Happy ending

The Navy Seals proved once again why they are among the most elite fighting units ever assembled.

Navy snipers on the fantail of a destroyer cut down three Somali pirates in a lifeboat and rescued an American sea captain in a surprise nighttime assault in choppy seas Easter Sunday, ending a five-day standoff between a team of rogue gunmen and the world's most powerful military.

Naturally, King Obama, Savior of Big Media (the BM for short) took full credit for the decision to take out the scumbags. I suppose it comes with the job; you try to deflect blame when things go wrong and you take full credit when things go right.

Of course the US action was met with threats from the Somalis.

Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding the Greek ship anchored in the Somali town of Gaan, said: "Every country will be treated the way it treats us. In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying," he told The Associated Press. "We will retaliate (for) the killings of our men."

Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told the AP from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl, that: "From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages)."

"Now they became our number one enemy," Habeb said of U.S. forces.

Oooh. We're quaking in our boots. What is it with people in that part of the world? These so-called pirates are just like the current Al Queda leadership -- all threats, no action.

It's nice to have something positive to say on a Monday for a change. Go Navy!

Piracy Update

Piracy in the area around the Horn of Africa is back in the news. It seems that the United States Navy is planning to join the fight after all. Well, sort of.

A new international naval force under American command will soon begin patrols to confront escalating attacks by Somali pirates after more than 100 ships came under siege in the past year, the U.S. Navy said Thursday.

But the mission—expected to begin operations next week—appears more of an attempt to sharpen the military focus against piracy rather than a signal of expanded offensives across one of the world's most crucial shipping lanes.

The force will carry no wider authority to strike at pirate vessels at sea or specific mandates to move against havens on shore—which some maritime experts believe is necessary to weaken the pirate gangs that have taken control of dozens of cargo vessels and an oil tanker.

Typical. Too little. Too late. Too toothless. The Somalis are quaking in their boots.

Not to worry, though. The Somali pirates have released the oil supertanker they hijacked late last Fall. Of course, it took a substantial ransom to accomplish the vessel's return.

But, in what can only be deemed an amazing bit of irony, some of the pirates won't get to enjoy their ill-gotten booty because they're dead.

Five Somali pirates drowned when a wave washed off their getaway boat as they squabbled over over how to split their $3 million ransom.

Ah, sweet schadenfreude!

Pirates!

xfloggingkylex wrote in a couple of weeks ago about the situation in the seas around the Horn of Africa.

WTF?? Why would you raid and capture an oil tanker knowing what the US will do for oil (and for Saudi Arabia).

Pirates! In Somalia? What the deuce are Willie Stargell, Manny Sanguillen, Doc Ellis, and Steve Blass doing in Somalia hijacking oil tankers? What's that? Wrong kind of pirates? Boy is my face red! Let me try again.

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Pirates! In Somalia? What the deuce? Why are Blackbeard, Bluebeard, RedBeard and all of the other "beards" sailing their cutters from the Caribbean all the way to the Horn of Africa? What's that? Wrong again? Sheesh! Red-faced again. Let me try one more time, but before I do, I have some questions. Why were the famous real and literary pirates of the 18th century referred to by the color of their beards? And does this mean that, were I to become a pirate, I would be hung with the moniker "Graybeard"?

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Pirates! In Somalia? You bet.

This isn't some new and obscure problem. Piracy in the area of North Africa goes back to Roman Times. The famous line from the Marine Hymn "to the shores of Tripoli" refers to a US military action ordered by President Thomas Jefferson against Barbary pirates in 1803. Most of the piracy was historically located in the Mediterranean, due to greater shipping activity in that region. But lax antipiracy enforcement around the Horn of Africa has made piracy much more lucrative in that area and with less likelihood of interdiction.

Somali pirates have become more brazen of late, hence xfloggingkylex's perplexed question. I mean, when you've moved from common merchant ships to oil supertankers, you're obviously upping the ante. Pirates took 9 ships in 12 days during one stretch. But no one has done jack to stop this reign of terror.

And who would do it, anyway? The US? Don't make me laugh! Our navy is designed for re-fighting World War II - what're we going to do, send an aircraft carrier or battleship to stop the piracy? Besides, we're broke, our military is overextended, and it really doesn't impact US interests all that much, the oil tanker notwithstanding.

What about England? If any country is known for naval supremacy, it's England. Not happening. England has Iraq war fatigue - they're not going to lift a finger on this one.

Fortunately, one great nation is preparing to take on these pirates - China. While the Chinese may seem like an ideal country to fight this battle, given that country's size and natural belicosity, the fact is that the Chinese navy hasn't done much more than play Coast Guard since the 15th Century. I'm really hoping the Chinese take on this antipiracy action. It could be one of the more entertaining examples of Keystone Kops naval tactics ever witnessed.