A Navy's lot is not a happy one

The fight against Jihadist pirates and Jihadists in general has become an absolute joke. Not only are Somali pirates caught red handed and released as a matter of course thanks to insane rules of engagement, but a British couple is kidnapped from their yacht by Jihadist pirates under the very eyes of the Royal Navy, who do absolutely nothing except watch. The head of the Navy, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, then, with amazing brass, claims that the ship involved, RFA Wave Rider, could do nothing in the situation.

Perhaps the Admiral should get to sea more often, because Wave Knight not only has a Merlin helicopter, but two 30 mm cannons and four 7.62 mm machine guns as well as 26 Royal Navy seamen to man them. How does this equate as "couldn't" rather than "weren't allowed"? True, it was a hostage situation, but how would that have prevented the captain from getting on the loud hailer and telling the pirates that if the hostages were harmed the pirates would die one second later while putting a shot across their bow to avoid any misunderstandings about trying to leave.

As for letting pirates go, I am actually all in favour of that. let them go by all means. Without their boat and twelve miles off shore. Chumming the water first I leave to the discretion of the captain.

Still, for all it's faults, at least the RN isn't lumbered like the Anericans with a commander in chief who takes credit for a rescue mission while apparently taking petty revenge on the real heroes for upstaging him before he could apologise to the pirates.

I suppose running convoys through the area while the US and Royal Navies sweep the pirates off the seas (Not in a convoy? Prepare to be boarded.) and burn their shore bases to the ground (Women and children to the evacuation units, please. As for the men; healthier if you move inland, son. Now.) is out of the question. Pity.

A matter of perspective

Unfortunately, this is not what we're talking about.

An armed merchant ship sees of Somali pirates, but the Powers that Be have their knickers in a twist because merchant ships with guns are "dangerous".

Depends on which end of the muzzle you're on, doesn't it?

Stand By To Spray Boarders

Another answer to the Somali pirate problem comes from the lads at Unifire and Raytheon, who have come up with a high-powered water jet capable of taking out a small boat at a hundred yards. Opt for the pepper spray attachment and you can make their eyes water at 200 yards. And just to make it truly annoying, it comes with a small-craft tracking radar.

Wish I had one of these when I was cruising around the Hawaiian Islands. Would have made intership water fights much more interesting.

Run Out The Guns

There's an interesting debate going on about how to deal with the Somali pirates with Ares concerned that the Western powers are needlessly chaining themselves with legal shackles against what Cicero rightly classed as Hostis Humani Generis to be destroyed on sight.However, David Hardy over at Of Arms & Law has a clever little scheme for dealing with the pirates by placing sniper teams aboard ships while they're in international waters and removing them before the ships reach port, thereby removing a major legal entanglement about armed vessels entering where they're prohibited. The comment section is particularly interesting as critics try to pick the idea apart, though I think they give the pirates too much credit for being willing or able to escalate an arms race that they've no hope of winning–especially if the Doug Ross's Somali coast cruise idea has any traction. Heck, if I had the money, I'd book a cruise myself.

And if that doesn't work there's always my idea for reviving an oldie, but a goodie; Letters of Marque with permission to hunt pirates riding under the seal of Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

What's good enough for Drake is good enough for me.

Barry and the Pirates

There's been a lot of comment going after the spectacular rescue of Captain Richard Phillips buy the US Navy, where three Somali pirates were shot dead by Navy snipers faster than you can say "What the...?" in Somali. Aside for the well-wishes for Captain Phillips and the just praise for the sailors and Marines who carried out the rescue there has been the supposedly more important question of how this impacts Mr. Barack Hussein Obama.

On the one hand, you have the pro-Obama crowd who declare that taking out three pirates puts paid to anyone ever, ever, ever characterising Mr Obama as "President Pantywaist" while others point out that if Mr Obama hadn't sent in the FBI to negotiate with the pirates this all would have ended sooner. But I think that the most interesting observation is that if Mr Obama did anything, it was that he did nothing. Apparently, the captain of the US destroyer's standing orders were to fire on the pirates if Captain Phillips was in imminent danger and Mr Obama only came into the loop when the situation escalated into an international incident. By all reports, Mr Obama simply confirmed those standing orders and the commander on the scene executed those orders according to his best judgment. If this is the case, then Mr Obama should be praised, because the best course of action in such a situation is to trust the man on the spot and stay out of the way.

That being said, the real test of Mr Obama's mettle is not what he did or did not do in this situation, but what he does next. The piracy problem is still extant and growing and if nothing is done, things will only get worse until the freedom of the seas itself is threatened. Some, and I agree with them, say that the way forward is to take the fight to the enemy; wiping out pirate bases ashore and sinking every pirate vessel at sea, leaving the crews to literally swim home. It may not pacify the pirates, but such a sustained policy would certainly end up with a load of buccaneers stranded ashore with few new recruits and nothing to do except jump up and down in impotent rage.

Not that this seems very likely, given Mr Obama's typical well-read, but meaningless speech after the event:

I want to be very clear that we are resolved to halt the rise of privacy (sic) in that region. To achieve that goal we're going to have to continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks, we have to continue to be prepared to confront them when they arise, and we have to ensure that those who commit acts of piracy are held accountable for their crimes.

Any more wiggle room than this would have involved him finishing by saying "Or not".

Time will tell if this episode will end in action or filed away as another distraction.

Update: It won’t take a village. It’ll take John Wayne.

Ha Harr!

Somali pirates have struck again, seizing a ninth vessel in twelve days and the Royal Navy is leading an international task force to sweep the freebooters from the seas. This return to the sort of barbarism that was thought to have died with the Barbary states has so unnerved the major powers that even Russia is recommending attacks on the pirates' bases along the East African coast.

It's a nice show of reality finally sinking in, but unless the rules of engagement are as serious as the threat of these latter day corsairs and a commitment is shown to not only capture them, but to string them up at Wapping, then this will likely end up as a very expensive exercise in nautical handbagging.

Royal Navy Captures Pirates

What happens when you let the RN do its job.

Another Day in Paradise

An Islamic court has ordered the residents of Bulo Burto, Somailia to pray five times a day or face beheading.

Ah, the joys of sharia law in the hands of Jihadists!