes a lot of resources to control the area. You can not put force as the only solution in that area. These pirates have never injured or killed anyone. They have just a financial interest. This is an illegal way of making money. However, you have to understand the situation on that part of the world is grave. At the sametime you don't want to make merchant ships a war ships. These pirates are armed to the nose. That place has been a war zone and a terrorist breeding zone for decades. We have to bring stability in Somalia and guard the coast somhow. All the other endeavours are too costly and bring minimal solutions.

In a failed state Somalia these pirates have nothing to lose, but every thing to gain. People are dying of hunger, deases and armed conflict in Somalia today. These pirates future is no future, but to die at early age in one way or another if the world community did not help Somalia to govern itself. Let us help Somalia govern it self and the pirate problem will disepate eventually.

@ chris I dont think u want to marry those God forsaking people. Killing each other to get waht they want . Dammn

It is unfortunate that these types of activities are going on in a such dangerous world we are living and I am wondering if there are not terorist hands using these moneys.

I think be time i write a book about th' trouble in th' sahara, this swabbies be on scavangin' either thru water or desert , repossesin' everythin' a passerby be havin' on th' lad's or th' lass', this problem be on fer as long as th' world, travellign thru th' the horn o' Africa be like passin' thru th' wilderness either by th' sea an' land. th' final solution be what be comin' t' board light now, 't has keep happenin' on accoun' o' most swabbies robbed be belief t' be donig thar buisness an' they be havin' starboard t' eat part o' 't, but i think be time fer change an' th' change be simple, gettin' t' th' root o' th' GODFATHERS, an' thar be peace ere, when ye be a victim once ye wonder if ye be th' first victim untill ye get t' 1,000 swabbies tellin' ye thar ugly tales o' passin' th' Horn o' Africa,please try t' know th' real meanin' o' th' tuareg an' thar jobs. expect me publication soon

Brin' aft th' privateers

We've had to deal with this before. Two hundred years ago, Steven Decatur and the USMC took care of the Barbary Pirates...it's time to send in the Marines.

We have to take extreme measures to shut it down, like kill all pirates. Otherwise, why wouldn't they try this? It's such an easy way to get rich!

Just another case of the good guys not being able to fight back. The pirates have guns and rockets while the good guys use water cannons and sound devices. In my opinion it should be very simple to stop these pirates. These aren't kayaks or canoes. These are seaworthy vessels that should all be sunk. Not one boat allowed on all of somalia. That would stop the pirate attacks. Ethiopia and other countries around there have strong enough governments to police themselves so chances of piracy spreading elsewhere should be minimal. It's not rocket science.

Let me get this starboard…..a U.S. Navy warship wi' a full crew VS 4 rogue “gentleman o' fortunes� in a lifeboat? An' th' problem be? We’re showin' nay control o'er a situation this wee an' wonder why problems like this exist. Gimme a break…..let th' highly trained men in our Navy use the'r trainin' an' resolve what ortin' ta be a lunch break fix.

Ironically, the namesake of the ship sent to take on the pirates, William Bainbridge, was sent to Tripoli to fight piracy in the 19th century.

Why not try a trick that the TSA uses to ensure airline safety?
Have the Pirates remove their shoes before boarding and don't let thenm carry more than 3 ounces of shampoo.

While I agree something must be done because this issue affects the everyday person as well as these brave sailors – when insurance rates go up, the cost of the items onboard the ship go up. Giving an RPG to the crew will only end up with the pirates getting equally (or probably more powerful) weaponry as well. These pirates are making millions of dollars – don't you think they would be willing to spend a little of it on the black market to maintain their trade?

A couple o' well positioned 50 cal. machine cannons on these ships ortin' t' do th' trick.

how hard can it be to make adjustments to the vessels that are being attacked to stop the pirates? you know video cameras, radar, watchmen, and obstructions on the edge of the ship.

Combat the Pirate with his worst enemy.......the Ninja!

Dispatch a platoon of Ninjas to the Somali coast and have them kill all of those damn Pirates!

Military action be all about usin' terror t' send a political message an' achieve a political an' diplomatic goal. Let’s face 't, a sanitized war doesn’t work on accoun' o' th' fear factor be largely gone from th' fighters an' the'r civilian supporters.

Completely destroyin' one o' these port cities will send a better message than any diplomacy only solution. Fer them o' yer who reckon Viet Nam 't be only th' massive bombin' o' North Viet Nam that brought them aft t' th' peace table. Had they known that that would be th' response if they invaded th' South they nerewould be havin' invaded.

Let’s use history as a lesson an' if we be havin' t' use military force let’s use 't correctly an' forcefully t' archive our political an' diplomatic goals

We should use a different tactic against the pirates. Use some old ID's such a Q-ship of old & when they board it you terminate them with excessive deadly force ! Then they may get the message or we just keep on blowing them away or just maybe bomb the entire country back to the stone age. You can't just keep using kids gloves with them. The world countries need to do something as a whole !

Obama's naughty brothers! Are we such wimps we will allow this to continue???

No one would be the wiser if you blew them clean out of the water in the middle of the sea. Just give it a little thought......One blast and no more pirate problem. I do not see a problem blasting them into the next world.....do you?

Also, well said. therandymancan

Somali Women = Gold Diggers

All nations have a legitimate governmental interest in keeping the ocean shipping channels free and have an absolute right to stop this evil. Here is a legitimate opportunity to assemble a "coalition of allies". All nations should band together and create a task force on sea and land to root out the pirates and assault both their ships and their ports. Here many nations that have "defense" forces could have "live action" training to season their forces. Nations like Japan, Korea and France have very well drilled forces that could benefit from the experience. If every nation sent a task force there would be a combined strength strong enough with sailors and marines to handle the job. Once the pirates were eliminated and their weapons destroyed, the task of "nation building" for Somalia could be undertaken. Until then, it is extremely naive to believe in negotiating with proven criminals. Our forefathers had it right, we should follow their example.

We're not fighting back for a reason no one wants to admit: It's cheaper not to. The cost of developing Somalia into a working state, training their military and teaching them to stop this is higher than simply paying the ransom. Furthermore the companies know that Americans simply won't swallow the cost passed on to the consumer (in terms of more expensive imported goods) that would result from training and arming these crews. No one wants to admit it but that's the bottom line.

Heck England was allowed to commit piracy, along with wanton rape and murder, for the better part of 3 centuries and build an empire on it. Why? Easy, again it was cheaper for the rest of the world to merely ignore it, than deal with.

Wake up, we have no plans to get serious about this. European countries spent their 3 centuries committing much worse wanton acts of piracy. Now it's the African countries turn.

Instead of destroying counterfeit currency, why don't we store it somewhere. Then when a hostage situation arises, Bundle it up with an RFID tracking chip. When these pirates get the money and release the hostage, drop a guided missile on them. You then destroy the counterfeit money, theypirates die and the hostage is free.
Win-Win all around.

==============
==============
"violence isn’t the long-term answer".

That's right! As soon as the pirates realize they'll be blown out of the water, they'll stop attacking ships and there will be no more violence.

But not until then. From their point of view, they have no other reason to stop.

Arm the merchant marines with machine guns permanently mounted to the rail and locked by a key the captain holds.

–faye kane, homeless brain.
Read more of my smartmouth opinions at http://tinyurl.com/fayescave

With regard t' armin' th' merchants…th' reason thar be havin' nay been many deaths t' date be on accoun' o' th' sea dogs know thar will nay be a great deal o' resistance on th' ships. Once th' ships startin' fightin' aft th' sea dogs will escalate the'r use o' force. They become exceptional killers in addition t' boat boarders. An' now ye be havin' runnin' gun battles at sea by non qualified swabbienel. Reecipe fer disaster. Dont forget motivation factors….Ship’s Captains would be fightin' an' riskin' his life an' his crew’s life fer a cargo that doesn’t belong t' them(doesn’t stand t' profit)…..Buccanneers puttin' food on th' table fer the'r families…….. Ship’s crew be paid t' sail ships nay swashbuckle sea dogs. Ortin' ta we arem ever' bank teller? Ever' American in a city wi' a high crime rate? Who hands ou' justice? Thoughts t' be considered….

We’ve had t' deal wi' this before. Two bucketfull o' voyages ago, Ste'en Decatur an' th' USMC tookst care o' th' Barbary Shipmates…'t’s time t' send in th' Marines.

YO HO HO HO A PIRATES LIFE FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is all Bill Clintons fault. All it took was two black hawk helicopters and we were out of there like the place was on fire. If we had stuck it out (we being the UN, you know the US and the 6 troops that the French sent) and made sure that they had a stable government instead of tribal/war lard rule this would not be happening now.

Good think we are not just abandoning Iraq.

how hard can 't be t' make adjustments t' th' vessels that be bein' attacked t' avast th' shipmates? ye know video cameras, radar, watchmen, an' obstructions on th' edge o' th' ship.

Shades of Errol Flynn!!! He would have fought those buckaroos! We should be more protective of our vessels and international waters. Do what you have to do to protect the ships and crews. Armed is forewarned, or something like that.

Fight fire with fire – hunt down the hostages family members and kidnap them and hold them hostage - and kill them if necessary. This is so pathetic. We will never win with our hands tied.

We be havin' t' take extreme measures t' shut 't down, like kill all shipmates. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they try this? 't’s such an easy way t' get rich!

I find it hilarious that the same people acting shocked that Somalis have reverted to savagery are from the same country that tried to "liberate" them from Italy in the '40s.

Not much attention is being paid to the hostages in these articles. It's the standard-issue, liberal, bleeding-heart nonsense where excuses are made for the "poor, advantage-starved, black man" in Africa. The solution is simple: Armed escort. Anyone trying to threaten a ship is destroyed. Pretty soon there won't be any pirates left.

But what do they do? Load up with non-lethal defensive weapons. lol As if Somalis are some endangered species they need to save for prosperity. Hilarious.

What people also need to know is that various countries have been using area to dump chemical waste.

This has polluted the Somali water, the shoreland, decimating the fishing for people whose lives depend on that work.

Somalia's strategic location also means that various countries want to see their friend ruling that country, which leads to a lot of external manipulation, government toppling and intervention.

Unfortunately many Americans reading these stories don't have any idea of the history, true political issues, etc. of Somalia and this region, so their comments are based on what shallow information they get from the media and heavy amounts of their own ignorance/speculation.

Not to say that the pirating isn't wrong, but that there is more to the story than just 'bad people doing bad things'

Why nay try a trick that th' TSA uses t' ensure airline safety?
Be havin' th' Buccanneers remove the'r shoes before boardin' an' don’t let thenm carry more than 3 ounces o' shampoo.

While I agree somethin' must be done on accoun' o' this issue affects th' everyday swabbie as well as these brave jacks – when insurance rates go up, th' cost o' th' items onboard th' ship go up. Givin' an RPG t' th' crew will only end up wi' th' shipmates gettin' equally (or probably more powerful) weaponry as well. These shipmates be makin' cargo holds o' pieces o' eight – don’t ye think they would be willin' t' spend a wee o' 't on th' black market t' maintain the'r trade?

Can we all stop using the word "pirates" to describe these people? I think between the Disney movies, the Disney kiddie ride, and the Disney lawsuits against rogue websites, the word "pirate" has lost the seriousness that these situations demand. These men are not animatronic puppets singing with parrots on their shoulders. They are deranged, vicious criminals and we need to recognize that.

Navy's first job is to keep open and free sealanes. Start patrolling this area and cracking down.

The crew would love some old school pirate hunting.

Combat th' Swashbuckler wi' his worst enemy…….th' Ninja!

Dispatch a platoon o' Ninjas t' th' Somali coast an' be havin' them kill all o' them damn Swashbucklers!

Typical American response– blow everybody up. If that worked, don't you think the shipping companies would be doing it? Get educated about how the piracy works and why arming the crew will not work. Then, come back with a real solution.

Duh... leds blowss thems up!!

'Tis unfortunate that these types o' activities be goin' on in a such dangerous world we be livin' an' I be wonderin' if thar be nay terorist hands usin' these moneys.

What about paying them with the same coin? I mean bombed their country to see if they like the treatment, no more mr. nice country. Diplomacy out, Retribution NOW!!!

Sound like someone who can protect ships agains Pirates can start escorting them and make some $$$$$$... You know the sea cayotes .........

None of the comments are solving this problem. the solution to this problem is stabelize somalia as a acountry. We know Somalia doesn't have oil but to solve this problem UN must do something regarding creating new government and stop violation. With out stabelizing the country in the ground, there is no way to stop this pirates.

What swabbies also need t' know be that various countries ben usin' area t' dump chemical waste.

This has polluted th' Somali water, th' shoreland, decimatin' th' fishin' fer swabbies whose lives depend on that work.

Somalia’s strategic location also means that various countries want t' be seein' the'r matey rulin' that country, which leads t' a lot o' external manipulation, government topplin' an' intervention.

Unfortunately many Americans readin' these stories don’t be havin' any idee o' th' history, true political issues, etc. o' Somalia an' this region, so the'r comments be based on what shallow information they get from th' media an' heavy amounts o' the'r own ignorance/speculation.

Nay t' say that th' piratin' isn’t wrong, but that thar be more t' th' story than jus' ‘bad swabbies doin' bad things’

Fight fire wi' fire – hunt down th' hostages family members an' kidnap them an' hold them hostage — an' kill them if necessary. This be so pathetic. We will nerewin wi' our hands tied.

No one seems to have heard the person with REAl experience with this problem.

Slution 1: Solve piracy with genicide.

All the technical solutions cost money. Merchant seaman and women aren't wall street bankers. They are not getting rich. I will and should cost plenty of money to make them Royal navy marines trained to repel armed boarders. The Iraq security contractors get $250k or so. That would pay for at least five sailors.

Hegh tech cost money (lots of money).

And note. The priates don't announce their intentions to board. THis isn't the movies and a Jolly roger flying in the wind. They come a NIGHT. The merchant marine isn't a branch of the military. Its a job just like the trucking industry.

And how many priates will you have to kill before it stops. Prabablly every starving person in the country. Hey we're back to genicide.

Goerge Bush is no longer in the white house. You don't have to act stupid to be like the president.

Eight years of thug solution got us NO WHERE.

If the US would simply end its addiction to oil (and narcotics), that would solve many world problems.

Why not set up some kind of weapon like a rocket , and blast them when they come too close. if they continue to recieve payment this will never stop . they need to be taught a life lesson!!! If you come too close you die...

When someone lives in conditions so devastating that attacking a ship and hijacking it or taking hostages to obtain money to buy his/her way out is an option, guns onboard ships will not be a deterrant. This may be a form of suicide for the pirates but for many it is better than dying doing nothing.

I sympathize with companies losing their ships and with families in fear for their loved ones taken hostage facing death. I also understand the hopelessness of the Somalians prompting this action. I don't agree with this violence–I just understand it.

I find 't hilarious that th' same swabbies actin' shocked that Somalis be havin' reverted t' savagery be from th' same country that tried t' “liberate� them from Italy in th' ’40s.

Nay much attention be bein' paid t' th' hostages in these articles. 't’s th' standard-issue, liberal, bleeding-heart nonsense 'ere excuses be made fer th' “poor, advantage-starved, black man� in Africa. Th' solution be simple: Armed escort. Ere tryin' t' threaten a ship be destroyed. Pretty soon thar won’t be any swashbucklers port.

But what do they do? Load up wi' non-lethal defensive weapons. lol As if Somalis be some endangered species they need t' save fer prosperity. Hilarious.

These men are criminals and should be dealt with accordingly.

Place highly trained and properly equipped security teams onboard when the ships enter the problem area.

When the pirates make their move take them out.

It will solve the problem.

Merchant ships aren't allowed to arm themselves. I believe this is to prevent hostile nations from sending armed warships to sea and designating them 'merchants', leaving these armed ships free to enter a lot of coastal waterways and come in range of various civilian targets.

Instead, I think merchants are going to have to form an independent security organization, and hire units to ride along on these risky routes.

Although the force should really be multinational to prevent ties to certain nations, I think the first few groups should be made up of native Somalians. They need to be shown an alternative to piracy that will support them financially. I'm sure piracy won't disappear, it will still be far more personally profitable over a real job.

Sick the RIAA on them. I heard they'll stop all pirates.

You cannot prevent piracy, because before they actually commit piracy, they are in international waters often times, which is in no violation, and no one has rights over.

Pirates are HOT!

Shades o' Errol Flynn!!! He would be havin' fought them buckaroos! We ortin' ta be more protective o' our vessels an' international waters. Do what ye be havin' t' do t' protect th' ships an' crews. Armed be forewarned, or somethin' like that.

Simple solution here. Spy planes and drones patrol the Somali coast. As soon as a pirate ship heads out to sea, attack it, sink it and leave the crew to die. After it is clear that piracy equals death, it will stop. Forget about the niceties of international marine law or the myth of Somali sovereignty. Send a clear message. I bet the Chinese and Russian navies would be happy to help us out on this one!

This be all Bill Clintons fault. All 't tookst be two black hawk helicopters an' we be ou' o' thar like th' place be on fire. If we had stuck 't ou' (we bein' th' UN, ye know th' US an' th' 6 troops that th' French sent) an' made sure that they had a stable government instead o' tribal/war lard rule this wouldna be happenin' now.

Good think we be nay jus' abandonin' Iraq.

I agree with Piratehater, and second this "Ninja Plan" because hey – who wouldn't like to see a Pirate vs. Ninja fight?

The old song says it best:

"What should you do with a scurvy pirate? Make him walk the plank!"

That song has some historical basis to it because that is how piracy was handled back in the days when maritime travel was the only means of long range transportation and shipping. Piracy was not tolerated and pirates were dangerous, because they knew if they were captured, they were dead men. Today's pirates are total cowards and would give up the practice if they knew it meant certain immediate death if they were captured or spotted in international waters.

Lob a few shells from a warship into the ports they use as bases and offer ransoms for pirate leaders and warlords running this game for good measure. Yo ho ho!

YO HO HO HO A SEAFARIN' HEARTYS LIFE FER ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These pirates are already operating 300+ miles from shore on tiny boats powered with outboard motors. If they're not afraid of that, pointing a gun in their direction is not going to be much of a deterrent.

I agree that arming the crew, or adding a security detail to the ships might help things, but that becomes an amazingly complex problem. The ships can carry weapons in international waters, but there are huge number of rules and regulations pertaining to firearms in port and in territorial waters. Believe me, if this was a viable option, it would have been done already. Shipping companies have millions of $$ invested in their ships and cargo. If a $1000 rifle issued to each crewman would fix the problem, they'd have done it years ago.

The real answer is what's already being done–the same way you protect yourself from a drunk driver crashing into your car. It's called an insurance policy.

Piracy like this makes the news, but the reality is that hundreds of ships travel in those waters every day, and it's every once in a while that a ship is captured. This is not new. It's been happening for decades. It might sound unappealing to give ransom money to pirates, but it is a very cost effective solution.

Does anyone have an idea how much it costs to send just ONE Navy ship out there? It's a lot more than the cost of a ransom payment.

Instead o' destroyin' counterfeit currency, why don’t we store 't somewhere. Then when a hostage situation arises, Bundle 't up wi' an RFID trackin' chip. When these shipmates get th' treasure an' release th' hostage, drop a guided missile on them. Ye then destroy th' counterfeit treasure, theyshipmates sink t'Davy Jones' locker an' th' hostage be free.
Win-Win all around.

Make them Walk the Plank....Arghhhhhhhh!

There is only one solution to this problem.You send Boppa to the shores of Somalia and let him go South Bronx New York crazy on them.Boppa is always well equipped to handle this kind of situation.He would probably send Velde to the front lines first though.BLAAAAAKKKKK to Boppa!........

==============
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“violence isn’t th' long-term answer�.

That’s starboard! As soon as th' sea dogs reckon they’ll be blown ou' o' th' water, they’ll avast attackin' ships an' thar be nay more violence.

But nay until then. From the'r point o' view, they be havin' nay other reason t' avast.

Arm th' merchant marines wi' machine cannons permanently mounted t' th' rail an' locked by a key th' captain holds.

–faye kane, homeless brain.
Read more o' me smartbung hole opinions at http://tinyurl.com/fayescave
Ya lily livered bilge rat!

Since we know where the pirates' fancy mansions are, couldn't we threaten to blow them up if they interfere with our ships?

Yeah, let's take military action under another clueless democratic president and his cabinet. Didn't we already learn that lesson under the other much media loved Clinton and his geniuses in 1993? Can anyone say "Black Hawk Down?"

Death by torture.

All nations be havin' a legitimate governmental interest in keepin' th' ocean shippin' channels free an' be havin' an absolute starboard t' avast this evil. Here be a legitimate opportunity t' assemble a “coalition o' allies�. All nations ortin' ta band together an' create a task force on sea an' land t' root ou' th' sea dogs an' assault both the'r ships an' the'r ports. Here many nations that be havin' “defense� forces could be havin' “live action� trainin' t' season the'r forces. Nations like Japan, Korea an' France be havin' very well drilled forces that could benefit from th' experience. If ever' nation sent a task force thar would be a combined strength strong enough wi' jacks an' marines t' handle th' job. Once th' sea dogs be eliminated an' the'r weapons destroyed, th' task o' “nation building� fer Somalia could be undertaken. Until then, 'tis extremely naive t' b'lieve in negotiatin' wi' pro'en criminals. Our forefathers had 't starboard, we ortin' ta follow the'r example.

I assume it's a matter of time before some of the Iraq contractors like Blackwater, etc. start offering their services to shipping companies. Helicopter 4-5 armed guards on a ship, including a sniper or two, a few days before it gets close to any port in East Africa, then pick them up once the ship leaves port and goes a certain distance. I figure it would cost about 20k per ship for maybe about a week of guard service, probably cheaper than increased insurance, and definitely cheaper than paying ransom

The old song says 't best:

“What ortin' ta ye do wi' a scurvy buccanneer? Make th' lad's keel haul th' plank!�

That song has some historical basis t' 't on accoun' o' that be how sweet trade be handled aft in th' days when maritime set sail be th' only means o' long range transportation an' shippin'. Sweet trade be nay tolerated an' buccanneers be dangerous, on accoun' o' they knew if they be captured, they be dead men. Today’s buccanneers be total yeller bellies an' would give up th' practice if they knew 't meant certain smart-like Davy Jones' locker if they be captured or spotted in international waters.

Lob a wee shells from a warship into th' ports they use as bases an' offer ransoms fer buccanneer leaders an' warlords runnin' this game fer good measure. Yo ho ho!
Ya scurvy cur!

I think that the Al-Queda backed Islamist army will soon find its way to the ports. That's pretty much the only part of Somalia they don't rule, and the money will be irresistable. Whether the piracy continues to fund terror or whether the piracy will be declared un-islamic is the big question. As for the women, they'll soon be executed for being sinners.

Now this is the perfect situation for BlackWater, until innocent fisherman are killed but hey I'll take that gamble. Just like it's your inalienable right to walk through a bad neighborhood at night, but commonsense dictates you don't do it. Thus those real fisherman better stay out of those waters or..........

No one would be th' wiser if ye blew them clist ou' o' th' water on th' yardarm o' th' sea. Jus' give 't a wee thought……One blast an' nay more swashbuckler problem. I do nay be seein' a problem blastin' them into th' next world…..do ye?

Martha,
I have an idea for you. Move your liberal ass to Somalia. I say if they attack and board a ship they are subject to death by execution. These shipping companies need to hire private security firms to handle this, we the taxpayers are footing the bill for any military operations. The taxpayers should not be responsible for providing security on a private vessel.

When someone lives in conditions so devastatin' that attackin' a ship an' hijackin' 't or takin' hostages t' obtain treasure t' buy his/th' lass' way ou' be an option, cannons onboard ships will nay be a deterrant. This may be a form o' suicide fer th' shipmates but fer many 'tis better than dyin' doin' nothin'.

I sympathize wi' companies losin' the'r ships an' wi' families in fear fer the'r loved ones taken hostage facin' Davy Jones' locker. I also understand th' hopelessness o' th' Somalians promptin' this action. I don’t agree wi' this violence–I jus' understand 't.

These buccanneers be already operatin' 300+ miles from shore on wee boats powered wi' outboard motors. If they’re nay lily livered o' that, pointin' a gun in the'r direction be nay goin' t' be much o' a deterrent.

I agree that armin' th' crew, or addin' a security detail t' th' ships might help things, but that becomes an amazingly complex problem. Th' ships can carry weapons in international waters, but thar be huge number o' rules an' regulations pertainin' t' firearms in port an' in territorial waters. B'lieve me, if this be a viable option, 't would ben done already. Shippin' companies be havin' cargo holds o' $$ invested in the'r ships an' cargo. If a $1000 rifle issued t' each crewman would fix th' problem, they’d be havin' done 't voyages ago.

Th' real answer be what’s already bein' done–th' same way ye protect yersef from a loaded t' th' gunwhales dri'er crashin' into yer car. 't’s called an insurance policy.

Sweet trade like this makes th' news, but th' reality be that buckets o' ships set sail in them waters ever' tide, an' 't’s ever' once in a while that a ship be captured. This be nay new. 't’s been happenin' fer decades. 't might sound unappealin' t' give ransom treasure t' buccanneers, but 'tis a very cost effective solution.

Does ere be havin' an idee how much 't costs t' send jus' ONE Navy ship ou' thar? 't’s a lot more than th' cost o' a ransom payment.

Discipline is the same whether they are 3 or a Somalia terrorist. If a 3-year-old knows he can get a cookie by throwing a tantrum...he will continue to throw a tantrum. If he doesn't get a cookie...the tantrum stops. I say let loose the Navy Seals and let them rescue the Captain. This is what they are trained to do for heaven's sake.

You can not help people who are unwilling to help themselves. Many lives will be lost to turn this place around, but how many are being lost now. These people do not understand reasoning or civility. The old adage of fighting fire with fire may apply.

For those saying these pirates don't value your lives, then why are they looking to improve them?

Where do you put $50M in Somalia anyway? The bank? And where do you spend that kind of money there?

Typical American response– blow sea dogs an' land lubbers up. If that worked, don’t ye think th' shippin' companies would be doin' 't? Get educated about how th' sweet trade works an' why armin' th' crew will nay work. Then, come aft wi' a real solution.

Duh… leds blowss thems up!!

Why don't ships have their own small crafts with special ops type security teams to intercept other small crafts and destroy them?

David has the right idea. Nuke em.

I think that th' Al-Quedan afted Islamist army will soon find its way t' th' ports. That’s pretty much th' only part o' Somalia they don’t rule, an' th' treasure be irresistable. Whether th' sweet trade continues t' fund terror or whether th' sweet trade be declared un-islamic be th' big question. As fer th' lasses, they’ll soon be executed fer bein' sinners.

Discipline be th' same whether they be 3 or a Somalia terrorist. If a 3-voyage-old knows he can get a cookie by throwin' a tantrum…he will continue t' throw a tantrum. If he doesn’t get a cookie…th' tantrum stops. I say let loose th' Navy Seals an' let them rescue th' Captain. This be what they be trained t' do fer heaven’s sake.

Martha – why show compassion? The 'obvious' choice is not for them to turn to crime. The more obvious choice would be for them to figure out a way to make what they have work for them. Then maybe we could show compassion by helping them. They can fix the problems they have without resorting to pirating – surely there must be a better solution than that. I do not generally agree that violence is the best solution for anything, but in this case I think that is the only solution – blast 'em all!

Martha,
I be havin' an idee fer ye. Move yer liberal arse t' Somalia. I say if they attack an' board a ship they be subject t' Davy Jones' locker by execution. These shippin' companies need t' hire private security firms t' handle this, we th' taxpayers be footin' th' bill fer any military operations. Th' taxpayers ortin't be responsible fer providin' security on a private vessel.

Now this be th' perfect situation fer BlackWater, until innocent fisherman be killed but ahoy I’ll take that gamble. Jus' like 't’s yer inalienable starboard t' keel haul through a bad neighborhood at night, but commonsense dictates ye don’t do 't. Thus them real fisherman better stay ou' o' them waters or……….

Handling the immediate problem of Somolian piracy is one issue, but there's another that I have not seen or heard from anyone yet. How do we know if any of the pirates enriched from previous adventures are immigrating to the U.S.? The Washington D.C. area is inundated with Ethiopian immigrants. Is America watching/screening anyone from this country who has mass weath and are trying to settle here? If so, are they investigating to see if such wealth is legimate? What about watching to see if any current immigrants are receiving money from Ethiopia? These tactics could provide a means of deciphering who some of these anonymous pirates are as well as settling the reports of Al Queda involvement. This piracy must stop as the world economy is already in shambles and such interruptions to trade as well as the ransom payments will eventually affect us all!

@Richard Ford, your response is, sadly, resonant with that of many Westerners, and is largely informed by ignorance. Make the price of piracy in Somalia too high? As opposed to what? Dying of hunger, malnutrition, disease etc? Having been in Somalia, I know that one only needs to be on the verge of starvation, malnutrition etc to be compelled to do pretty much anything however extreme to get food and survive, all perils notwithstanding. The West ignored Somalia because then it really didn't concern them. That was a huge strategic error, but I believe its not too late for the world to fix this mess. I believe America, EU and influential Asian countries (except China and Russia, which have been fanning the war in Somalia by providing weapons to the militia) can together help bring stability to this country. Wake up world and smell the coffee!

Someone here said we need to fix the conditions in Somalia. Ok lets fix the economy in Somalia, then mexico, then the USA. Then there will be no more pirates and no more crime. :0.

I wonder why that seems unlikely?

I'm really surprised that the international shipping community has not come up with a solution to the pirate problem other than just paying them. That seems so impotent and lame, plus it encourages them to continue.

I assume 't’s a matter o' time before some o' th' Iraq contractors like Blackwater, etc. start offerin' the'r services t' shippin' companies. Helicopter 4-5 armed guards on a ship, includin' a sniper or two, a wee days before 't gets close t' any port in East Africa, then pick them up once th' ship leaves port an' goes a certain distance. I figure 't would cost about 20k per ship fer maybe about a tides o' guard service, probably cheaper than increased insurance, an' definitely cheaper than payin' ransom

Since we know 'ere th' gentleman o' fortunes’ fancy mansions be, couldn’t we threaten t' blow them up if they interfere wi' our ships?

Wrong, wrong! wrong! See that is what is wrong with this governments way of dealing with Criminals...Oh we need to clean up the infrastructure, take care of it from the inside...WHat! What the government needs to do is have a security force on U.S ships in International waters, shoot to kill pirates (like they used to) and make a statement to the International community that says "We will not tolerate Terrorist, so therefore, we will not tolerate Pirates". Why on earth would we continue to fork over money to these (I used loosely) people...when all they are basically are terrorists and need to be "eliminated" like the terrorists they are. We are in Iraq & Afghanistan, what's the difference.....Stop this by kicking some butt!!

At 300 miles out there must be a "mother ship" We taxpayers fund satelites (ones up in space unlike Kimmy's make believe satelite). The satelite gets the Coordinates and a cruise missle does the rest. THE ONLY WAY to stop these pirates is to convince them, they will die. You can't reason, negotiate or bargin with these animals. They must be killed.

Piracy and Child molestation-death.

Remove their membership in society. Bring back Snake Pluskin's escape from NY.

BJ

Again, it's not about liberal v.s. conservative as some of you want to frame it. It's about MONEY, plain and simple. Cost effectiveness.

Bush did nothing about this, just like Clinton didn't, and Obama won't for one simple reason: It's cheaper to ignore piracy. You might not like that answer, but it's the truth.

Do you honestly think that if we WANTED to try and deal with this problem we couldn't? Or that we weren't able to do during the past 8 years of the previous administration? Face it: We don't want to deal with this problem, so we're not. NO ONE in the U.S. government or military, from Gates to Mullin to anyone is even proposing we deal withi it.

Heck even the Navy SEAL in this interview ADMITTED dealing with it entails rebuilding their failed state, giving them other options and training their military. That's what every expert who knows about the situation is telling you it would take. That's what it would take. Even if people on message boards suddenly think mere violence would solve this, it won't. These people have nothing to lose. They don't CARE if they die.

Martha – why show compassion? Th' ‘obvious’ choice be nay fer them t' turn t' crime. Th' more obvious choice would be fer them t' figure ou' a way t' make what they be havin' work fer them. Then maybe we could show compassion by helpin' them. They can fix th' problems they be havin' without resortin' t' piratin' – surely thar must be a better solution than that. I do nay generally agree that violence be th' best solution fer anythin', but in this case I think that be th' only solution – blast ‘em all!

There be only one solution t' this problem.Ye send Boppa t' th' shores o' Somalia an' let th' lad's go South Bronx New York crazy on them.Boppa be always well equipped t' handle this kind o' situation.He would probably send Velde t' th' fore lines first tho.BLAAAAAKKKKK t' Boppa!……..

Sure you could have predator drones patrolling the skies but this gets very expensive and the territory is too big.

Better answer. Retrofit all ships that travel those seas with turrets. And have the turrets manned. Have 6 total. 2 front, 2 back, 2 sides. Very well protected to withstand RPG blasts. Heavy machine guns with high caliber .5 or more. And have them manned.

The cost per turret would be what $50,000. Small price to pay versus $5 million ransom.

Then just blow them away when they approach the ship.

I think giving the crew small arms would be ok. But the pirates pepper the decks with fire to prevent crew from coming out the doors. If 6 crew were in turret this would not be an issue.

Perhaps the shipping companies could use an old WWII tactic – form up convoys of ships with destroyer escorts to get through the danger zone.

To the warmongers out there, I have this to say: Let ye among you who would NOT become a pirate under the same circumstances be the first to cast a stone. I'm betting that most of you would (and who could blame you?). The solution must involve lifting Somalia out of chaos and anarchy.

Wrong, wrong! wrong! Be seein' that be what be wrong wi' this governments way o' dealin' wi' Criminals…Oh we need t' clist up th' infrastructure, take care o' 't from th' inside…WHat! What th' government needs t' do be be havin' a security force on U.S ships in International waters, shoot t' kill seafarin' heartys (like they used t') an' make a statement t' th' International community that says “We will nay tolerate Terrorist, so therefore, we will nay tolerate Shipmates�. Why on earth would we continue t' fork o'er treasure t' these (I used loosely) swabbies…when all they be basically be terrorists an' need t' be “eliminated� like th' terrorists they be. We be in Iraq & Afghanistan, what’s th' difference…..Avast this by kickin' some aft!!

Hell – I'll marry a Somali if this keeps up. This is ridiculous and could be stopped TODAY.

I'm surprised how many people apparently didn't read the article. There are many reasons why a military solution doesn't work.

1. Do you realize how big that area of ocean is? The cost of destroying the pirates would FAR outweigh the ransom costs for a decade. Not to mention that they can just go ashore and disappear. After all, it's not like a foreign military can follow them to even within 100 miles of their coast.

2. Killing them won't stop them. Their alternative to piracy is poverty and death. Riches and death is a pretty good alternative to that. You'd need to kill everyone in Somalia to get rid of them. I think we can all agree fixing the situation in Somalia would be much easier.

Maybe the best solution is to hire a lot of the pirates to protect the maritime routes. If they are busy protecting you they cannot attack you! They are local, they are cheap, pay them by the head of each dead pirate that they bring to you. Pretty soon you will have a coast guard managed by some warlord!

I’m really surprised that th' international shippin' community has nay come up wi' a solution t' th' shipmate problem other than jus' payin' them. That seems so impotent an' lame, plus 't encourages them t' continue.

Martha – why show compassion? Th' ‘obvious’ choice be nay fer them t' turn t' crime. Th' more obvious choice would be fer them t' figure ou' a way t' make what they be havin' work fer them. Then maybe we could show compassion by helpin' them. They can fix th' problems they be havin' without resortin' t' piratin' – surely thar must be a better solution than that. I do nay generally agree that violence be th' best solution fer anythin', but in this case I think that be th' only solution – blast ‘em all!

The shipping companies need to hire mercs to go along the crew. A couple of well placed 50 cals should be enough to take out their rinky dink dingies!

Perhaps th' shippin' companies could use an old WWII tactic – form up convoys o' ships wi' destroyer escorts t' get through th' danger zone.

To th' warmongers ou' thar, I be havin' this t' say: Let ye among ye who would NAY become a gentleman o' fortune under th' same circumstances be th' first t' cast a stone. I’m bettin' that most o' ye would (an' who could blame ye?). Th' solution must involve liftin' Somalia ou' o' chaos an' anarchy.

Again, 't’s nay about liberal v.s. conservative as some o' ye want t' frame 't. 't’s about TREASURE, plain an' simple. Cost effectiveness.

Bush did nothin' about this, jus' like Clinton didn’t, an' Obama won’t fer one simple reason: 't’s cheaper t' ignore sweet trade. Ye might nay like that answer, but 't’s th' truth.

Do ye honestly think that if we WANTED t' try an' deal wi' this problem we couldn’t? Or that we weren’t able t' do durin' th' past 8 voyages o' th' previous administration? Face 't: We don’t want t' deal wi' this problem, so we’re nay. NAY ONE in th' U.S. government or military, from Gates t' Mullin t' ere be e'en proposin' we deal withi 't.

Heck e'en th' Navy SEAL in this interview ADMITTED dealin' wi' 't entails rebuildin' the'r failed state, givin' them other options an' trainin' the'r military. That’s what ever' expert who knows about th' situation be tellin' ye 't would take. That’s what 't would take. E'en if swabbies on message boards suddenly think mere violence would solve this, 't won’t. These swabbies be havin' nothin' t' lose. They don’t CARE if they sink t'Davy Jones' locker.

Best and fastest way to stop these pirates is stealth. Dispatch cargo ships to the area with empty containers but armed to the teeth.

High power machine guns and rocket launchers to destroy any pirate ship. When the chase begin, get them in sight and destroy them.

Using Arial surveillance to ID the pirates and pull them in for the kill. After destroying a several pirate ships, they'll get the message.

Nuke'em! And once the dust has settled, make former Somalia into a base for our Southern Pacific fleet's fighter jets.

At 300 miles ou' thar must be a “mother ship� We taxpayers fund satelites (ones up in space unlike Kimmy’s make b'lieve satelite). Th' satelite gets th' Coordinates an' a cruise arrr missle does th' rest. TH' ONLY WAY t' avast these seafarin' heartys be t' convince them, they will sink t'Davy Jones' locker. Ye can’t reason, negotiate or bargin wi' these animals. They must be killed.

Sweet trade an' Child molestation-Davy Jones' locker.

Remove the'r membership in society. Brin' aft Snake Pluskin’s escape from NY.

BJ

Handling the immediate problem of Somolian piracy is one issue, but there’s another that I have not seen or heard from anyone yet. How do we know if any of the pirates enriched from previous adventures are immigrating to the U.S.? The Washington D.C. area is inundated with Ethiopian immigrants. Is America watching/screening anyone from this country who has mass weath and are trying to settle here? If so, are they investigating to see if such wealth is legimate? What about watching to see if any current immigrants are receiving money from Ethiopia? These tactics could provide a means of deciphering who some of these anonymous pirates are as well as settling the reports of Al Queda involvement. This piracy must stop as the world economy is already in shambles and such interruptions to trade as well as the ransom payments will eventually affect us all!

Awesome translations pirate! Are you actually manually doing it or are you using some pirated translation software?

Handlin' th' smart-like problem o' Somolian sweet trade be one issue, but thar’s another that I be havin' nay seen or heard from ere yet. How do we know if any o' th' seafarin' heartys enriched from previous adventures be immigratin' t' th' U.S.? Th' Washington D.C. area be inundated wi' Ethiopian immigrants. Be America watching/screenin' ere from this country who has mass weath an' be tryin' t' settle here? If so, be they investigatin' t' be seein' if such wealth be legimate? What about watchin' t' be seein' if any current immigrants be receivin' treasure from Ethiopia? These tactics could provide a means o' decipherin' who some o' these anonymous seafarin' heartys be as well as settlin' th' reports o' Al Queda involvement. This sweet trade must avast as th' world economy be already in shambles an' such interruptions t' trade as well as th' ransom payments will eventually affect us all!

Maybe th' best solution be t' hire a lot o' th' sea dogs t' protect th' maritime routes. If they be busy protectin' ye they cannot attack ye! They be local, they be cheap, pay them by th' hade o' each dead sea dog that they brin' t' ye. Pretty soon ye will be havin' a coast guard managed by some warlord!

This should be a simple fix. We (the US GOVT) is fighting a war on terror. Looking for that POS in afganistan. Took out a dictator in Iraq. Put a man on the moon and they cant figure out how to take care of a bunch of idiots running around in a boat. Their is no real govt in somalia. So sit at the ports and wait for them. I think it will be obvious to see who is who and just take them out or take them into custody.

The shippin' companies need t' hire mercs t' go along th' crew. A couple o' well placed 50 cals ortin' ta be enough t' take ou' the'r rinky dink dingies!

Check this article out : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Aden
Looks like only the Indian Navy is patrolling this area!! We need to involve more countries to patrol this area

@Richard Ford, yer response be, sadly, resonant wi' that o' many Westerners, an' be largely informed by ignorance. Make th' price o' sweet trade in Somalia too high? As opposed t' what? Dyin' o' hunger, malnutrition, disease etc? Havin' been in Somalia, I know that one only needs t' be on th' verge o' starvation, malnutrition etc t' be compelled t' do pretty much anythin' howereextreme t' get food an' survive, all perils notwithstandin'. Th' West ignored Somalia on accoun' o' then 't really didn’t concern them. That be a huge strategic error, but I b'lieve its nay too late fer th' world t' fix this mess. I b'lieve America, EU an' influential Asian countries ('ceptin' China an' Russia, which ben fannin' th' war in Somalia by providin' weapons t' th' militia) can together help brin' stability t' this country. Wake up world an' smell th' grog!

IF IT IS LEFT UP TO OBAMA , HE WOULD PROBABLEY SAY " YOU GUY'S SHOULD NOT BE DOING THIS " PLAY IT COOL , AN WE WILL GET YOU TO AMERICA , AN YOU CAN LAY ON THE BEACH , AN RECEIVE , WHAT WE CALL SOC , THERE IS ONE CATCH , YOU CAN NOT PRODUCE OVER 8 BABBIES AT ONE SETTING. OK1 , AN YOU ARE A AMERICAN CVITIZEN , AN YOU TO MAY BE PRESIDENT OF THE USA. LOOK AT ME I AM PRESIDENT , AN I HOLD A BIRTH CERTIFICATE OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY. NOW GIVE THIS A THOUGHT . THAT WAY NOBODY GETS HURT. JUST THE TAXPAYERS ,

it's amazing that the US can go into a country (IRAQ) and take it completely over but they have no idea how to fight these low tech pirates. This leads me to believe they are being "sanctioned" or "trained" for some kind of warfare the same way WE trained Al Qeda.

The truth will reveal itself in the years to come.

This ortin' ta be a simple fix. We (th' US GOVT) be fightin' a war on terror. Lookin' fer that POS in afganistan. Tookst ou' a dictator in Iraq. Put a man on th' moon an' they cant figure ou' how t' take care o' a bunch o' idiots runnin' around in a boat. The'r be nay real govt in somalia. So sit at th' ports an' wait fer them. I think 't be obvious t' be seein' who be who an' jus' take them ou' or take them into custody.

joeb

all that "super" equiptment you are talking about is in the movies. defense contractors get paid massive amounts of money to create it but it doesnt go everywhere. thats why our troops didnt even have armor on their humvees in iraq!

richard ford

killing them all never works. it works for a short time but all it does is create a worse situation. the fact is you might kill a bunch but then the next bunch learns from the previous ones mistakes. its called evolution. thats why britain lost america, rome lost rome, and america lost iraq. you cant kill anything. the problem will get worse later on. the key is peace and education. no matter how naive it may seem and how patient you have to be and how hard the job is it is the only solution to the worlds problems. when education fails the country fails. look at us now. the richest country in the world on the brink of destruction and the people are too busy watching american idol!!!!

this sounds like a good place for the blackwater pirvite security people to be.

Awesome translations seafarin' hearty! Be ye actually manually doin' 't or be ye usin' some seafarin' heartyd translation software?

Nuke’em! An' once th' dust has settled, make former Somalia into a base fer our Southern Pacific fleet’s swashbuckler jets.

Why don't these ships just mount a few machine guns on each side?? It would be very easy to defend against and sink any pirates if the shipping companies had any balls. In the old days, sailing merchant ships were armed with cannons to defend themselves against pirates.. The reality is Somalia is unlikely to ever have any government capable of controlling the pirates, and the sea is too big for armed warships to patrol... This won't stop until the ships start taking some protective counter-measures.

i actually watched a documentary on this situation about 2 months ago centered around a team of commandos employed by blackwater who were taking out the supply ships of these pirates using the same tatics the pirates use. you see these pirates small boats are towed out by larger vessels who refuel and resupply them out at sea the blackwater commandos used the same method having a large ship they launched from to board the supply ships, but just like the merchant ships the commandos had no firearms just knives and other simple weapons due to the strict international policies on firearms. during the documentary they did take one ship sucessfully but also talked about a botched mission in which a commando was killed.

IF 'T BE PORT UP T' OBAMA , HE WOULD PROBABLEY SAY � YE GUY’S ORTIN' TA NAY BE DOING THIS � PLAY 'T COOL , AN WE WILL GET YE T' AMERICA , AN YE CAN LAY ON TH' BEACH , AN RECEIVE , WHAT WE CALL SOC , THAR BE ONE CATCH , YE CAN NAY PRODUCE OVER 8 BABBIES AT ONE SETTING. OK1 , AN YE BE A AMERICAN CVITIZEN , AN YE T' MAY BE PRESIDENT O' TH' USA. LOOK AT ME I BE PRESIDENT , AN I HOLD A BIRTH CERTIFICATE O' A FOREIGN COUNTRY. NOW GIVE THIS A THOUGHT . THAT WAY NOBODY GETS HURT. JUS' TH' TAXPAYERS ,

Its not so simple as to arm the the ships. Many of the ships in the region are carrying fuel, a pirate could literally hold up a lighter with threats of blowing the whole ship and successfully take tcontrol. Ok, so why not destry the pirates' boats before they reach the vessel? The cargo ships are huge, they have a crew of ~20 people. How many spare crew do you think there are to patrol the edges after accounting for operating the ship and sleep shifts? The pirates are almost always onboard before they are detected, and fixing that would require a much larger crew and an investment in technology. As for using sonar to help, you need to realize how many other boats are in these areas. If shiping vessels start sending rpgs at local fishermen, there will be an international incident, not to mention the problem of having these same ships enter US ports armed to the teeth.

There are very few US registered ships, explaining why our governement has not done much yet. The vast majority of shipping vessels are registered elsewhere, giving us little jurisdiction other than when they enter our waters. The insurance companies are going to drive this. I'm sure the companies know exactly how much this costs versus the cost of ending the problem through other means. Thousands of ships every day do not get hijacked. If enough do that companies are losing money, they will change the routes or employ security escorts. I can only assume the cost of doing so right now outweighs the cost of taking a chance on a ransom.

Well, what kind of message is this sending? That you can get rich quick by piracy and not worry about prison time? The thing is, the goods on those ships can be replaced easily...oil can't and that's why there are a million soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and few anit-piracy vessels in Somalia.

Check this article ou' : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Aden
Looks like only th' Indian Navy be patrollin' this area!! We need t' involve more countries t' patrol this area

Why don’t these ships jus' mount a wee machine cannons on each side?? 't would be very easy t' defend against an' sink any buccanneers if th' shippin' companies had any balls. In th' old days, sailin' merchant ships be armed wi' cannons t' defend they's self against buccanneers.. Th' reality be Somalia be unlikely t' erehave any government capable o' controllin' th' buccanneers, an' th' sea be too big fer armed warships t' patrol… This won’t avast until th' ships start takin' some protective counter-measures.

Cap'n joeb

all that “super� equiptment ye be talkin' about be in th' movies. defense contractors get paid massive amounts o' treasure t' create 't but 't doesnt go everywhere. thats why our troops didnt e'en be havin' armor on the'r humvees in iraq!

Cap'n richard ford

killin' them all nereworks. 't works fer a short time but all 't does be create a worse situation. th' fact be ye might kill a bunch but then th' next bunch learns from th' previous ones mistakes. its called evolution. thats why britain lost america, rome lost rome, an' america lost iraq. ye cant kill anythin'. th' problem will get worse later on. th' key be peace an' education. nay matter how naive 't may seem an' how patient ye be havin' t' be an' how hard th' job be 'tis th' only solution t' th' worlds problems. when education fails th' country fails. eyeball us now. th' richest country in th' world on th' brink o' destruction an' th' swabbies be too busy watchin' american idol!!!!

I don't care for these pirates and the trouble they are causing and I'm all for some kind of military action against them but the problem with ships carrying firearms on board and getting into a gun battle with pirates is that some ships have volatile cargo like oil, petrol, or chemicals, which all emit fumes constantly. A single spark from a firearm could literally detonate the ship. That's why you don't hear about these pirates shooting anyone on board because they know of the danger that firearms can cause. That's why I think the Alabama crew had the advantage, their cargo and/or fuel made it impossible for the pirates to risk shooting anyone. I did read a short blurb about the French Special Forces carrying on anti-piracy campaigns as the pirates were making off with the ransom. We already tried to go into Somalia and 18 soldiers paid the ultimate price (Blackhawk Down), one was dragged thru the streets as a public display, and I don't want to see the U.S. going into that place ever again. There is no government in place so people, so the pirates just roam free.

this sounds like a good place fer th' blackwater pirvite security swabbies t' be.

it’s amazin' that th' US can go into a country (IRAQ) an' take 't completely o'er but they be havin' nay idee how t' swashbuckle these low tech buccanneers. This leads me t' b'lieve they be bein' “sanctioned� or “trained� fer some kind o' warfare th' same way WE trained Al Qeda.

Th' truth will reveal itself in th' voyages t' come.

Send some ho's with STD's to be their bunk mates. Can't be shooting and scratching at the same time. A litile "slim's desease" anyone??

Why don't they try to steal from a North Korean ship heading toward Iran for missile deals. Kim will nuke the hell out of them with a long range missile. I bet they'd only mess with the US/UN but wouldn't dare mess with the communist. Our problem is we try to be civilized, merciful with the wrong crowd. I thought the US wouldn't negotiate with terrorist? Why negotiate with Pirates then.

Simply tell George W there is oil and weapons of mass destruction aboard the boats and have China fund his militia style crusade.

Its nay so simple as t' arm th' the ships. Many o' th' ships in th' region be carryin' fuel, a gentleman o' fortune could literally hold up a lighter wi' threats o' blowin' th' whole ship an' successfully take tcontrol. Arrr, so why nay destry th' gentleman o' fortunes’ boats before they reach th' vessel? Th' cargo ships be huge, they be havin' a crew o' ~20 swabbies. How many spare crew do ye think thar be t' patrol th' edges after accountin' fer operatin' th' ship an' sleep shifts? Th' gentleman o' fortunes be almost always onboard before they be detected, an' fixin' that would require a much larger crew an' an investment in technology. As fer usin' sonar t' help, ye need t' reckon how many other boats be in these areas. If shipin' vessels start sendin' rpgs at local fishermen, thar be an international incident, nay t' mention th' problem o' havin' these same ships enter US ports armed t' th' teeth.

Thar be very wee US registered ships, explainin' why our governement has nay done much yet. Th' vast majority o' shippin' vessels be registered elsewhere, givin' us wee jurisdiction other than when they enter our waters. Th' insurance companies be goin' t' drive this. I’m sure th' companies know exactly how much this costs versus th' cost o' endin' th' problem through other means. Chestfulls o' ships ever' tide do nay get hijacked. If enough do that companies be losin' treasure, they will change th' routes or employ security escorts. I can only assume th' cost o' doin' so starboard now outweighs th' cost o' takin' a chance on a ransom.

Best an' fastest way t' avast these shipmates be stealth. Dispatch cargo ships t' th' area wi' empty containers but armed t' th' teeth.

High power machine cannons an' rocket launchers t' destroy any shipmate ship. When th' chase begin, get them in sight an' destroy them.

Usin' Arial surveillance t' ID th' shipmates an' pull them in fer th' kill. After destroyin' a several shipmate ships, they’ll get th' message.

MDR, you seem to have the only rational voice on this post. I agree with all of your points of consideration.

One point, these are shipping channels with literally hundreds of container ships. Do we really want to pull our entire Navy and spend billions of dollars providing security for every ship?

I'm surprised that nobody has brought up counter-surveillance and espionage. Follow the flow of money and establish a network of informants. A lot less expensive than having war ships alongside every tanker. Completely agreed that arming the crews will only escalate the pirates voracity for violence.

If violating the Somali's fishing territory is the root problem, perhaps we should start there and provide secure fishing rights?

Well, what kind o' message be this sendin'? That ye can get rich quick by sweet trade an' nay worry about prison time? Th' thin' be, th' goods on them ships can be replaced easily…oil can’t an' that’s why thar be a cargo holds o' soldiers in Iraq an' Afghanistan an' wee anit-sweet trade vessels in Somalia.

The marine hymn tells us what the precedent is: "...to the shores of Tripoli we will fight our country's battles on land..." So, bring in the marines like we did two centuries ago.

There's a lot of trolls on here today!

I don’t care fer these buccanneers an' th' trouble they be causin' an' I’m all fer some kind o' military action against them but th' problem wi' ships carryin' firearms on board an' gettin' into a gun battle wi' buccanneers be that some ships be havin' volatile cargo like oil, petrol, or chemicals, which all emit fumes constantly. A single spark from a firearm could literally detonate th' ship. That’s why ye don’t hear about these buccanneers shootin' ere on board on accoun' o' they know o' th' danger that firearms can cause. That’s why I think th' Alabama crew had th' advantage, the'r cargo an'/or fuel made 't impossible fer th' buccanneers t' risk shootin' ere. I did read a short blurb about th' French Special Forces swashbucklin' anti-sweet trade campaigns as th' buccanneers be makin' off wi' th' ransom. We already tried t' go into Somalia an' 18 soldiers paid th' ultimate price (Blackhawk Down), one be dragged thru th' streets as a public display, an' I don’t want t' be seein' th' U.S. goin' into that place ereagain. Thar be nay government in place so swabbies, so th' buccanneers jus' roam free.

i actually watched a documentary on this situation about 2 moons ago centered around a team o' commandos employed by blackwater who be takin' ou' th' supply ships o' these buccanneers usin' th' same tatics th' buccanneers use. ye be seein' these buccanneers wee boats be towed ou' by larger vessels who refuel an' resupply them ou' at sea th' blackwater commandos used th' same method havin' a large ship they launched from t' board th' supply ships, but jus' like th' merchant ships th' commandos had nay firearms jus' knives an' other simple weapons due t' th' strict international policies on firearms. durin' th' documentary they did take one ship sucessfully but also talked about a botched voyage in which a commando be killed.

A military response is tempting, but is anyone willing to risk the lives of innocent hostages.

You do not hear too much about the pirates actually harming the hostages. I really wonder if they are as blood thirsty as some people think. Show some grit and they may back down.

A more effective method may be to get them where it really hurts – in their purses. There are 100's of millions of dollars involved. There has to be an international network in place for them to launder and use this money. More than likely Somali ex-pats around the world are handling the finances. I would put a great deal of effort into an international program to investigate and track this flow of money. Catch their colleagues outside of Somalia and freeze assets.

President Jefferson dealt wjith the Barbary pirates rather successfully, two centuries ago. We certainly have the means to leave those enterprising Somalian women to their widowhood and have not the ones to save a failed state(see Iraq and Mr. Bush).

Here's an idea: let's send over a ballistic missile with a conventional warhead. No ship, no mess. Take out the port without taking out half the contininent of Africa.

Oh yeah and the shipping companies that make MILLIONS can help pay for their own vessels to have security. That is if they want to stay in business. I am not going to pay for anyone else's "welfare" as we already pay out the wazzoo in the states. The United States will keep forking over the money because GOD FORBID we do anything to stop this. We just continue to be the big stupid capitolist doormats (masquerading as the super power) It's almost like we are Batman on the outside and Stewy from Family guy on the inside. Get it real, Get it right....

SOS for Eric Prince and his newly re-named company XE (formerly Blackwater)! These black-ops, baZOOka-armed he-men would instantly deter any pirates. Man – look how they blew away innocent families in Baghdad! Crikey! I'm shiverin' me timbers even thinking about Prince Eric and his Amway princesses. Gimme that contract!

The ransoms being paid only attracts more young men to take up pirating. And this also leads to buying more sophisticated weapons and vessels by the pirates. We need to end this diplomatically. We must make all reasonable efforts to involve the government in Somalia. If this fails, we must take the laws into our own hands. If I am not mistaken, 300 miles out at sea is international waters, and no country can cry foul if we destroy these pirates.
Carrying weapons on commercial ships does not make sense. This might upset other countries in the Gulf of Aden and may make them nervous.

We need a new president.... Obama SUCKS.

I am amazed at how ignorant so many of these posts sound. So many of you are very critical of ransom payments and it's correlation to our economic bailout. While at the same time screaming that we should mobilize the remaining parts of our military (whether navy, marines, mercenaries) to bleed our country of what little tax payer dollars it has left to protect the products of the very companies that got US in to our current economic situation with greed, lies, and corruption.

Also interesting is that these companies have extremely close ties with our newly former president and all his pro-united states-imperalism cronies.

Another good note was made about the political sensitivity required to allow ships to constatly enter foreign ports, and the fact that if you make each of these ships a virtual war ship, that there are going to be a lot of international confrontations.

I also wanted to say that I am shocked that so many of you would say "kill them all, nuke the coutnry, destroy every ship, etc.etc."

If these things were to occur to americans by a foreign power, you would be up in arms (more so than now) with the same veil of ignorance over your eyes. Just because you or I may be an american is not what makes us right and everyone else wrong.

Please make some attempt to learn how to rationalize a situation, it would be a great service to your country.

We just need Jack Bauer over there for a couple of episodes and the problem will be solved!

in all seriousness, these are NOT peace loving people and there is only one thing they will respond to, and that is force. I know it's sad, but it's true. The law is for the lawless!

"One of the interesting demographic things that’s happening right now is that single Somali women are flocking to the port town Bosaso where these pirates come out of in the hopes of marrying a pirate." Yo-ho-ho and a bottle o' rum,it be a pirate's life fer ME,MATEY!!

The solution is simple and right in front of everyone's, anyone's face, if they care to see it.

Locate their base of operations. Scuttle all vessels, ALL OF THEM. Set patrol ships outside the area, and wait.

If pirates manage to set sail once again for the high seas, there will be an armed vessel ready to either turn them back, or they face the penalty of total destruction. End of story.

When the pirates get the message that their behavior will no longer be tolerated without retribution, these raids will lessen, and eventually stop.

The United States cannot, should not be the only world power to bear this burden. All countries who sail those waters must contribute to the effort to stop piracy.

This is the year 2009 and there are more problems facing Somalia. That's what our focus should be on, if we care at all. I doubt that anything will be done for these poor people, and that opion is based on what I've read in these comments today.

The mass of American people basically don't give a sh*t about a country like Somalia. They figure, hey, they've done this to themselves, so its their problem to fix. Sad but true.

I understand why these young men turn to this life as a way of providing for their families or whoever. The lure of easy money (easy for them, compared to the alternative), has a very strong appeal. This is no excuse for what they do, but that's the way it is. 'Nuff said!

These simple solutions,RPGs,nukes,etc.;don't you think that people who have studied this situation from every angle and know more about it than you do have considered and rejected these ideas?Somalia is a mess,partly because of past colonization,then becoming a cold war pawn and finally because it has become a good customer of the international arms dealers that " violence- as -the- solution " people support. No arms,no pirates,stop the flow. But how would you do that ? It's at least as lucrative as drug trafficking,the payoff outweighs the risks. As with terrorists,we need to approach the problem with more intelligence and less brute force. It's not that brute force doesn't have its place but in complex cases like this it's not effective. A patient gathering of information,an open consideration of ideas,a reasonable proposal, implimentation (wham!) and an evaluation of the results ,where the problem is solved or we go back to the drawing board.

ok.. take all the prostitutes from Vegas, dress them like wenches,load them up on a boat, send them to the gulf of Aden. When the vessel is taken, the pirates will discover their new wenches which in turn will keep them busy for months, then while they're doing that, send in the marines to take the pirate vessels in harbor.
Two problems down.

This whole thing seems fishy to me, the solution is so easy its like the shipping companies want the write-off.. How can 4 pirates take over a ship with 20 people on board? We don't need to kill them just shoot or spray them with something nasty (skunk urine or mace come to mind). The stories all said the try do defend themselves with water hoses, inject a nasty cnemical, problem solved. Ian R had a good idea but starting a fire when you are carrying several tons of fuel is probably not a good idea...

I was sickened to see several comments about showing 'compassion' to the pirates and the suggestion they should not be shot or otherwise killed. How about we first show compassion to the innocent people being assaulted and taken hostage and their families and loved ones. No one forced these criminal pirates to take up arms and assault other humans.

Just because their developmental level is that of a child, even a child has consequences for misbehaving. Let's communicate to the pirate community that the game is over and future raids will be met with a force adequate to prevent the raid. Raid our merchant ships and you'll likely die.

Just imagine the value to humanity we'll be losing with those that choose to 'likely die' and continue to practice piracy. They could have gone on to such greatness...maybe a drug lord or professional assasin.

Whatever is decided they should not let it get out of hand and become a habit or it's all over!!!

This is a commercial loss prevention issue. There have been no lives lossed as of yet. This would certainly change if the US military gets involved.

I think we should put Chuck Norris on a boat in the middle of the pirates and let them come to him... he could take care of the rest.

To the other "Tom":

Your idea of retrofitting ships with armor to withstand an RPG blast sounds good on paper, but I don't think you really know what you're up against.

An RPG-7 warhead (1950's technology) costs about $10 on the black market, and it can penetrate more than two FEET of solid armor grade steel or 5+ feet of steel-reenforced concrete. That's enough to put a hole in an armored warship.

An RPG-29 warhead can do the same, and it can also penetrate exposive reactive armor.

You simply cannot equip a merchant ship to withstand those kinds of weapons. You could spend millions of dollars, quadruple it's weight with armor (imagine the cost for that, plus the larger engines, slower speeds, and more fuel consumption) and still not solve the problem.

Most of these pirates are using some of the latest techology and weapons. We cant just go and threaten to blow them up with artillery when most of the time they already have some type of artillery pointed at us.

Sooner or later we are going to have to strike first and ask questions later.

get the hostage situation resolved, send drones to the land and blow up the 10 biggest mansions there, then find a diplomatic way to resolve piracy, like dig for oil... their only hope.

Stop aid to Somalia- or threaten their Parliament.
They can fix this situation in a day.
You need a thorn to remove a thorn.

." Even if people on message boards suddenly think mere violence would solve this, it won’t. These people have nothing to lose. They don’t CARE if they die."

Good, we don't care if they die either. Saves us the trouble and the bullets

This problem is caused by bad family values, plain and simple. The liberal media miss the point - again. It's because of all those teens having sex, gays marrying, illegals crossing over, and not enough guns. Drill baby drill, that'll fix 'em!

The pirates ARE THE COMPANIES. They hire them and coordinate the attack in some cases. Wire the money to an account in cahoots with the CFO or CEO and voila - the shareholders get screwed - a few skinnies make a million bucks and the rest goes to the brilliant people who came up with the charade. This is why this is going on. The skinnies are being used by men "they work for". The men are the companies. This is where they got the AK 47 this is why they have banks that don't get tracked down. This is why nobody is racing to track down the money.

The linguistic and mathmatic idiocy of many of these comments is phenomenal: if a military solution was feasible and cost effective any administration would persue it. A ransom of a few million is a petty cost compaired with what is costs – in terms of fuel, munitions, manpower hours, etc – to send even a small US Navy fleet, which might not even intercept these pirates. So those who would "talk tough" about blowing the pirates out of the water – it's like spending $100 to save a dollar.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jneen

Re-commission the Battleships and park them within sight of the coast line. About two salvo's of those sixteen inchers should be enought o clear there minds. Every once in a while we all need an attitude adjustment!

Put Jack Sparrow on the job...

It must be George W Bush's fault.

Let Jack Bauer handle it.

I agree with Kim's response, they have pretty much no other alternative. Going in and "killing them all" is just as savage as being a pirate yourself. Agree with it or not, eye for an eye is never the answer. Take a step back, look at who they are and why they are doing this. They are human just like you and I, they need provisions just like you and me. Things were good until foreign countries began infiltrating their waters and stealing all their fish: their only means of making a living. When that is taken away, what is left for them? Put yourself in that situation, what would you do? It's easy for us fortunate Americans to look down on those who barely have a percentage of what we have. The solution is to help them. Help them on a pure human to human level. I understand that the boat was carrying provisions and aid to Somalia, but there is more that we as a country can do to help them. I'm not saying that we need to burden all the responsibility, but we have the power and influence to get other powerful countries to collectively help countries in need. Rather than just feed them we should help them get on their own two feet and have them feed themselves. It's a greater investment for the future of humanity.

Interesting comments from both extremes.

I personally value human life, only if it has value!

I don't think that small arms on board those merchant vessels is a good idea, especially if they are stolen while in port or fall into the wrong hands via other methods.

Water cannons that shot fuel sounded like a wonderful idea. Sink them, shoot them but but don't drag them into a courtroom, ever!!
A prison full of Pirates awaiting trial with a whole team of tree huggers doing all in their power to get them off the hook is the last thing anyone needs. What about harpoon guns that shoot large enough projectiles to sink the smaller boats?

Easy answers:

Pay no ransom
Use extreme prejudice to rescue hostages and ships
maim and release pirates so they can be living examples of bad behaviour!

There have not been any problems from Carthage since Rome took care of it. If someone tries to hijack a ship, you kill him. If its ten pirates, then its ten dead bodies. If its a thousand, then they become a thousand bloated corpses floating home to their beaches. No US flagged ship should ever fall to pirates.

Simple solution, Can you say "NAVY SEALS"? done deal.....
Stop the crap and let us do the job! end of story..........................

Oh and thanks Cap'n Xcaliber – you took my message and put it to your own sweet language of the seas. My hats off to you sir. Or as my gramps used to say "Tip o' th mornin' to ya"

Oh and Tiff.....
"ok.. take all the prostitutes from Vegas, dress them like wenches,load them up on a boat, send them to the gulf of Aden. When the vessel is taken, the pirates will discover their new wenches which in turn will keep them busy for months, then while they’re doing that, send in the marines to take the pirate vessels in harbor.
Two problems down" .................
I think you should be president.

Maybe if the Somalis put as much effort into peace and trying to build better lives for themselves instead of the better way to hijack a boat we wouldn't be having this conversation. If they all wanted better lives they sure have funny ways of showing it.

Somalis have proven they do not want outside help, they want to live how they are, so all those who want to believe a hug will end all the worlds ill's need to fly on over their and let me know how it turns out for you, arms wide open and all.

Anyone without the backbone to stomach the truth needs to turn away and shut your useless mouth and as usual let the rest of use do the dirty work for YOU so you can go hug your next tree with your fantasy vision of the perfect world.

I agree, weapons should be used to deter this before ransoms turn into torture tapes.

We have these lawless countries that threaten the entire world's shipping why don't we invade these small countries and install a stable government? It wouldn't be illegal since there is no functioning government to begin with. If we can spend trillions in Iraq certainly we can spend a few million taking out some peasant rebels and install a stable government. Side note why do invade country's that never asked or wanted our help but ignore the poor & oppressed country's that cry & scream for us to help them?

blow them up? their country is in a civil war, violence is daily life,
so die for 50 cents or die tying to get $50 million, what would your do?

One of the basic tenets of psychology is that if U want behavior to be repeated, then reward it. Pirates are rewarded with the ransom being paid and will continue to hijack ships as long as ransom money flows to them. Get the ship's captain back to us and then retaliate.

They are handling it fine. There's an American hostage on board that little dingy they're stuck floating on, would you want them to just blast it with your loved one aboard. When they safely rescue him, they'll deal with the pirates. I just pray they don't harm him first.

All they want is Rum.

Despite all the technological and intellectual advances America could not stop the financial pirates at Wall Street and elsewhere. See what they have done to us.Then what about supervising thousands of square miles of ocean. Our lives are being pirated.
Only joint efforts by all nations can stop the ocean piracy.

I think some of you have forgotten that there was a UN mission to feed and help Somalia. What happened??? Our soldiers and Marines were put under UN control. Bad move.

It was ridiculous to have to request permission to fight back while trying to deliver food, water, and supplies to the people. Anyone recall the American dead being dragged through the streets??? That's when I first encountered Al Queda.

So all you bleeding hearts crying about the Somalis have lost me. My solution would be to put heavily armed boats that can be quickly deployed into the water, full of former soldiers and Marines.

After sinking the pirates, let them tread water, until the sharks come for dinner. Videotape the feeding frenzy and release it to the Somalis for free. I would then release the movies to the rest of the world, and charge $19.99. After all, I am an evil capatalist. Thank you for your time..... ARRRRGGHH!!!

What happened to the intenational ban on paying ransoms? 30 years ago, this would not have happened because all nations refused to pay ransoms. If they can't make any money in piracy, it will stop.

Onlooker April 9th, 2009 12:40 pm ET

"Sounds like they need to hire armed ex-soldiers as the crew."

They're all busy working for TSA, being worthless.

Lets get the France involved. They can quickly surrender Paris so the pirates have a place to spend their money and the French people can get busy collaborating with the enemy and make up stories about their resistance to the enemy.

If they attack US flagged ship they attac the US. Grab them and send them for some 20 years in a US Jail. If they fire then you fire back and sink them to the bottom of the Ocean. Most ships would decide to be registered in US because the rates would be lower for Insurance. The other alternative is to occupy their Land. But do we really need another Irag?

The problem with firing on them is that they'll then fire back. They've got every weapon any ship has, maybe more. Ramp it up and eventually they'll start firing first. Lots of gung-ho macho talk on this comment thread but none of it is practical. It'll only make matters worse.

I went through the Gulf of Aden on a ship a year ago. Pirates approached us, checked us out, then waved at us as we passed. Our best defense was being able to move so fast that it was too difficult-to-impossible for them to board. The captain said it was foolish and suicidal to fire on them because they would always win with a ship that wasn't a warship. In fact, the captain said guns were not allowed on the ship to keep any chance of firing on pirates out of the question and that that was the policy of all the ships. His words.

arm the ships??
Think here for a minute. that would mean arm all ships. right?
so now you heavily armed merchant ships docking on your ports. right?
who knows who is in what ship?
think, think think. The solution is not alway Blow em up, Kill em..............
Ignorance is no defence.

All they need to do, is set up a lane/ route that all cargo ships entering the area use (closed to all but cargo vessels) and set up a few UAV carrier ships along said route to patrol and protect said route using said UAVs (use helicopter based UAVs like the Fire Scout).

Cost would probably be about $40 million a year (Currently the cost for the running of 4 predators,including bases and personel is about $20mil a year.Ship based would be far less expensive and allow multiple ships with multiple UAVs for about the above price)

Here's how to handle the pirates: kill 'em all. Let God sort 'em out.

Colette –
"I understand why these young men turn to this life as a way of providing for their families or whoever. The lure of easy money (easy for them, compared to the alternative), has a very strong appeal. This is no excuse for what they do, but that’s the way it is. ‘Nuff said!"

I'll be you understand that down here in good ole Texas we have a situation that falls under "immigration reform". Now I will be the first to tell you that if I was starving i'd figure out a way to get food...I'd even kill to feed my children...BUT...and here's the jaw dropper....I would not resort to violence so I can be a millionaire in the poorest friggen country in the world. So, I think you need to move "out of the box" on this one and see that these people are greedy and want only to be rich.

Two words:

Global Hawk.

Just launch one or two of those bad boy un-manned drones up in the air and equip them with Air to surface missles...use a supply chain Risk management software to identify high risk vessels..ID and attack from a distance...

done and done.

since it is in the interest of national security...the US public is already footing the bill for our Intel and Miltary funds...no need to allocate new funding at all.

As the previous poster, 'Samual Adams' put it:

"I guess a “modern, European Nation� like the United States just negotiates with terrorists."

That pretty much sums it all up, and is certainly what looks like will continue to be the case. We're running scared.

Warn them, if it happens again there will be serious consequences.

When it happens again, send some AC130s from Djibouti over the coast and do gun runs, kill them and destroy the docks.

When it happens again, send in the AC130s and do it again...and again..and again. Kill them all, the world will be a better place.

I'm a "shoot from the hip" kind of guy (which is why I'm NOT in the Diplomatic Corps). I'd suggest getting the GPS co-ord's of the hijacked ship, flying a Predator to that area and , after ensuring that the pirates have what they want and no hostages are involved, launching a Hellfire or some other weapon at them or better yet their "mother ship" (assuming George Clinton is not on board).

400 years ago, the international community agreed on one thing, tie a rope around the pirates neck and hoist him up to the yard arm.
Why did we stop doing that?

yaarrrggghhh!

What needs to be done is not let any body leave a comment .

Maybe it is time to take a page from the WWII playbook and start putting commercial shipping in Convoys protected by armed destroyers or military ships to protect them. If there is no chance to board these vessels, and almost a 100% chance of death or imprisonment, it will stop. How can the International Community take control of Somalia. It is ruled by war lords...it can only be taken if by armed force and then occupied. Who wants to do that? Somalia is where we had our "blackhawk down" incident and we pulled out. It's a lawless wasteland and I cannot imagine a situation where it can be controlled unless vast arms and resources are expended. Not worth it.

I think the response should be pretty clear cut in this case – in the other cases? not so much. The VAST majority of the ships hijacked are flagged under flags of convenience. The companies do this rather than register under the country that actually is the real home of the ship. USA , UK, France etc. Traditional reasons for choosing an open register include protection from income taxes, wage scales and regulations.

Well – if you are flagging under East Timor or Vanuatu and are doing this to specifically avoid following the regulations of the USA then why the hell should the USA protect you?

In this case the pirates actually did attack an American flagged ship and the response I think should strongly encourage the pirates never to touch an American ship again. in other words – Hammer em. React way out of proportion.

Much as the Pax Romana protected Romans throughout the known world the very fact that a ship is flagged USA, UK, France, or any other modern nation should protect them there. But for flags of convenience? You made your bed, now sleep in it.

It would be cheaper to hire a guard unit to go along on the ship with the cargo and when the pirates come after the ship blow them out of the water.

Blow up several of them and you will see a dramatic slowdown in the commandeering or trying to capture a ship.

It would no be that expensive to put on a couple of fify caliber machine guns and a couple of rocket launchers. They may be poor and stupid but if we blow up enough of them, I think they will get a little smarter and find another way of making a living if not then keep blowing them out of the water.

This is not the first time that pirates caused havoc on the seas and if could stop them once we can stop them again,

Hire Blackwater to man the boats. They are currently out of a job in Iraq and have no qualm at being trigger happy. Here is an opportunity for Obama to put more Americans to work

I say one bunker buster bomb in downtown Mogadishu for each attempted hijack.

How fitting that the USS Bainbridge is the US Navy's vessel on-sight dealing with the current pirate situation. It was Commodore William Bainbridge, historically one of the US Navy's most famous officers (and the one for whom the ship is named) that the early US government had deal with the Barbary pirates from Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis during the 1st and 2nd Barbary Wars of the early 19th century.

Where is Jack Bauer? Only he can take care of this mess in 24hrs.

Rick Ford has it right. Every boat should carry bazookas, with sailors trained to use them. Consistent termination of the lives and livelihoods of would be pirates will quickly put an end to this. Forget international laws that don't allow ships to protect themselves, the only law of relevance there is the law of the jungle. If you try to enter my house to take my possessions or hold my family ransom, I will shoot you if I can. I'd do the same if I was cruising by in $50M tanker.

Why don’t we have an aircraft carrier in the area? When a ship calls in a pirate threat we dispatch a couple F-16 or F-22’s or whatever fighter jets are used on those ships. The pirates are heavily armed and the threaten lives. Blow them out of the water and be done with them! Our Military should protect American lives whenever and wherever they are in danger.

Kill them all. No mercy. No rest for the wicked.

We obviously don't remember President Clinton's failed actions in Somalia and it's repercussions very well. (Hint – rent Blackhawk Down) We've given them lots of time to clean up their act and have attempted to give them lots of aid. This is now a case of a failed society. If it was just failing on it's own and not bothering anyone else I would say just let them die off in piece. Instead it is fertile ground for terrorists who are being encouraged by how easily the West is influenced. We have repeatedly shown these thugs since about the 1950s that the people of the West will back down from any threat. Note the 30 acts of world wide terrorism since 9/11. Note the unwillingness to finish wars going all the way back to Korea and not letting McArthur go in and end the war.

The ONLY option at this point is scorched earth in all of Somalia. This will send a strong message to the rest of the thugs out there that this is not acceptable behavior and that there will be repercussions. It does not wipe out a race as the people have emigrated to the US and Europe to escape this thuggery.

Perhaps after removing all of the scum polluting Somalia, these great people will be able to once again return their homeland and live productive lives.

WHAT? Why is it always the US that is expected to go in and help these greedy leaders of these stone-age countries? I am sick of it. We have children in the US who go to bed hungry every night, and their parents are out hijacking tankers!
Kill them, pick them off one by one, either arm the tankers or send private killers. And one more thing people, SPELL CHECK. No one will take your comments seriously if they cannot understand what you are trying to say because of spelling errors.

[...] didn't fight the Barbary Wars (look it up) for nothing. Now, it seems that Somali women are flocking to ports so that they can marry a pirate. This is of course because of they goatees and rather large [...]

This is ridiculous. The world's most powerful nation being held hostage by a group of lawless "skinnies". Launch a few missles and wipe them out. We know were they live – take them out already. Who will condemn us? And if they do, so what. President Bush would have already dealt with this in a manner consistent with our position on the world stage – what is obama going to do? Invite them over to discuss and tell them that we are weak, arrogant and they right for what they are doing. Enough already. Get this mess over with – wipe them out. Send in the Marines!

Kill em' ALL!

An easy solution to the problem: Trojan Horse

The government should send Navy&Marines out in your average everyday run of the mill merchant ship. Armed to the teeth and ready to take on the pirates.

Dress half the crew in plain clothes and the other half in tactical gear. When the unassuming pirates board the ship...round em' up and throw them in the brig.

A sting operation...like the police.

In Mexico we had kind of the similar problem with freight trucks. The solution? They were escorted by private security cars with armed agents. In the long term, it was cheaper for transporters to pay a private security group to escort the truck from town A to town B, than losing the cargo or paying ransom. And this kind of crimes pretty much stopped.

Hey creative people out there! This is business opportunity!

Hire private security boats to escort the ships, with radar and a 5 armed member crew. Detect the pirate boats from the distance and blast them. The price to pay for this kind of security is way cheaper than paying a ransom and the private security boats don't have to dock in the commercial ports.

If Somalia would just wake up and start taxing these pirates, they could get that country turned around, update their infrastructure, build schools, etc...

Time to take a few ships out at the source – the Port of Bosaso. Maybe a Stealth Bomber drops a few bombs in the harbor; and maybe a coule of F16's take out some of the million dollar pirate mansions in the the Port Town. The US should stick to its principle of NEVER negotiating with terrorists – and that includes pirates.

The CIA should take a few submarines in close to Somalia – and run a few black ops missions – a few assassinations of pirate leaders on the ground. Sooner or later, they will get the message.

Why not send in an agent with tracking devices? Find the base and send in the Marines. Destroy all boats on that port. They will need aircraft carrier, destroyer, and submarine near Somali to look out for pirates. Ship needs to be arm with assaults rifle. Otherwise spray the speed boat with fuel and warn them if they get closer, they will be ignited. I think they should check all boats and ships passing 100 miles off the coast of Somalia in regard to the international law of Sea Water. Have all boats of Somalia registered in. If one is suppected of being used, they can be check out. Any boats from Somalia not register, they can be sunk.

Start at one end of the country with A10's wing tip to wing tip and shoot their way to the other. Then turn around and go back. That should take care of the problem and it would also create open land for lawabiding people to settle.

Here are some PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS: 1) Put a bullet hole in the floor of every boat along the Somali Coast. 2) Take a small point of land and warehouse all the boats on land on in marinas until they have a good government. 3) Create a Naval Blockade of the ports. 4) Drop leaflets onland warning no Somali boat to go more than 12 miles from the coast to catch fish and then arrest or sink those who stray beyond that line. 5) Let Ethiopia Annex them...they need some coastline anyway. 6) Put gps in the ransom money bags so we can track them to their homes. 7) Give them a small cut and throw them to the sharks. Allow Mercenaries to get half the money if they catch or kill the pirates after payout. This would bring bored soldiers in from all over the world. The UN should make a ruling that any mercenary who catches them in the act or afterwards can harvest their organs for sale as transplants. 9) Blockade the port and give out daily passes for offshore fisherman who apply for, have, and use a picture ID card issued from the UN. Also check the persons, IDs and cargos of each vessel before they re-enter the port. It would be a border check point in the water just like when a car wants to go back and forth from the USA to Mexico.

Do not treat this as a law enforcement problem. Treat this as a military
problem. P-3 can detect a periscope sticking out of the water with its radar. It can certainly detect a rib. Do not use unarmed recon drones.
Use predator drones and blow away any rib full of armed black men.
2 or 3 destroyers can cover entire coast of Somalia.

This is really a solvable problem. We are just completely unwilling to solve it. By the way arming merchant marine is stupid. This RPG will be stolen and used in the first port of call. All we need is an armed to the teeth freighter in SF port. Yeah right. 5 inch deck guns on a liberian flagged freighter coming to port of Houston? Anybody with an actual brain out there in the the NRA land?

Take pre-emptive military action. Do not wait for pirates to attack.
Just sink anything that is smaller then a freighter moving that area of Indian ocean and sink any freighter launching a boat full of armed man. We have predator's for a reason, lets use them.

The international community should consider demolishing the homes where the families of pirates live as a deterrent. Israel has been doing this for some years now, apparently with success, to deter attackers.

those who propose that the crews carry weapons probably don't have a family member working on a ship. engaging in a shootout with pirates, who are extremely well armed, is way too dangerous for the crew. what I don't understand is why the international community is not going to the root of the problem – somali fishing villages where they are all coming from. apparently, it is known exactly which towns they come from, which villas they live in, which yachts they own...so if somalia isn't going to do anything about it, why can't the international community intervene - on land?

carpet bomb the coast

Metallica could solve all of this very quickly, as long as they were told these pirates were also stealing their music!

Airstrikes!

These plundering idiots are wreaking havoc on our seas. When these guys are caught they should be burned alive, that is how they treated pirates of yesteryear and it had a dramatic effect.

If these freighters go into these areas without enough firepower to combat these "pirates" they deserve to be raided and killed!

Our Navy should blow every non-registered boat out of the water each and every time they take a ship. They think they are poor now... it could get worse.

Option 1

150, 000.00 U.S. (per trip) – - – I will ride on the bow of any commercial vessel that wants to hire me.

I will have a phalanx installed (shipping company cost) and will "persuade" would-be pirates to seek other prey.

Option 2

What bounty are the shipping companies offering for pirates these days?

This is NOT the complete story
for years and years, developing countries including the united states have exploited the waters around Somalia by taking all the seafood for their own profit from this already poverty ridden country. Also, tons of nuclear waste have been dumped in this water. Piracy becomes th only option. Ofcourse the whole picture is never mentioned on CNN. ..

One question – where is the UN in all of this? Shouldn't Somalia this be high on their priority list? We provide a headquarters for them, pay them billions each year, provide them with military assistance – for what?

Of course, we now have the ObamaLama abusing the no-limit Federal Credit Card like an out-of-control drug addict. What's a few billion here, a few billion there?

Lets say everytime a pirate went out they came back floating face down. Wonder what would go through the simple minds of the next group of pirates.

It's George Bush's fault.

YAAARRRRRR!!!

Vote for Captain Redbeard Schurr and First Mate Carlson in 2012!

Why would you ask a seal about policy? A better question would be "How could two seals kill everyone in the boat without killing the hostage? Policy would be a good question for President Obama.

Hire a small group of mercenaries for each trip. give them a 50-cal, rocket launcher and some vision and poof! Pirates won't jump in the fire twice!

This whole problem can be solved in two words: INVADE SOMALIA!!!!

Aren't this 'pirates' operating within Somali water? If so, isn't the international shipping companies using their waters without paying any fees? I am confused! Unless this so called pirates are operating on international water, I think the rest of the world would be better off engaging the Somali transition government with a view of paying them taxes that they can then use to provide security along their coast line. I crinch when I think about how Multinationals are able to point a finger at the other guy when their business interests are threatened. It happened during colonial times, and millions of people were killed while others where enslaved in their own countries due to economic interests of the U.K.

For the short term, decoy ships sounds like it could help, in theory. However, they probably get wind of a when a good mark is coming by.

As far as people criticizing America, don't be too harsh. At least 50% of us are embarassed by these type of idiots, too. Many of us are thoughful, quiet, readers, who have a decent abilty with geography, and can speak more than one language.

We just not loud and annoying enough to spout off everyplace we can, for everyone to see.

For the record, I like Ian's idea too!

Arrrr....there be pirates!

I nominate France to solve this problem. Maybe some help from Iran. We, the West, can observe and learn something.

After all, we appear to be uniformed.

Arm these ships ....or hire some Security Operators

My company has been soliciting to take contracts to provide counter-piracy operations. We already have other Africa based contracts currently going on be it protecting NGO's in Sudan,Nigeria, or the Congo. Despite this those shipping companies bank on insurance and all shipping crews are expendable.

It is cheaper to lose this cargo vs hiring para-military operators to protect these ships going back and forth., what also needs to be done.. is to take over the sea port in Mogadishu Somalia..establish a base there under the U.N. or NATO this could serve as a base of operations to cater to USAiD programs in the surrounding countries.

These pirates are a joke, running about in styro foam boats with out board engines.. just drop a concrete block from the fan tail of a freight boat it would put a nice hole in one of those so-called pirates boat.

بياسي �روم تي ميددلي ا�است

Equip the ships with some kind of defense mechanicsim
such as electricity on the ladder or an alarm when boats are approaching at certin distances and most certainly guns aboard

Jerry April 9th, 2009 1:18 pm ET

Obama’s naughty brothers! Are we such wimps we will allow this to continue???

ARE YOU RETARDED GUY?

You guys are unreal... all od your solutions are just plain uneducated

1) It would be very easy to arm the members of the fleet, however, Shipping companies and owners don't want to provoke a fire fight where they could lose an entire vessel and its cargo (both having value far exceding the payouts) due to the nature of the explosiveness of the tanker fuel and potentially the cargo.

2) Technology surveying the entire area for a small watercraft not much larger than a personal boat as well as using aircraft/boats to intercept a 20 ft vessel just isn't plausible. Finding something with a 20 foot surface area in a 2000 Sq mile area and then intercepting it before it attacks the ship? lol Goodluck wasting millions more dollars

3) There really isn't an easy short term solution besides stop using that area or increase the standard of living and education in those areas. Simply killing off an entire sity or area is not an option these days...killing 1,000,000's over 20 pirates. Dont we already have enough international crises on our hands?

4)also boats dont want to carry/store hazardous substance or chemicals anymore than they have to, another dumb idea.

SADface

If you ever lived in that type of communuity, you must realize there is no mercy. You just take them out, that's all they understand. Quit being the nice guy getting your teeth kicked in. Those pirates just don't care, and the sooner we quit pandering to their demand and clean the waters out the sooner the terrorism will stop.

What ever hapened to the loud sound alarms that kept the pirates off that cruse ship? I'm suprised that a repeler of some kind hasen't been tried. To all the people who want to solve the problem with guns, people with guns don't always shoot the people you want them to.

How about sub-contracting it out to the Mossad?

Where is Blackwater when you need them?

How do you know youre a pirate? You just AAAAARRRRRRRE!!!!!!!

Do you people not know why no one lifts a finger to prevent this? The powers that be are figuring out how to raise the price of gas and cotton candy here in the US due to these ocean high jackings. Thats all it is.
Why did the Pirate go watch a movie? Becasue it was rated AAAAARRR.

What's a pirate's favorite letter?

aRRRRRR!!

Forget high tech detection equipment. America needs to stop trying to make everyone like us. If your going to be a great, successful nation you're going to have to offend somebody. Blow them out of the water.

Use the awesome government satalites (the ones that replace the ones that supply google earth with images) to sweep the area and pick out targets (somali pirates). Use some of the top secret star wars space based lasers to burn a hole in the pirate boats and sink them. Remeber that due to provisions in the geneva convention, you can not directly shoot a pirate with a laser, but you can shoot his equipment, so aim for their hats or whatever if you have to take one out.

Avast! Ye Ladies!!!!

Our already overspent tax dollars should not be expended to protect private enterprise–again. Apparently, each of the prior companies has been able to quickly and easily pay the ransom. There hasn't previous need by the countries with which the carriers have been associated to retaliate against the pirates. Why should the U.S. intervene? Somalis can appear to be weaker prey than they ultimately are. We cannot afford the quagmire. Finally, the U.S. aid shipment aside, I wonder what has been the actual cargo of these other ships. The incidents were resolved quietly and quickly. If carriers are attempting to transport illegal or questionable cargo, the priates' ransom don't strike me as morally out of line.

NATO and those neighboring countries should get together and do a few sting operations by having fake cargo ships with counterrorism units aboard. You could also employ a few ex marines like 3 per boat that are trained, but as soon as there's a hostage, they can charge ridicolous amounts! How many of these "Pirates" are there really in those waters? What do these Pirates represent? Are they all Somalian? How is the rest of the world viewing this?

Look at all this pontification!! Plain and simple,...KILL THEM!! End of problem.

and our navy doesnt have to blow up any unmarked ships... They scuttle the boat themselves after taking the vessel : (

Take a more educated approach to this situation, its not always a pissing match.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Oh and RAM, this problem was going on long before Obama got into office; yet Bush didn't send missles and ships over there. And he was a lame duck, so he had nothing to lose by ordering it.

So why don't the shipping companies take a small contingent of ex-Seals, etc., aboard each vessel armed with the appropriate weaponry, including rockets, and take a few of the pirates out? A little defense would make the pirates a lot more cautious. The cost would be peanuts compared to the amount lost.

I think ships that operate in that area should be armed. Or, barring that, US ships should have a 4-5 man security detachment of Marines on board like air marshalls on planes.

"You have to fix the underlying proverty / lawlesness of somalia and then the risk of dying while doing piracy will seem too great."

That is exactly the wrong answer. I used to agree with it, but I've realized that one of the major problems with America is that we think "oh, if we only go make it all better for those poor people they'll act like they have sense". Unfortunately it doesn't usually work.

My take on it is this: We don't have to fix anything. That's not our responsibility, and when we try to fix it, we generally end up being blamed for the results and poorer to boot. So, my suggestion is this: Arm the ships. If the ports complain, they'll cope.

One earlier poster mentioned a system by which fuel oil could be sprayed under pressure and then ignited. Having dealt with shipboard fuel systems in the Navy, I see no overriding technical reason why this would not be practical. It might also skirt the definition of weapon in some of the less-understanding ports.

Let me be clear: I have exactly zero regard for the life of a pirate. Let them die screaming in agony as their speedboat turns into a floating torch-I give crap one. I care not whether they hail from the armpit of the earth or a decent country. A horrible death may not deter them, though it will ensure those particular people don't repeat the mistake. BUT, one thing that WILL deter them is if almost none of them ever succeed. When the chances of success are low enough, eventually it will cease to be worth trying, even if you don't fear death. I think the fuel oil idea is excellent. Alternatively, if environmental concerns give pause to the idea, use gasoline instead. Unburned gasoline will evaporate, whereas for all practical purposes diesel fuel won't.

It's time for somebody to go in and colonize Somalia, and I mean 19th century style.

Yes, killing the pirates is the first part of the equation. Show them the same respect that they show others, and the end of a gun. As for the Somali problems that is a huge concern, and is endemic in their culture. This has been going on for how many hundreds of years? Perhaps if they would focus on limiting their reproductive activities they would have less of an AIDS epidemic, and have more time and resources to apply to farming and manufacturing.

Stealing is the easy short term solution. We see some of the same values among a portion of the US population. As a society we need to stop rewarding those values. Where is Darwin when you need him?

People also need to understand that piracy is NOT just a problem localized to the Horn of Africa. It's a global problem that has been occuring and increasing in MANY areas of the world. This is just ONE of the many hotspots.

The reality is that piracy is an EXTREMELY profitable endevour. It's not without risk, but generaly the risk is not all that horrible. It's basicaly just another form of crime.... and the people who engage in it, engage in it for the same reasons that criminals do all over the world.

I feel as sorry for people who live under horrific conditions in Somalia as the next guy. Improving living conditions and opportunities for honest work in places like Somalia IS one way to reduce crime and does work in poverty and crime ridden areas..... but that in itself is not sufficient to address the issue ALONE.

Crime still occurs in some of the wealthiest nations in the world.... and is sometimes commited by people that actualy aren't all that badly off.
The reason is simple....not everyone has a conscience, not everyone respects the rights of others, and many people are intrinsicly greedy.

Addressing poverty/opportunity issues only deals with one segment of the population attracted to such activity. The only way to address the others is to make the risk and chances of success simply not worth the reward.

You need address the problem on ALL 3 avenues. Addressing poverty/opportunity issues will help deter those who would rather be doing something else but see no opportunity to do so.
It won't help for those that say.... "Yeah I could make a decent living by doing honest work.... BUT I could be filthy rich for just a couple days work as a pirate". Don't tell me that there aren't plenty of people with that sort of attitude in ALL societies.

As soon as the Captain is released give an an International Memo. Give all 72 hours notice and then sweep the water.

If you look like a pirate then you're going down.

I bet that these pirate would begin to think twice.

To everyone here who posts that we should pity the pirates:

If I am out of work I would like each of your addresses. That way I can come rob you, since I will only be doing what is necessary to take care of my family. I will not kill you, I will only rough you up, scare you by brandishing an illegl automatic weapon, and ask for money to release things that never belong to me. I will also inconvenience you, cause your family worry, and violate your sense of security. BUt it is fine, sine I am only taking the necessary steps to feed my family, right? You wouldn't press charges on me would you? Of couirse you would.

To improve the conditions in Somalia, the people first need to form a government. Yes, it is difficult, but our founding fathers did it over 200 years ago, under much worse condidions. (Each of them was considered a traitor to the crown and would have been executed immediatly if we had lost).

As Americans, we can not be the world police any more than we can be the savior to the world. We are not the nanny, or parent, or anything else to the world. We are (or at least were) the good Samaritan who wil provide help if requested. We could go help the Somali people set up a government and teach them to sustain themselves, rather than depending on handouts for life. And all the people have to do is ask.

Why not pipe Barry Manilow music over the sides of the ships.

Diplomacy will not work with these pirates. They only care about one thing – money – and they care about it more than their own lives. The owners of these merchant vessels need to provide the crews with machine guns and a couple of RPG's. Let the crews defend themselves! Set up 24 hour watches and sound the alarm when any boat gets within a mile of the ships. Blasting these pirates into chum would be a lot cheaper than continually paying them multi-million dollar ransoms. Send a clear message that if you attempt to board any vessels in these shipping lanes, you will be blown into to tiny bits of fish food. Tell them that crime will no longer pay!
Combined military forces from affected nations could also coordinate their efforts so the expense isn't only on the shoulders of the U.S. The military could assist with killer drones and satellite surveillance. They could also send some undercover agents into the Somalian ports and attempt to stop this where it starts.

they should just bomb somalia.

SIMPLE AND EASY...

KILL THEM ALL...We Americans have the technology....SEND THE Pirates a message or two....DO NOT COME NEAR THE AMERICANS VESSELS....Other countries will follow.

We have two wars on hand...can't tackle another country...

KILL THEM IF THEY COME NEAR 100 miles of American vessels...SHARK baits...

Arm the US on these ships and shoot them. The Somalis know they can get away with this so why not put a stop to it.

Looking at the many comments saying we should obliterate the pirates clearly makes me see how ignorance and myopia has consumed Americans. To begin with, Somalis are excellent, strategic, hardened and intelligent fighters... do not be fooled that because their's is a failed state, they are all a bunch of stupid idiots walking with AK-47s. They beat Americans hands down and all their sophisticated weapons didnt help. Somali pirates have nothing to lose, and death is always imminent, whether at home or in the sea... death is death believe me. So, its better to die in the sea pirating than stay at home waiting for hunger to finish them. Oh, and they got sophisticated communication equipment too, in case you didn't know. How then do you explain their extremely high success rate in pirating virtually every major world power's ships.... and getting paid for it? Most dangerous man is one who has nothing to lose and is ready to die for a cause as simple (yet critical) as food. Only solution? Bring stability, education, economic revival to the masses and you deal with this problem for once and all.

Perhaps its time to heavily arm a cargo ship, and come in close, wipe them out, then they will wonder about every cargo ship being armed

We need to sit down and talk to our Pirate friends. We need to understand their situation better. It can't be easy living with eye patches and hooks for hands...I mean...where's the love people? Where's the compassion.

Of course plan B could be a hungry crocodile who every time he appears the sound of "never smile at a croc-o-dile..." starts to play with that insane clock like beat....

Then there's plan C....just shoot em.

They are right to want to marry the pirates

Today on the CBS Morning News a graphic of a Pirate Flag (ie: Pirates of the Caribbean) arrrrrrrrr.....there be pirates in Somolia ARRRGGGGGGGGG
Gee, no matter how advanced civilization becomes the old ways still rear their ugly head........from newly formed entrepreneurs.....
I say we bwast em !!!!
hahahaha

Women will marry any one who has money.. Not surprised by this story. As for the pirates, we should kill them and broadcast the video throughout Somalia..

Hey John, read your response about have them immigrate, give them welfare, and free medical and that will solve the problem.
Well honey, if you haven't gone into a government complex in the Twin Cities in MN then I guess you haven't realized that WE ARE ALREADY DOING IT!! My unwed, unemployed daughter with a baby can't get free health care here and the welfare office in Dakota County MN is riddled with Somalians. Wearing their tents and all their other garb. Our school handbooks in St. Paul is printed in Somalian. The government offices all their directive signs are in Spanish and Somalian as well as Hmong, Vietnamese, and Karon.
I'm for the military action. Blast the country off the map and quit importing them to become our burden. The Somalians are the rising "minority" in our jails here in MN and the crimes they commit are some of the most violent. I am not a prejudiced person, but I am becoming rather bitter. Why should our banks cater to them and create the "Muslim" friendly loan? Why import these people?
Totally sick of it. Get the big guns out I say!

There is a quarter million sq miles of ocean (way larger than the state of california) that now needs to be patrolled off of Somalia.

And putting one guy on deck with a gun means three guys, because, I don't know about you, but I need to sleep sometimes. And on a ship three football fields long, probably means a lot more than three.

Thank you Captain Obvious.

Here is a very simple solution and it would not cost near the amount of training the crews to handle weapons. There are many retired military, who have had the training and would not put up with any of the non-sense happening. Put about five old salts on these ships and there would be no such thing as ships being hijacked, provided they have the weapons they need. Heck, I bet most of them would do it just to get to ride around and see the country. I would!

Right on Charles, I agree – - -Invade Somolia.

Remeber Mogadishu? We owe those people a stompin'

SAMUEL L. JACKSON NEEDS TO GET INVOLVED! TEACH THEM SOMOLIANITES A THING ER TWO!

LONG LIVE THY PIRATES !!!

Better yet, we should put some kind of barbed wire around the ship so they can't come on board or an electrical device. Would be fun to see them just drop in the water.

Arrrgh! Let Johnny Depp do the negotiating on behalf of the FBI, seems like a perfect role with great PR value! Pirate Ho!

For those advocating violence against these pirates, you are wrong. Violence is not the answer. The pirates live in a society that is totally broken and hellish existence. The pirates are only trying to better themselves in the only way the know how, to feed and cloth themselves and their families, and just like all the illegals flowing into this country for economic opportunity, it is NOT there fault. Those who wish to kill only display their racism and ignorance, and you need to be more understanding and knowledgeable about disadvantaged people in other parts of the world.

Further to a previous comment, the solution is quite simple and obvious. There needs to be a deterrent. The solution is for all nations to come together with a very small financial contribution (I think $100K per nation would do it). We take this money and build a dummy ship using an old derelict freighter. Decorate her with fake containers housing heavy guns, even electrify the decking (I'm sure we could be even more creativer here), and sail the ship around the horn, looking helpless. The ship itself would need to quickly take on a new identity after each pirate encounter, which could be accomplished with paint and some hollywood scenery. If you always leave one or two alive to tell the story, the word will quickly spread, and you might just have some hesitation on the part of the pirates.

I am guessing most people do not realize what the offensive situation is here. Yes merchants can (and often do) arm themselves. But desperate men + cheap inflatable speedboat + RPGs = dead merchants. When you are a big slow target up against tiny fast targets, offensive weapons are of limited value, esp when those tiny fast targets can easily carry portable weapons capable of sinking you.

Nuke the entire coast Kill them all and make it a dead zone

This is the first American flagged ship that has been attacked in this area in many many years. The U.S. response has resulted in 4 highjackers on a lifeboat with no fuel vs a fully crewed and armed warship. The only reason the pirates are still free is that they have a U.S. hostage. How can any one be arguing that the U.S. is letting the pirates push us around? Would you prefer that we sunk the pirates along with the hostage? We are spending a ton of taxpayer dollars to save one U.S. citizen and to send a message to the pirates that it is not worth it to approach American flagged vessels. Expensive, but the correct response.

OK, enough of this crap. First threaten the pirates, given them a chance to stop. Then each ship they take after that nuke a port in Somilia. I bet they stop after the second port. We have to show the world these guys are not heros and their actions have consequences.

Man the ships and take defensive action with the necessary weapons.
Providing them with the money to buy more Guns and Boats places them in control of International Waters. Right now, no end in sight and it gets worse everyday.

These ships need to be aware of how to fend off those pirates, and have a small contingency of special forces on them prepared at all times. This has been going on way too long, as soon as someone gets killed then we will send in those individuals who have that special training to end this and then get the UN involved with bringing stability to this part of the world.

Put the bigwigs who operate these companies from comfortable office chairs in jail for not protecting their employees adequately. Start with Maersk.

Flatten the country and start over.

ahoy mateys there be booty and plunder off the coast of africa! all ye scallywags who still have yer Halloween costumes and are willing to enter an accord under the pirate code, join my crew! we'll board the Black Pearl where she be sitting off Universal Studios, and sail her to the Horn of Africa! Glory awaits!

YARRRRRRRRRR

Gene you're a NUT why do eddits try to blame Obama for all today's troubles he was just elected you should address your comments to the Bush administration

If the United States had intervened several years ago, before it was 'not our problem..., it would not be our problem now.

Way too much time has passed, the pirates are wealthier, better armed and just more dangerous now.

But...I thought Piracy was cool?

3 Pirates of the Carribean movies tells me im right!

Johnny Depp is upset at the unintended consquences of making being a thief COOL

Everyones talking about why the merchant ships arn't armed and how they should... However, Its not that easy.

Chris put it the best when he said "
The problem is that you can’t necessarily arm vessels that travel into the ports of foreign countries. Think about this… would you want a Russian or Chinese container ship that had RPGs, Flamethrowers, or any weapons pulling into San Fransisco bay or Boston harbor?"

Also, a couple people have pointed this out, YOU CAN"T SCARE PEOPLE WITH THE POSSIBLITY OF DEATH, IF THEY'RE NOT AFRAID TO DIE! This logic is old as dirt, Sun Tsu talked about in the Art of War and that book is centuries old.

Part of me also wonders about what rivirivi said. I wonder, in how many of the hijackings, there was inside help.

Unfortunetly, theres no easy solution, trying to fix the country will be too expensive, for too many people and countries involved and killing them will only make them more violent and desperate.... Probably the best short term plan would be is non-lethal weapons and training in anti-boarding tactics.

I dont agree with giving boat captains access to missiles or heavy artilery but why not have armed guards on the boats? I could see how this could be an issue porting in 'Civilized' countries but if these boats are going to travel areas that are known to have pirates then why cant they have the guards while travelling thru these waters? It seems like it would be alot cheaper to do this than paying millions of dollars to these thugs, all while perpetuating the issue. I dont understand the lack of common sense here?

2 things:
-IF THERE ARE PIRATES DONT GO THERE OR COME PREPARED TO DEFEND YOURSELF.....
-STOP GIVING THESE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT PERIOD....

We must learn from the past or we are destined to repeat it....

There are a wide range of tools available for commercial ships, LRAD for instance "Long Range Acoustical Device" this is a non lethal weapon used against combatants, it emits a very focused sound beam at a level that is painful but not lethal. If this isn't enough to deter the attackers then lethal force would be warranted. .50 Cal's mounted on the ship would be enough to sink any and/or deter a chase vessel. I also can't help but think of the market for a private security company to set up shop and provide a security escort a service through the area. They could have high powered weaponry to combat the pirates and the ships could carry on as they normally would. If I have the money to do it, I would. I certainly have the experience as do many people. Patrick (ex-soldier, ex-medic) Care to debate me on it hit me up at medic.kc.rr.com

Have a carrier in the area and use F/A 18's as first response. No weapons. Flyover the attacking boats at mach2+ at 200 feet or less and go vertical upon reaching the boat.

It is really sad that the people make a living off of attacking Americans. I am not surprised the government is not paying attention to what they need to paying attention to... This attack by pirates could have been prevented.

Americans are constantly targeted for kidnappings. People actually believe that I am rich. I tell them I am not and it is okay to talk to me.

In response to Michael Wilson's comment "So why don’t the shipping companies take a small contingent of ex-Seals, etc., aboard each vessel armed with the appropriate weaponry, including rockets, and take a few of the pirates out?"

Um, because that would be illegal. Its called murder.

it sounds as though with the prices these companies are paying for the insurance and ransom. that they would be smart enough to hire security details for these ships. breaced entry would then mean a death or two of pirates, but in the end,everybody over there gets the hint that it is not free money when their relative doesn't come home.

I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figue out what to do. Cut the human rights garbage, bomb these pirate ports further back into the stone age, shoot anything which might leave port along the Somali coastline and peace will be restored. It worked against the pirates of the Barbary Coast, it would work against these low tech gangsters too.
Just leave the idiots at the UN out, and maybe put some of the human rights defenders into the boats too, before sinking them.

Richard -

"They do it because they can get away with doing it; make the price too high, and it will go away."

This is only half the story. They do it because they are out of options. Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating piracy, or do I think giving into their demands is the appropriate solution. But "killing them all" is logistically unrealistic, and heartless to say the least.

As a father, feeding, sheltering, and clothing my children are among my heart's greatest desires. These are the reasons I breath each day. I don't feel as I have the right to heartlessly judge these men because if I was ever in their shoes I may end up doing the same thing.

The whole situation sucks. We definately need to respond and prevent piracy. But piracy is only a symptom of a greater disease... a desperate population with little to no hope of escaping the hell they live in each day.

Yes, it is wrong what this people are doing they are stealing, and harming other people. But I also see the flip side of thiings some of the men may have hungry families at home, and it is the man's job to provide for his own at any cost. Would you not feed your kids because of your pride? Even if you had to lie cheat and steal.

And all this talk about blowing people up yeah great way to build new terrorist! Because if someone kill my dad who was just trying to feed us in a country with no type of laws, you would be my next victom.

Now we have to protect the ships that go by, but remember if this country and oil or gold the USA would be there trying to rebuild like we have done in Iraq.

Remember what goes around comes around we kill they men they come here and kill our sons.

R U kiddin? The US puts up with everything else and does nothing about it...countries shooting anti-ballistic missiles, while we gots our back turned and scared...does anyone think for a second that we gonna do anything about a bunch of broken down blaque with holes in their hats and socks, penniless blaque pirates...hell, give them all a slingshot and let them be on their merry way, stealing from the next dumb US ship to sail near them.

Offer a bounty on pirates! Dead or alive!!!

That should bring all of the ninjas out of the woodwork...

Just like what is happening in Nigeria, how are we going to stop such a notoriously profitable ill-business.

I hope this Somalia situation is addressed by the new administration thoughtfully. Somalia needs strong government to deal with the lawlessness and anarchy that is now spreading in the region. I left Somalia in 1990 when the Siad Government fall apart and to this day I see millions of Somali civilians at the mercy of these cruel thugs. I think It is time to resolve this Somalia situation, lets bring this country back to its feet.

Honestly Somalia is really a failed state where everything goes.
The international community should sanction somalia and make them responsible for any pirate hijjacking.

Hello...we are talking large tanker vs. small skiff etc. How can these large ships allow them to even get close enough? Are you throwing them a line to climb up too??? I like the burning fuel idea..or how bout a few good ol fashon 12 gauges with buck shot....industrial size pepper spray.....high powered stun guns...razor wire around hull. how about a fire hose, you fill up their little boat till it sinks, then leave for the sharks......now thats a novel idea.... How diplomatic do we need to be? Oh Yea... I forgot... God forbid we violate their rights..

Come on people!!!

Just announce to the world that the next ship that is taken by pirates will immediately be sunk by the US military killing all pirates and crew, and follow through with this promise. This "next incident" will also be the last one. In the long run this will save countless lives and restore peace.

Bushmaster BA50 Carbine, 50 BMG, 22", 10 Rd Mag – $4,999

Mercenary Sniper – $100,000

Watching a Boatfull of Somali Pirates exlode 1 mile out – Priceless

http://www.impactguns.com/store/BCW3M22-50BMGLW.html

Right now the Navy's should be searching for the mother ship and blow it out of the water, then our navy seals should rescue that Captain and dispose of the pirates. To hell with sending them to Kenya for trail.

What is really scary is, what if these unarmed ships were carrying oil and the people hijacking them were not looking for money, say they were terriorists. And they decide to just sink a large tanker for the heck of messing up the water? Or cause some nasty chemical spill somewhere close to a place they dont like? Why the heck do we not have better security on these ships carrying lord knows what on our oceans? THis is really really scary!

Seems like easy money with minimal/acceptable risk. Heck, it's an attractive business model. I can't blame them. If the Somali's can do it, just imagine what a well equipped western privateer could do! Big money and adventure on the high seas! The allure of guaranteed millions and bungling governments afraid to do anything more than floating a few ships, makes moving to the Somali coast and setting up my own pirate fleet very attractive. Who wants to come with? Minimal investment required….lol

I urge a compassionate response toward Somalia in general, which would involve educating these people towards building their country into something more civilized; these efforts would go a long way towards security in the region. But I also think these people are responsible for their own actions – nobody forces you to commit violent, unlawful acts towards your fellow man – I'm sorry, but not matter how bad things might get, I don't think I'd fall the level of taking hostages for money and potentially taking lives. These people have the ability to make choices, as the whole of Somalia does, and they've made many poor ones both as individuals and as a society. Again, compassion is in order... yet I'm tired of hearing that these people have no other choice but to become pirates. They could quit having so many children. They could cooperate to survive. They could engineer ways to better themselves. They could foster a more stable and trustworthy society, on which everything else must be built upon. To believe anything less would be to deny that these people are human, so it is for that very reason there should be consequences as well as compassion... like new maritime laws allowing for armed merchant ships.

[...] Pirate stronghold? Somali women flocking to port in hope of marrying pirates – amFIX – CNN.com Blogs "Pirates are holding a U.S. captain hostage at sea. The Navy is watching everything that [...]

Dont do business with that part of world.... and then see who steps up to combat piracy.

NUKE EM!!!! WE NEED TO DISPOSE OF SOME OF ARE OLD BOMBS

i know we can hire Captain Jack Sparrow he always wins

Killing the pirates isn't the solution and arming the crew isn't the solution. If we kill the pirates then they learn from their mistakes and become expert killers. Right now no one is really dieing so lets not escalate it.

Arming civilian boats it out. The civilians are trained to right or be tatical or use 50 cals and RPG and stuff. They would hurt themselves.

Also lets not forget the Somolians aren't afraid to die. They are at thier wits end. Death isn't a deterannt.

The US sent 5 little boats to patrol millions of square miles of ocean. We are not trying our hardest to stop this. Also its very expensive to send 1 of our boats out. Think about fuel/food and everything for our crew on deployment. We have kinda half heartedly made a gesture to do something about this. We could try harder.

The long term solution is to fix Somolia's problems, The short term is for each country's military to escort thier own ships. OR a multinational coalition being constructed to escort ships thru/down a shipping channel.

I like what Christy said a full US fully staffed naval DESTROYER vs. 4 rouge "pirates" in a life boat! ...lunch break

Why is it that Americans, after reading an American newspaper story, quickly decide what course of action to take? Is this not ignorance as well as arrogance? Why are there no pirates in South Africa, India, Mozambique and other places that are used by civilian ships? The reason is that there are functional governments there, stupid! Instead of helping the world think about how to bring long-term stability to the Horn of Africa, we have a bunch of trigger-happy cowboys prescribing really dumb "solutions".

During the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson we had a similar problem. He sent in the Marines and U.S. warships and wrecked the communities and infrastructure used by the pirates and killed them and their families. Instead of hand wringing we need to emulate him. Shell the communities and towns housing these monsters, sink their boats, and kill as many of them and their families as possible. Make it painful enough and this nonsense will cease.

Sounds like a good training exercise for one of our Aircraft carriers. They mention there are thousands of square miles so no single boat can patrol that entire area at a whole time, however carries can certainly patrol all over it and be at a point of action within minutes if they are stationed in the zone. If a ship encounters pirates, they radio it in, a jet fighter is launched, the pirated ships are destroyed within minutes of the call for help. End of story.

Just pay 'em just like we pay crooked cops, judges and every other kind of crook. this is oppression these people are hungry. There just not the roll over and die type people. They gone find away to eat. I just hope ignorant people like the other ones saying kill them all will never be in power. Minus will bring Hitler back with the solution of "Kill them all."
Poverty is not something to be taking lightly.
Truthfully I think the pirates should set up a toll booth for passing through so they can help there country. Just like toll roads.
and the pirates should be employees without the guns. 'cuase then it just looks like Homeland security...

[...] Too Awesome Not To Post From CNN: Somali Women Flocking to Port in Hopes of Marrying Pirates. [...]

How about Doe season?

Semper Fi,
Dave

It must be that cowboy in me that says we need to rope and ride 'em 'till they break. I'm not saying we need to bomb everyone to kingdom come but I'm tired of the U.S. pussyfooting around with pirates, terrorists, and rogue nations. Talks with moderate Taliban? They have already expressed how ridiculous they find that as I do. I feel like we are trying to apologize to the world to improve our image, (which may be appropriate for some issues). Respect is very important but a little fear does not hurt either. My fear is we will become the United State of Wimps. Thanks Mr. President. And after I voted for you.

What a pathetic culture. How far they have devolved. Tragic!

Ships should have a security force on board. let the pirates board. Security force disarms pirates and then takes appropriate action:
* Turn Pirates over to authorities
* Keel Haul
* Walk the plank
* Hang from yard arms

American ships are easy targets, they aren't like the mighty Russians, Chinese, etc. If a pirate goes after a Russian or Chinese ship they die.

Americans can't defend themselves on land or at sea.

http://www.venganza.org/about/open-letter/

The solution is more carbon emissions and higher global temperature.

WWFSMD?

I shipping companies need to hire mercinaries to protect thier vessels. Furthjermore all companies that have payed ransoms for thioer crews should be investigated for aiding and abetting the pirates.. Moreover any port that is home to piates should be carpet bombed out of existence. Somalia is a lawless entity and thus draconian methods should be used until the problem is curtailed.

We have safaris to go to Africa and shoot poor helpless innocent animals – I've got an idea for the ultimate adventure cruise!

Hahahahahah, pirate needs a wench, arrrrr matey, me parrot keeps me company but me wench keeps me warm.

The solution is simple. Contract a private security firm to ride along with cargo ships. Establish a protocol for everyone on the ship to follow in the event of a pirate attack. Kill as many of them as possible so they cant go back to their miserable country and breed more idiots. The world should consider any instance piracy in international waters as an act of war and should retaliate against the country responsible for harboring these criminals.

Where's Dick Cheney when we need him?

Where are the pirates getting their arms?

This isn't even worth discussion. Just hire Somalis to police their own waters. Im sure they would be glad to have a decent job. I doubt if it would even cost much considering the economy of that region.

Q-Ships

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship

Shiver me timbers. And oh by the way pass me that AK47.

There is an easy explanation as to why we have not taken a greater interest in this issue. This is THE FIRST American crew that the pirates have messed with. Until now this hasn't been an issue for our country.

Most people think you can just apply the latest technology that they saw in movie theaters to this issue and it will be solved in a day. As a member of the military I feel compelled to tell you if you feel that way you are all idiots.

Shutting down pirate operation is not extremely difficult considering all the military assets we have available, but heavily arming civilians is about the dumbest thing I have ever read. Thanks for the morning comedy.

Agree with Chris

Sounds like these ships need a big "Protected by Blackwater" sign painted on their sides.

I wonder if it was white people, as pirates, out there in Somalia, if you guys would still be so quick to say "Kill Them" "Kill Them All." Is that really your most intelligent solution??

They shall quickly be parsonified,
Conjugally matrimonified,
by a doctor of divinity
who is located in the vicinity.

The entire mess is Somalia is very concerning, in part because tens of thousands of people from Somalia have immigrated to the U.S. in the last eight years. This is a "nation" that has had no formal central government of any nature in nearly 20 years. It is largely a nation of Muslim warlords, who have now found that piracy pays well.

I would think that many people should be getting very concerned about the nature of these tens of thousands of Somali immigrants becoming terrorists, and worse. Evidence of this has surfaced in the last few years, especially in cities where the Somali immigrants have settled in huge clusters, in places such as Minnesota, Ohio, Maine, Georgian and California. How can there be any vetting of these people when there is not a shred of a central government left in their country?

While I fully agree that the U.S. is a nation of immigrants, it is also a nation of settlers. In most of these areas where the Somali people have settled they have isolated themselves from the rest of the community, and cry out when they are expected to accept delivery of services and benefits in the same fashion as the rest of the community. Many questions need to be answered about the Somali people, now.

With this much money on the table, I fail to realize why the international shipping community and governments can't protect themselves agains some guys in rowboats – pathetic!!

After Sept. 11. What did almost every flight over the US have in common? An Air Marshall! Why can't we put a "Ship Marshall" on these routes. It's cheaper than having a convoy of Military ships pissing away our FUEL and Tax dollars!

Ahrrrrr...throw em a line ye mateys...let em aboard...what need ye be black fella....whisky, rye o rum...Ahrrr. ye think ye might want o bottle o MD 20,20 do ye...How ye gonna walk ye plank wit ye shorts draggin on the deck ye matey...Ahrrrr.....

Quote from wimpy Holmes : There are hopeless, deplorable conditions in Somalia. A life of piracy looks pretty good for some of these young men compared to the conditions in Somalia

Of course this is true - unless such a life leads to a swift end swinging from a rope!

The response from Mr Seal Larsen was not much better. I too was in Somalia as a Marine..... and can tell in no uncertain terms you that there IS something that motivates these people better than easy money - AVOIDING CERTAIN DEATH...

Didn't they figure out how to get rid of piracy several centuries ago? It worked then and it will work now. Hang them from the yardarm (I'm not being funny here)

Also, these wimpy shipping companies refuse to arm their crews because some lawyer told them it was a bad idea - what a joke! These crews should band together and refuse to sail in that part of the world unless armed.

Easy answer – american boat pulls up, start shooting (hopefully sparing the captain). This will teach them a lesson. All these 3rd world country low lifes need extermination. Oh yes......america, give us money....but we will NEVER pay you back. And america is the bad guy in the end. Shut up, PLEASE.

Convoys through area with navy destroyers.

Where is the UN on this? Once again, the UN sits by with their thumbs up their backside. If we decide to take action on our own, we will be labeled as the bad guy again. I am sure we will hear: "There goes those Americans again forcing their will on other nations". I guess we won't have to worry about that since the Messiah will follow the Clinton lead of trying to get consensus with the rest of the world just so we all can agree to try to act tough but not take action.

Can't the ships just hire a sharpshooter or two for every vessel? Or use rpg's and the like because of the difficulty with being on the seas? Use the Israeli airplane security approach. Put one guy on each end of the ship and give warning shots to anyone approaching. I'm sure that financially this isn't a problem. There's no stable government in Somalia and money is scarce, so we cannot look to Somalia itself for help.

Sarcastically speaking, the USA should just give out instant citizenship, a free Freddie Mac home, and a unionized public sector job to each Somali pirate. Then there wouldnt be any pirates left, right... Those poor, poor, little pirates. You know it's our fault! If we weren't so rich and arrogant we wouldn't have these big ships to flaunt aound in the first place. Shame on us! In fact we should do the right thing and apologize to them and just switch countries. We will live in Somalia. We deserve it, since we were so bad to people all these years and we are so evil. It's sad to think some people reading this probably think it's a good idea. The same people that voted for obama.

I hear Blackwater is looking for some Work.

"They don't carry weapons but they can turn hoses on them to deter them????" Men with no morals carrying AK-47's against hoses...the heck with that...fill the hoses with something that will take them out rather than just water...defending themselves with a hose is like trying to survive being hit by a train by holding up your hand and saying "please don't hit me". There is no politically correct way to end this...they don't care, they have no souls...take them out, kill them because at the slightest chance they would kill the crew. And while we are at it lets go on every station in the world debating this issue and letting the idiots know they really have nothing to fear. Anyone remember 9/11??? While we debate this the Captain is the one paying the price...or why don't we just give them the stimulus money we gave companies like AIG?

Send over a supertanker full of rat poison labeled "SNACK’s"

To all ye Captains: For brazen use of phrases such as "be havin’ on th’ lad’s or th’ lass’, this", I nominate this entire forum for an award for revitalization of the humble apostrophe. The poor key goes nearly jobless on so many of the world's keyboards. Now ye pirates have given it a new lease on life. Every dark cloud does indeed have a silver lining!

Two alternatives, Invade somali shore lines with navel power and kill all young men between 20 to 40yrs or handover the pirates the loots of Wall street CEOs and secret money stashed by the tax evaders to free the ships.

If Ronald Regean was President (bless his sole) the captain would be back in Norfolk celebrating with a crabfeast and beer by now. Wait until it gets dark and send in the Navy Seals then call it a day. What is funny is the boat has has run out of gas, it's not going anywhere and we are tryring to figure out what to do! Where's Colin Powell somebody beg him to take control of this situation.

Amazing how ignorant the masses are. The ships are not in Somali waters, they are in international waters which start at 11 miles out. You handle this the same way we did 200 years ago. Bombard their cities every time they take a ship. Kill them all if need be. Not for deterrence but because a dead man can't hijack a ship. We can't do anything to help them, colonialism was killed by political correctness. Besides, what civilized country would want to own Somalia.

Why don't they just use some DECOY ships. Once the pirates try to take a DECOY ship...surprise!! It's a military war ship...a few
50mm machine guns under a few fake shipping containers and the problem is solved!!

Send anyone who pays pirates a ransom to jail for financing terrorism.

To all of you who write that the poor Somalians need to perpetrate these crimes because of the conditions in their country I ask this: Why are the pirates are more willing to confront the US, the UN and the European Union than they are to confront the wealthy warlords in their native land. Answer: the consequences of those actions.

Open Seas piracy requires ships. Send a Tarawa class carrier with Attack helicopters up and down the Somali coast with the orders to sink any ship larger than a rowboat. Only screened ships going in and out of the UN food distribution point are allowed to sail.
If the pirates have no ships then...they are not pirates but land bound bandits who can only prey on each other.
Just do a Maritime exclusion zone where all non registered ships within 25 miles of Somalia are sunk on sight...no warning shots..nothing...SUNK and no rescue for survivors.

I am familiar with Somalians and their tactics. They just seem to naturally gravitate to lawlessness. They wrecked havoc (aggravated robberies, etc.) to the neighboring Northern Kenyan Coast where tourist flourished. They have also operated organized bandit rings in the only intercountry highway that goes thru Kenya and Ethiopia. Long haul truckers have either abandoned this profitable route or simply risk their lives, and actually die in numbers. Somalians have generally been lawless. Their failed state has only worsened the situation. Even when their country had law and order, they still find ways to earn a living off somebody else's sweat - and violently for that matter.

I say start responding violently and forcefully. They will eventually be outdone and go back to raiding their neighboring states. Sad but true.

A pirate needs a wife in every port!

1) Employ former Navy Seals as cooks on the ships ala Under Siege with Steven Seagal.

2) Or alternatively. Use transports with military personnel to bait hijackers then blow them out of the water. Has to be cheaper than having a conventional naval presence. A few Somali floaters later they would give second thoughts to attacking these ships. Veeeery NIiiice! Yes?

The "pirates" are not hurting anyone. Why not just continue to pay the ransoms? Look at it like a tax.

Paying this tax is far cheaper than giving aid to a corrupt government.

They have water canons .. just put the pickup hose into the diesel tank instead of the ocean and use a $4 Bernzomatic torch duck-taped to the nozzle to light it on the way out. Presto .. instant flame-thrower. As the charred remains wash up on shore, maybe they'll get the idea.

As for you "root cause" apologists .. since when did being poor become an excuse for being a crook?

Arrrrggggg... Matey! Sounds like we need to do some target practice in those waters.

I don't see any effective, simple solutions. While the pirates might not be following the law, the rest of do, so that rules out wholesale bombing and killing like too many of you advocate.

In the early days of U-boats, these would surface and allow the merchantmen to abandon ship before torpedoing the freighters, so human lives lost were minimized. Once the Allies began putting deck guns on merchantmen, and using decoys to sink these surfaced subs, the U-boats–understandably–switched to surprise attacks and a lot more merchies died. If you arm ships sailing near Somalia you can be certain that the first response of the pirates will be to up-gun as well, and, I suspect, they will be much more violent towards the crews and/or guards/mercenaries onboard.

An armed response will work in the short term, but political and economic gambits will also be needed for long term success. Somalia is a failed state, and the piracy originating from here won't stop without a major involvement from the UN and regional players.

Please, guys, no more knee-jerk reactions about blockades, bombing and marines. That's just more of "Ready....fire....aim!"

PS. I don't think spraying fuel oil on them will work. It doesn't ignite as easily as you think, it would endanger you as much as them, and I just don't think dumping the $#@$% into the open ocean is a good idea.

It's quite ridiculous to suppose that obliterating a few pirates would not result in a major escalation of violence in return. Remember there are 200 plus hostages still held. In any event, when poverty, survival and economic opportunity go hand in hand the record for winning the wars on drugs and illegal immigration is not too brilliant. I think that probably the most severe and fearsome detterent would be to place batteries of large screen TVs at critical point on the boat and beam the daily SOAPS along with their advertising, right at the pirates. If that doesn't terrify them then switch over to the ultimate mind killer of REALITY TV which should send them scurrying away from the joys of consumerism and leave them to peacefully contemplate starvation, desease, war and other delightful pastimes like counting rocks. Of course the West is blameless in that the piracy exhibited by Madoff and a few megalomaniac executives in banking and industry never, as far as I know, involved weapons and therefore was never intended to set any example for the rest of the world when it comes to the taking of wealth.

Now that I'm unemployed, I wonder if I could go over there as an IT consultant to set up a shopping cart where you could "shop" for hostages (Paypal would be accepted, of course). I mean these guys set up a clearly successful business entreprise that doesn't seem all that much more criminal than those I've seen on CNN, and all without venture funding it seems. They just need an IT infrastructure in place to improve the financial transaction process. So when people say "I don't have the cash to pay off this randsom!" the pirates can say "that's all right, we take American Express, Visa and Mastercard! You can pay off your balance every month and have your family back together in no time!"

Granted, there might be a bit of subprime risk involved there, but it's worth a shot; and in the end they can cash out and flee to a pirate island somewhere off the coast of New Zealand. They could even go to India and get a real leg graft (peg legs seem like they're itchy, and let's not even talk about the splinters). After all, once they're retired as pirates, there's no need for show anymore, is there? I might even start printing pixelated pirate flags; it'll be a clever marketing campaign to show that pirates have gone high-tech.

Or maybe I need to find better uses for my time.

Perhaps the next ship to be hijacked should be one we want the pirates to capture. We could set them up by allowing the to take a ship carrying a payload of biotoxins. These biotoxins could then be released once its in port, killing everyone, and thus solving the problem. Done and done.

Now only imagine if we were not using oil imported from Persian gulf. If somehow we learned to use more hybrid cars or electric cars.

We could simply show them middle finger sipping our coffee here.

But looks like we would rather drive a humongous gas guzzling truck and keep dealing with gulf troubles one after the another, dictators, instability, terrorists, pirates, and on and on.

I agree with Ian, hook something simple and purely defensive up to these ships and if those mothers try to board then torch them. It uses the parts that are already on the ships, and there is no clean up; just some pirate BBQ for the sharks.

I would doubt that these women would be flocking any where to marry a guy that looks like a burnt squirell.

Hire some ex Marines, armed them appropriately and let them ride shotgun on these pirate-infested lanes... like air marshalls. Not only will you get rid of some of these scums, you also create immediate job opportunities for some of the vets.
If the shipping lines spread the cost, over a year, of hiring these ex Marines and equip them accordingly.. it will still be cheaper than one ransom payment alone.

The U.S. needs to remember its history; between 1783 and 1800 our nation paid the Barbary Pirates who operated in the Mediterranean off North Africa. We either paid the tribute demanded or we could exercise a military option, and the more we paid, the more they wanted! In 1801, in the face of large demands fom the pirates, President Thomas Jefferson ordered the military option to take place. Jefferson's decision led to a new found freedom of the seas.

Clearly, appeasement has not worked throughout history. Why should anyone expect it to work now?

To me the response to the immediate threat to the saftey of the crews would be to have small arms on board. These hijackers had AK-47 assault rifles with no body armor. A cheap Glock 17 could easily stop someone with an Ak-47 with no body armor. Get several hand guns for the crew.

I read that it was just cheaper to stand and watch; do nothing and hope for the best. This would be true if you were trying to load the cargo ships with weapons like cannons, machine guns, rockets, and the like. Getting a few guns together with ammo wouldn't be incredibly hard to do...trust me, you could gather that many guns illegally in the United States on a Sunday afternoon. In fact, I'd give up one of my guns to the Captain.

Why risk SEALs or Marines lives for this? These ships are shipping "Stuff". Stop buying stuff from overseas. Stop buying oil. Export via convoy protection only.

This is like the drug problem here. Stop buying drugs and there is no longer a problem.

Why don't these ships keep armed guards on board? It's ridiculous that a few people in tiny boats can take over a huge ship. Anything we do to help them would not make their quality of life better than piracy will- they won't stop taking ships just because they're given a few sacks of rice through a food program.

Hopefully this hasn't been suggested yet but, why not put whatever sum of money these pirates are wanting into a clear case made out of bullet proof material. Also include a near indestructible lock that will only be deactivated from one of our destroyers in the area after we get our hostage back unharmed. We get our hostage back, open fire on the pirates, kill them all, then swing by and pick up the money.

I find this all very interesting. During WWI the British navy had a number of ships called Q-ships. Their purpose was to protect English shipping from German submarines by posing as a merchant sloop when in fact they were heavily armed warships. If an enemy submarine approached to take a shot, the Q-ship would run out the guns and engage them. It worked in 1918 and it would work today.

its not as easy as you think to track these boats, they blend in with other fishing boats and break off to try and capture other large vessels for ransom. if there were a sure fire way to know which boats were the pirates i'm pretty sure we would have done something by now. if i were the pirates though, i would be pretty scared tho with warships surrounding them. don't they know that once they give up the capitan, they are all going to die? rip captain hook

Sink every suspected pirate ship immediately. Next, give thought to strategic 'strikes' inside Somalia.

Ok heres the deal....Since no law will stop these clowns become one. I really could use 50 to 100 million right now ( I just filed bankruptsy) I figure that I could grab a ship hold the crew hostage and get a good payout and come back here to enjoy my winfall....Anyone care to Join me in this adventure??

I worry if Somalia is an Al Qaida stronghold. It has been in the past and I feel this is very likely and that a portion of these ransoms are funding operations.

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr matey!

The solution is to somehow improve living conditions in Somalia and beefing up security on the ships. IT sounds like a team of armed security personnel should be present on each ship in that region.

Let's try this: Take the Battleship Texas out of mothballs. Ever see that bad boy? It's got guns everywhere, turrets, cannons, you name it.

But seriously folks, I like the stealth plan. Float some large cargo vessel out there moseying along about 5 knots, play some party music, have some babes on board dancin'. Down below, behind the trap doors, park some serious firepower. Fifty cals, RPGs, cluster munitions, etc. Be sure to get pictures of the carnage to post back onshore. Time to feed the sharks!

blow away the whole country. No one will miss them!

i think we can place the blame for this squarely on the shoulders of obama and the liberals' pre-9/11 appeasement mentality. i was watching hannity the other night and he made a good point that obama is showing the world he's scared and that emboldens our enemies.

It is sad that a country like the US or any country for that matter can't handle pirates! Is it hard to have military ships travel with these vessels? Imagine what these pirates can get away with if they thought about it.

Why are those ships there in the first place? They don't have permission to be off the coast there. All they do is dump waste and then are pissed when Somalis want to take a ship.

Kill em all, Let God sort it out!

I wouldn't be surprised if Xe or another primate military company jumped on this as a business opportunity. Deploying ex military professionals on these civilian cargo ships for a price. Considering how remote the area is I doubt anyone would blink if the occasional body washed to shore from a failed cargo ship raid. If I had the capital to start something like this I would do it myself. Welcome to a brace new world people, when in doubt don't wait for the government to step in and take action, just hire the guys the government has already trained to do the job for you.

So what do Somolian women look like anyway, any good???

where is johnny depp when you need him?

sounds like a wonderful job for BLACKWATER. the state dept sure screwed them up by not standing behind them. they were there when they were needed they were in a war and war zone.

scott,

youre the only normal person on here...everyone else i just ignorant

The ship should arm themselves. Bofor, CIWS, quad 50s fore and aft. As soon as these scum get close blow out of the water. They dont have the right to do what they are doing. I have no problem with getting rid of them

How 'bout we use the "negotiations" as a mere diversionary tactic, all the while sending a squad of SEALs, underwater, over to the life boat. SEALs pop up out of the water, kill the pirates with precision firing skills and rescue the hostage unharmed.

Transport all cargo using submarines!!!

It is a head-scratcher that after so much talk for so many years about the sophisticated surveillance the U.S. Navy has–how is it that these boats slip through in wide open spaces? It has long been a head-scratcher as to how so many boats and aircraft ferry drugs into the United States each year.... even worse, how truckloads of drugs cross over the boarders by land. I could understand individuals sneaking across the desert but.. This is ridiculous.

The solution must be better technology and the resolution of corruption issues of our border guards. Trying to govern Somalia and raise its economic standards is just treating a symptom, in this case. What happens when those boats and trucks are carrying bombs or other lethal substances? What about when these are enemy commandos in a time of war?

The piracy is affecting surrounding, peaceful countries in ways that need to be addressed – urgently. The ransom money is being used to buy property in Kenya, so much so that the Kenyans themselves cannot afford to own any real estate. Apartment prices have gone up 100% in the last year. The pirates are sending the ransom money to their families who have taken refuge in Kenya. There are neighborhoods in Kenya that are occupied solely by Somalians, wealthy Somalians! And most of them are armed. Prices of everything in Kenya are now pegged to the dollar. This is a ticking time bomb as the average Kenyan cannot afford the cost of living. We need the piracy to stop and the Kenyan governnent needs to step it too. Killing the pirates may not be the solution, but this is just the beginning of this story.

It's an interesting article but I believe it tries to make the Somalis out to be victims. I read an article by Time recently that described the "impoverished" pirates. In fact these pirates are supported by wealthy people from all over the world. They have Satellite phones, GPS units, large "mother" ships that allow them to go far out to sea to stalk these ships and attack them from smaller expendable boats.
As to why the merchant ships are unarmed? Protecting each ship would require 10-12 experienced combat personnel that would charge upwards of $100k each for their services. Which explains why the ships aren't protected, the bean counters have calculated the odds of a ship being attacked and decided it's cheaper to take the chance.

To be honest I don't really care, the companies that own these vessels have the money, what is the issue? So the executive staff has to cut back on caviar and cocaine? Perhaps order a few less ladies for the next corporate party? The CEO will get a 200 million dollar bonus vs. 300 million dollar bonus for laying off as many jobs as possible?
I think more of you are actually upset that you aren't getting the money vs. the fact it's being stolen.

People posting about "blowing them out of the water" just dont get it. Simply arming the ships, or the crews, will not stop a pirate from shooting an RPG at the side of an extremely large (and expensive)vessel. Then the ship will sink and eveyone on board will die or be drifting in life rafts in pirate-infested waters. Sound like a good idea? No. To the owners of the vessels it is MUCH MUCH cheaper to just pay the ransom than to pay for an expensive security detail, expensive weapons, and expensive training for its crew only to lose the entire boat because of an RPG shot from 1,000 yards. To all the people who think there is a nice, quick and easy, violent solution to every problem: Think again.

From a previous CNN Article:

"It is common for the crews of merchant vessels to travel through the area unarmed, despite the risk of pirate attacks, experts have said. An armed crew could provoke a firefight that would endanger the crew's lives or its cargo, which often contains flammable or explosive material."

So for those who think that the "simple" answer is to arm the ships and kill without consideration (and anyone who considers killing as a simple thing should give serious thought to getting therapy) it is not that the thought hasn't occured to the shippers, just that there are bigger issues. While the price of the ransom is undoubtedly too high, the lives of a loyal crew must be counted as immeasurably valuable. And tho' the ship is almost certainly insured against destruction (as well as piracy) the cost of a new ship is more expensive, both in money (anybody ever have a car stolen? – I did, it was insured and I still paid a boatload of money [unintended pun] to get what I already had a week before) and in time (do you know how long it takes to build one of these monster ships?)

datdude92 suggested military grade pacification weaponry. Not the worst idea, but verry expensive. also, what happend when that weapon technology falls into the wrong hands(as it surely would if distributed to the crew of commercial vessels traveling in waters known to be havens for piracy.) Eventually it would be stolen and used against the crew by the pirates, or even sold to the "bad guys" by a crewman who fell into a little more debt than he can handle with his bookie.

I hate the idea of the US getting involved with yet another failed state, but with the global economy circling the drain, and Ssomolia didnt have all that much, so probably started a lot closer to the bottom, we may have no choice if we are to succeed in stopping the incentive of piracy.

But then I think, 'what the hell do we know?'

Jackie in Dallas and Joeb.. you are both very wrong. Both sound great and I wish you were right... but it can't and won't work at all.

Better yet....how about a Reality Show "Pirates of Somalia and The Women That Want Them" pay them, put them on television, hold open casting calls that would bring out thousands who want to make the cut, let Simon Cowell help pick the top 50 and keep them so busy they wouldn't have time to be out on the water being real pirates. Men would want to try and be one of the pirates, women would want to win one of the pirates...problem solved...we put idiots like Joan Rivers on TV so that she can "steal" millions from people selling her junk jewelry on QVC, why not do a real reality show? It's becoming pretty obvious we aren't going to do any military intervention to save the hostage.

Pay them before they leave the port!

Wouldn't it be cheaper for the shipping industry to contract with black water? Ten hired security contractors on the ship is a lot cheaper than paying a ransom. Give them ample armament and explicit orders to protect. After a year, through attrition the problem will go away. If you keep rewarding them expect the piracy to continue. The US is too soft so we’ll just give them some stimulus money in exchange for the hostage

Why bother to go there if they continue to take what is freely being given. If the government can not put a stop to it then other countries need to stop giving. The rule should be, until you provide safe passage for our workers we can not provide food and aid. I really don't believe the people who need the food and aid the most are getting it anyway so why bother.

Plain and simple... This is what happens when we have to appease the masses. You have the pacifists that complain about humane justice. The extremists screaming for their heads... And the Government sits in the middle. If they stick their nose in, then some countries whine that America needs to quit playing World Cop. Other countries complain that because America has the power and resources that they should take care of it. Who's feelings do we hurt this week?

Maybe we should protect only our own vessels and let everyone else stick up for themselves. I for one am tired of America "trying" to help other countries. We SHOULD start ignoring other people's problems and work on our own like the rest of the selfish countries of the world does.

How about stopping the terrorists at source. There aren't very many ports in Somalia from where the pirates enter the waters. Help the government of somalia (whatever is left of it) to secure these ports.

Why are "WE" (USA) needed to fix this? Why is it that everyone (the whole world plus Africa) involved is not fixing it. Every pirate that is captured, by whomever/wherever, should be hanged on the spot, and their body left to rot in the wind. Somalia made it's own bed of poverty and anarchy, and I don't see why "WE" are responsible for fixing it. Crime is crime, and I don't care what part of the world from which it comes.

"But why is the rum gone?!"

RRRRRRRRRRR.........actually....hire ex soldiers....load them up with ammo...and tell them to work on their target practice.

RRRRRRRRRRRRR........*tat tat tat tat" flatline..................................

How much is this exercise in futility costing us? I agree, blow them out of the water. So tired of poverty being a lame excuse for terrorism and legalized murder/kidnapping. Don't see anyone in Appalachia high jacking cars and holding tourists for ransom. I guess they’re not poor enough.

aarrrrrrrrr!!! shiver me timbers! I'd make em all walk the plank!! Gimee some more Rum matey!

It's tragic that these people have to live in a state of mind that they have to do this to survive. I agree with the navy seal. Military force will do nothing but create more suffering. If we helped these people to build economies and teach them how to survive in a civilized environment this would not be a problem. It's a giant challenge, but everyone deserves to have proper living conditions in this world. Just because we are blessed to live in a society that wastes more than they will ever see. Should not create thoughts of slaughtering them, but it should instead create thoughts of how can we help them. What a sad world we live in, when this is what our ideas = , more suffering.

line the boats with razor wire and attack dogs, works in most cities. RD

It's not so simple to stop them all. First of all, there will be non-pirate boats that will not respond or look suspicious. Are we going to open fire on innocent civilians to save innocent civilians? Second, this is such a huge amount of space that there just aren't enough ships to patrol it and stop every suspicious boat. It's just not possible.

The answer is Broad Area Maritime Surveillance from your friends at Northrop Grumman can provide surveillance, target acquisition, intelligence gathering, reconaissance.

Are any of these women hot? And if so, where is this port?

Shiver me timbers.

Arrrrrrrrrr!!!

Blows my mind that men on a huge boat can allow a few men from a small so-called speedboat (tricycle is faster) that they are unable to keep them off the boat. Sure they have weapons but have you ever been on a small boat in an ocean, you can't aim for you know what. Bring pellet guns on the ship if real guns arent allowed. Guys are transports can just take target practice at them without killing anyone on a much more stable vessel. Guarantee getting popped with a few pellets each and those morons called pirates will be going on to another vessel. How about some flame electronic controlled flame throwers that can be run from a room safely. How do you not see a bunch of pirates coming at you having to scale a 30-60 ft vessel wall with rope. It's not difficult guys, oh how about a crossbow?

Why would they really want to stop it, it drives supplies down and prices up resulting in higher profits. If also helps to render the depopulation of the planet which these fascists (bankers) want. This isn't a right or left issue, since they are controlled by the bankers as is Obama and his admin as was Bush and his admin.

Are you kidding me. We, the U.S., have millions of people out of work, yet some are saying we should help eliminate poverty on the ground in Somalia. Really, how is that our resoponsibility again? I think that the UN coud finally do something useful here by paying to put a squad of marines on every ship and that'll be the end of it.

Anytime people are disarmed and denied the right to defend themselves sufficiently, you might as well paint a big red target sign on them. The mariners are not permitted to be armed despite numerous attempts by the industry to reclaim the right to bear arms. This is not only happening by Somalian pirates. This is actually a rampant problem in all waters.

Sounds like a job for the A-Team!

Who owns these waters where they are operating? If they are international waters, then the pirates are within their rights to "pick a fight". Yes, they are stealing and being aggressive. However, look at the countries whose ships are being highjacked and ask yourselves if, within the last 50 years, any of these countries have "justifiably" entered another country and done a lot worse than hold someone for ransom.
If they are Somali or Yemeni waters, then it's up to the governments' (interim or no) to come up with a plan and a tax for use of their waters.
It seems odd to me that we established the limits of our US coasts, and that our Coast Guard can arrest, detain and seize goods of anyone who enters our waters. Yet, we have a problem when others do the same.

How much did the pirate pay for his earrings?
A buc-ann-eer!

I think its very unfortunate that CNN has chosen to accept the main catalyst for this whole piracy problem as greed and lawlessness in somalia. Why dont you look at the issue as complex as it is and do your research. For instance why are you not talking about the crimes being commited agains Somalia by the dumping of illegal toxic waiste and illegal over fishing by European and Chinese fishermen which has been going on for the last 15 years. I encourage to take a deeper look at the issue and give the American people a detailed and honest portrayal of the issue. Thank you!!

Security Teams with all the latest technology to defend a ship at sea should be hired by all nations sailing through these waters where piracy is possible. It would be cost effective considering the high ransoms costs and liability insurance premiums. Those Security teams should be ordered to make shark bait out of anyone attempting to treaten a ship at sea.

Let Obama bail them out...I think about a billion in ransom should do. If that's not enough, try 2 billion. Anything to help these downtrodden people in Somalia. It really doesn't matter if the captain lives or dies anyway.

Why don't we just arm the merchant ships? Giving a ship a water cannon to repel pirates is like carrying a supersoaker to avoid a carjacking.

i just wanna know what is that ship doing down there taking food or whatever to other country while here there's a lot of PPL hungry and homeless, just can't understand, there's lot of help to others but for the PPL that really need it nothing..

Stanley and Brad, you both need to take a Midol and have a nappy

In the early part of the 20th century, and before, there would have been no question about what to do here. Freighters would have had armories and men – MEN – aboard who knew how to use the weapons in them. 20 sailors popping away at a speed boat or raft at 500 yards with even the most innocuous of scope-sighted sporting rifles available from Wal-Mart – much less a heavy machine gun or two – would make short work of these swine.

All you girly-men and Brits who are feeling nauseous over my suggestion go join Brad and Stanley's slumber party.

If it's a military solution that is in mind, I'd personally suggest Q-Ships. Naval vessels disguised as merchant ships would work quite well in this sort of situation. Essentially, it doesn't take more than a trained, armed crew to fight in one of these situations, as the pirates attempt to board and are arrested, fought off, etc. It's a low-cost alternative to plans that would use constant patrolling, Radar scans, and the like, and also can be used with some of the older ships currently in naval service. Alternatively, the federal government could issue letters of marque, enabling counter-piracy, but that solution is a) too ludicrous and b) too ineffective. Either solution is cheaper than having F-15s dropping laser guided ordnance on shacks and fishing boats.

[...] reading this article, on the situation in Somali, I've decided the next time I hear of someone taking a "vow [...]

Private companies should just hire PRIVATE security...duh My tax dollars shouldn't go to a company so dense that they run naked through acid rain!

YAR!!!

"Pirates". The mere fact they are being referred to as pirates, instead of criminals, terrorists, or just plain agitators, glamorizes the whole sitiuation, as someone said, to a "Jack Sparrow" type of mentality.
Well, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The US is tired of being the worlds watchdog. Solving the problem diplomatically is likely not going to work. Not long term. Invade, divide and conquer. Just let the Nigerians do it, or maybe ANYONE on that continent. (The nigerians don't have such a great track record either.) Is there no honour amoung men anymore?

After foreign fishing fleets illegally depleted the fishing grounds off Somalia, and European countries dumped their hazardous waste (radioactive waste included) in the ocean off Somalia, these people have been reduced to starvation. Where were the ihternational patrols when the Somalis were complaining about the foreign fishing fleets and the dumping? Nobody cared then. These are bloody thirsty criminals, these are people trying to survive.

Has anyone ever thought of our super heroes? how about
Johnny Depp, sinbad and popeye? They know how to take care all these bad pirates. Send them over to stop this piracy.

just tell them to apply for some tarp money instead... it's free, limitless, and you don't have to ride around 300 miles from land in a dingy with 6 smelly dudes... TARP forever!!!... aaarrrrggggghhhh!!!

I say we do one of two things...we either hang them in public, no trial, or we keel haul them and then put them ashore so as their piers who may want to make this kind of a living, can see what happens to creatures of their ilk! Like one of the other fellow bloggers wrote, Show them absolutely no mercy! They are getting away with this because we are allowing it, bottom line....Terry G.

these boats need mounted heavy duty macine guns, or mini cannons, problem solved, let's see how far a somali swiss cheese boat can go

The key word is 'breeding'. We need to go back to offering international aid to countries like Somalia in exchange for sterilizing a population which cannot feed itself without preying on other people. Smaller families = less desperation.

This is so stupid. It would be a no brainer to put a platoon of Marines aboard every freighter while in the treacherous waters. Give them the authority to shoot to kill anyone pursuing a merchant ship or attempting to board without permission.

I would also think that an armed helicopter could reach nearly any ship being threatened long before the pirates attempted to board it. Have the chopper blow the pirates out of the water before they have a chance to take anyone or anything hostage.

Have immediate trials of any captured pirates. Hang them at the nearest port and leave them hanging until the birds pick their bones clean. Do it the old fashioned way. What are we, a nation of wimps or what?

Personally I think they should bann all non-commercial traffic immediately in the area and any boat they find that isn't commercial blow it out of the water.

meant to say "These are not blood thirsty criminals.." No one has been hurt by the Somali pirates.

The FBI is now in negotiations with the pirates. This should be our negotiation stance: "Harm an American and you will never be dead enough". Sink the mother boats that harbor the pirates and bomb the ports. Until you destroy the infrastructure and make pirating unprofitable, they will continue.

Arm UAV's with Missiles and continue to patrol this area shooting down every non-registered boat that comes in sight. If not missiles, then fly AC130 gunship patrols around and gun them down. Kill pirates from above, they are simple targets floating out at sea and can be detected from space based satellites or radars. Eventually, these seas will be too dangerous because of the missile threat from above for these pirates to even think about sailing out. Post videos of pirates being killed from above on Al-Jazerra and maybe they'll get the message.

Captain Ron, ye crack me up...I laughted all the way to the toilet while ago after reading u above...u right on the button, MON!!!

Take the women that are flocking to marry the pirates and throw them in jail. They can then see the kind of life they are asking for. As for the pirates, blow their buts out of the water. This will set a good example for the others.

The Phonenicians invented crusifiction to deal with piracy.

I agree that there needs to be some stabilizing action taken in Somalia with regards to governance. But in the short term wouldn't hiring defense contractors to ride along on these ships cost the same or maybe less than paying ransom all the time. These pirates are not trained soldiers. They could be easily out gunned by men who knew what they were doing. After they start coming back from these raids dead you will see a drop in the number of incidents.

I just cant understand. If they have crew on deck 24/7 how these pirates can get on board? Bright lights and a good spear gun should handle the problem. After a bunch of pirates are killed maybe they will think twice.

Point 1: Appeasment never works. Never has, never will. Check your history books. The aggressors always come back wanting more.
Point 2: Most foreign ports have stringent rules about armed ships. They don't like them in their waters. Warships can often get away with it because they are obviously what they are and treatys have been made allowing them passage. Merchant ships carrying heavy weapons are another thing entirely.
Point 3: "Light" weapons, such as assault rifles, if properly stored in an arms locker/armory room, are *usually* permitted aboard merchant ships in small quantities. RPGs do not qualify here.
Point 4: The cost of a small, trained defence force aboard ships traveling through Somali waters would be far less than the cost of one ransom payment. Such a clash would not end the problem, however. The pirates would simply increase the level of violence and the level of weaponry they bring to bear.
Summary: In an ideal world we would solve the soul-crushing poverty problem these people suffer from and they would turn away from piracy to become productive citizens. That's not going to happen, though. WE cannot solve THEIR problems. Not even by throwing money at them. OUR problem is their turning to piracy against our shipping and, unfortunately, the only solution to that will be long, slow, and bloody. Appeasment is easier, but in the end, we will still have to fight them. One boatload at a time.

Some of these comments are just ridiculous. Arm civilian ships? Fire at approaching vessels? You can't just attack someone until they've proved to be a threat, which is when they're on the side of your vessel throwing grappling hooks. That's unprovoked assault and murder and I'm sure they don't have radio communications to try to warn them. They also spray automatic weapons at the ships as they approach to prevent retaliation. Giving the crew guns won't be the solution you think it will and will just add violence and death to the whole situation. The Somalis are desperately poor and they probably don't care if they die trying to get rich.

Blow up Somalia? Are you people insane? Start a war with a country with no real government because it happens to have a few criminals in it? Seriously, think about it and stop reacting with your trigger finger.

Hiring a few armed guards for each boat can't possibly cost more then the millions they pay out each time a boat is taken. It wouldn't take very many, look how big the ship is! They have the high ground.

walter – you maroon! this has been going on for years, it didn't start just this year! you might want to watch another news channel

*********One shot, One Kill. ********
Every ship should have a armed ex service personal on board.
What paying 75-100000.00 per year per ship.??
They are paying millions now.
Can think of quite a few ex service people that are out of work .

Yeah!!!Blow them out of the water,that is a simple solution to a problem that has been created by neglect and isolation of the Somali people.Most Westerners commenting here are very ignorant of what happens in Somalia,the whole of Africa to be precise and who can blame them.The Western media always feeds you the "B.S" about how Africans can't rule themselves.The course of these conflicts are Westerners meddling in tribal conflicts and selling weapons to factions to fuel this anarchy.After Somalia became a lawless state,Somali waters weren't patrolled and opportunistic fishing companies raided these waters for fish.Others dumped chemical and nuclear waste in the water by the the Somalian coast with impunity.Yes the Somalians are the course of their own problems,and radical Islam sees opportunity to recruit in these lands where the is little hope for survival.Most Somali's would like to make a decent living than take arms.Tribal wars in Somalia has for centuries been triggered by fight over grazing land for their animals during long drought season.The absence of a central government makes these tribal Warlords even more ruthless in their actions against their people.These people fight to protect their livelihood and family most of the time since there is no system of government to protect them.A lot of Western gun dealers see this as an opportunity, like in any other chaotic place in the world to run their illegal arm trade. Some of these tribes are just not into fighting among themselves,they see a lucrative business in going to confront foreign vessels who drop of toxic waste or pillage their unguarded coast for fish,denying the already poor
Somali's of their right to fish in their on waters.When you think of these pirates wanting to make a living under such harsh conditions in their land the risk of death is not a hindrance.After all their lives is not worth anything in their land or to the world.There is going to be always armed factions in Somalia so far is the World ignores it plight.A government that can control all the warring factions is what is needed.The UN is too ineffective to turn things around.The African Union lacks a common army and the financial resources to intervene.Western military actions won't do much, these people are to skilled in arms as guerrilla warfare is their expertise and Westerns occupiers will be slaughtered on Somali land.I believe there is no oil to compensate for the loss of precious western lives to intervene in this mess altruistically. To me a country like Ethiopia and Kenya can intervene under a U.N mandate and funds,they know the terrain and can fight these wars viciously.Ethiopia withdrew it's forces from Somalia because it was not getting funded as promised to keep the partial government running.Till the Somalia people see improvements in their lives through the establishment of a legitimate government not a western puppet.Piracy on the Gulf of Arden is here to stay.............

There are plenty of Policy Options available

1. International tribunals: I've heard reports that the Navy is detaining Pirates and then letting them go because NO COUNTRY is willing to put them on trial. How rediculous is that? What incentive is there to NOT be a pirate if you live in Somalia.

2. UN Peacekeeping Mission to Somalia: Been there done that, Remember Black Hawk Down? Probably the best solution but also the most costly. Translation, not going to happen.

3. Make it illegal to pay these pirates ransom. If these pirates want money, make them go through Governments. Maybe the Pirates will think twice about attacking U.S. ships if they know they can't just black mail the shipping companies.

Obviously, the pirates are not manufacturing the weapons they use to take over the vessels so they're buying them from someone who could care less how they're being used. First, we reduce the access to these weapons by going after these arms dealers. My guess is it’s the same suppliers we're seeing in other armed conflicts around the world (can anyone spell Iran or Syria?). Secondly, the shipping companies should be placing 4-6 trained defensive mercenaries on each ship to ward off the pirate attackers. If 4 pirates can take over a ship with 20 sailors, it couldn’t be that difficult for 4-6 onboard defenders to keep the pirates off the sides of the ship to foil their attempts to hijack the cargo. After a few pirates are wasted, then we should see a decrease in their brazen attempts to hijack the ships. Where is Jack Bauer when we need him?

I think the ship owners should advertise for a crew in the "Soldier of Fortune" magazine. If the crew is made up of the right mix of people then the pirates will learn quickly. Somolia is better than being chum.

As several folks have alluded, this is a real easy problem to solve and i believe has been going on way too long, there needs to be less talk and more action – unfortunately i don't think real action will come until an innocent dies. These 'pirates' live in an ungoverned country, no laws, no rules and have elected to conduct themselves accordingly in international waters – it's therefore reasonable to respond in a manner that these folks will understand. A couple of other gentlemen (posted below) have it exactly right – my version of a detterent, goes like this however:

Utilize a dozen or so shipping/cruise like vessels that have been moth balled (due to economy) and outfit them with long and close range artillery along with experienced personnel (reservists/ex-military?), these vessels, now acting as decoys, cruise shipping lanes between the coast and commonly used shipping lanes for the purpose of intercepting and destroying our pirate friends – I'm confident that after a few pirate vessels and crew go missing, the message will be clear – if it's not, then so be it, at least there will be closure in a reasonable amount of time versus time it will take to get international involvement.

Until somebody explains this to me, I'll never understand it. I find it extremely hard to fathom that cargo ships of this size could not protect themselves from relatively tiny boats if they were armed. One ransom paid would foot the bill for a large number of armed guards that are properly trained and equipped with heavy machine guns. Instead however, the owners of the ships continue to pay money that will only be used to purchase larger quantities of more advanced weapons; and the problem continues to escalate.
Make it known that if a boat approaches a cargo ship in open waters, it will be cut in half. I mean really, who's the fool here??

Killing all the pirates won't work because more pirates will follow in a sufficiently desperate environment such as Somalia. Hijackings will trail off for a few months because of all the deaths, but then they will pick up again. Arm the vessels, but not to the teeth, which will keep the appeasers relatively quiet and be violent, but only to the extent that matches the level of violence the hijackers use. Other countries don't want weapons in their ports? they use the same shipping lanes, so agree to let them have the same weapons. That keeps our country from having to listen to the big bully lecture from Europe.

Nuking Somalia isn't going to happen, you'd be giving leverage to other countries developing nuclear weapon capabilities, not to mention doing damage to plenty of Somali civilians who are not flocking to the coast to get married but minding their own business. I am not in favor of nation building, but we do need to go in there and support the people. Notice I did not say support the government leaders, they are corrupt and need to be replaced. A puppet government created by us you complain about? better than a breeding ground for more than pirates, but terrorists too.

No solution is perfect, and I won't bet the farm that my idea will work, but mass murder, even of people who have earned it, is below us. We are better than that, and not just those hippies, good Democrats, Republicans, and Independents too.

I was reading some of the more recent posts and I was surprised that so many people were agreeing to attack the pirates in a such a violent way like shooting them and having their bodies wash up on shore or setting their ship on fire. I would like to point out, like others have already, that the conditions Somalians face are nothing like we, Americans, have ever seen. Violence will solve nothing but helping to better their life conditions will. Helping the government maintain civil peace and enforece laws and creating jobs will help piracy finally become a thing of the past. If this sort of life continues for the Somalians then yes, it could very well become a breeding ground for terrorism. But just know that hate derives from turning your cheek when someone needs help and peace derives from a helping hand. An investment in Somalia is an investment in civil peace not only in Somalia but surrounding areas and the world.

For starters, I am at a loss as to how the operators of these little-bitty boats are able to overpower and dominate these huge steel things. Surely any boat that can mount a guard watch throughout the day and night could fail to notice these people apporaching in their dinghies.

Secondly, I once chartered a sail boat (45-foot). The first time I went up from the cabin, I noticed a sawed-off shotgun just above the doorway. I asked the captain what it was for. He said, "Pirates."

This was thirty years ago. Why is the existence of pirates such a surprise NOW?

Why are ships that are obliged to sail these water totally unarmed? Why do they not have a few RPGs, launchers, light submachine guns, conventional grenades?

Finally, even if suddenly Somalia was able to grow a legitimate government after so many years, why would lawless, prosperous people forgo the vast potential income from piracy to return to a miserable, subsistance life? And even if Somalia managed to have a government, how much longer would it take to establish a navy to protect ships in the waters off the coast?

thanks for the interesting comments..made my last date of work go by so quick..me and my co-workers really got a kick outta what you guys had to say...everyone seems to be in with Ian's idea..lol..way to be mr popular!!

Darryl: If you keep rewarding them expect the piracy to continue. The US is too soft so we’ll just give them some stimulus money in exchange for the hostage...

Part of that made me chuckle, but it's very true. We've done nothing but reward the dangerous behavior of these individuals and they need to be stopped and a message needs to be sent out loud and clear. Pretty soon, all they'll have to do is step on board and we'll just give them the money, or they start doing whatever is necessary to hurt individuals for the heck of it. We need to grow a pair and step up, people!

Lets see what to do what do do, since we cant decide, since were ineffectual and gutless lets see what other countries do. Israel simply does not negotiate with kidnappers and every citizen knows they may have to die to maintain the tradition but it works. Russia, they mass attack an enemy destroying entire 1km grid squares at a time until each square is completely devoid of life. China, mass attacks, human waives again sacrifice the individual for the common good. Or have the gutless UN put a force on each ship made up of soldiers of member nations...to defend the ships....

Some of you understand deterrence. Many of the posts here do not. Each ship should carry one negotiator; BARRATT MODEL 82A1 .50BMG w 12×40 Leupold.