UN Moves Against Pirates

So, firstly, I'd like to point out the most recent development with our African pirate friends. The UN has finally approved air and land operations in Somalia to suppress them with military force. Read the disappointingly brief story here.

In an earlier post, I received some criticism for the suggestion that the appropriate response to Somali piracy was to mount machine guns on gunwales of freighters as they moved through the threatened sea lanes, on the grounds that the idea was impractical. Here is an AP photograph of a member of the Dutch special forces, manning his gun on the freighter De Ruyter as it moves through the Gulf of Aden. I have no idea what the scale of this program is, but I would bet the pictured ship made it through ok.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this resolution. Presumably, current deterrent operations will be dwarfed.

Anyone considering the purchase of an eyepatch and parrot may want to pick up a different line of work. Or get them via overnight mail. We may be nearing the end of our series on African pirates.

Yar!

Oh, and those Somali pirates who nabbed a ship full of tanks and heavy weapons? They want 20 million US to release it.

Were is Iron Man, Chuck Norris, or the governor of California when we need them?

In fact, now that I think about it, didn't the marines cut their teeth as an organization suppressing African piracy? Sounds like a job opportunity.

See the story here.