I’m getting sick of writing this post

 

1. I agree. Enough is enough.
   Shell and bomb every port that can harbor a boat bigger than a canoe into a pile of rubble. Bring in bulldozers, push the rubble into the sea and create a wonderful series of jetties all along the coast.

   Posted by DaToad       01/29/2009  at  05:37 PM  



2. An assortment of 20mm and .50 cal weapons on the freighters would be more effective and much less costly than having even one navy vessel on patrol.  The thought of what a 20mm loaded with HE could do to the pirates positively makes my mouth water.  A .50 cal would probably be as effective, but not nearly as spectacular.  How come only us nutcases here at BMEWS and a few of our kin seem to be even considering the idea of armed merchantmen?

   Posted by Dr. Jeff       01/30/2009  at  01:31 AM  



3. I don’t know, Dr. Jeff.  I broached the topic with a friend of mine, and he said something about armed merchant ships being illegal according to international marine law.

   I’m not sure I believe that, frankly.  Even if it is a convention agreed to by the nations of the world, it needs to be revisited, and we can force that issue by ignoring the convention, and arming our own countries’ merchant ships to the teeth.  Screw this international marine law if it will stupidly stand by and let good mens lives be put in peril, or do nothing while their lives are extinguished and the property stolen.

   If you’re threatened at sea, nobody’s going to come to your aid in time, so arm up and be willing to fight for what’s yours.  Any other idea is just ... well… moonbattery.

   Is this such a hard concept for people to grasp?  *argh*

   Posted by Argentium G. Tiger       01/30/2009  at  10:04 AM  



4. I don’t know, Dr. Jeff.  I broached the topic with a friend of mine, and he said something about armed merchant ships being illegal according to international marine law.

   You know, if the merchant ships are properly armed and the crews properly trained and motivated; no one would ever know now would they!

   It’s kind of like the people around here that post the “No CCW” advisories; hell, if it’s properly concealed nobody knows.

   Posted by Len - KC       01/30/2009  at  09:54 PM  



5. Unfortunately, training and arming the crews is not as easy as it sounds. There is a fairly high turnover among crews, plus many nations have fears regarding armed merchant ships in their ports, kind of like a commando team in some opinions.
   Why not have either squads of marines tasked to each ship as it traverses the dangerous waters, or a civilian group such as Blackwater. Of course if it is Blackwater, it will only be a few months until they machine gun a few crews of innocent harmless fishermen.
   (do I honestly need a /sarc tag for that last sentence?)
   The team, whether it be a civilian or mlitary group, would board the ship at some poiint prior to them entering the waters, then disembark once the ship is safely through either to an anchored point, or via heilo.
   The other option is to maintain AWACS with a lookdown capability in the area. Once a boat leaves port, a fighter would be dispatched to sink and destroy the boat and crew if there is any indication of harmful intent, suc as the presence of weapons, or a motor on the boat.

   Posted by Jeremy       01/31/2009  at  07:53 PM  

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