US Fired First?
Good. And we also fired last
The U.S. military today reacted with fury after the pirates who killed four Americans claimed the Navy shot at them first.
Jean and Scott Adam, from California, were killed alongside Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle from Seattle, Washington, in the early hours of yesterday.
U.S. Navy officials had been negotiating with the pirates when, without warning, the bandits fired a rocket-propelled grenade at their warship.
The grenade missed the USS Sterett, which was 600 yards from the hijacked yacht, the Quest.
Immediately afterwards, at around at around 9am local time (3am ET) gunfire erupted inside the cabin of the Quest, the Navy said.
Several pirates then moved onto deck with the hands in the air – as if to surrender – as a rescue force of 15 Navy Seals rushed onboard. The pirates began shooting at the Seals, and in the ensuing battle, two of the bandits were killed.
I find it incredible that armed pirates who boarded a vessel in the open sea and took people hostage would complain that someone fired at them?
What I do not understand, in my neanderthalic gunclingy way, is why there were “negotiations” and why this small yacht was being allowed to be under way. That destroyer should have been parked in front of the yacht preventing it from moving. The pirates should have been told in no uncertain terms that if any harm happened to the US citizens on board that they would all be dead.
And the 13 pirates that have been captured should all be hanging from the Quest’s rigging by their necks right now.
Update: Snaqwells over at Dan’s has a plan I like
it’s time to use the full force of the American military on these shitheads. Run some bait ships through the area with nothing but a small contingent of Navy Seals. No prisoners, no trials, no 33 year sentences for guilty pirates.
Exactly right.
Military Thingies, Morality, Politics | Mr. Bingley | 
February 23, 2011 6:24 am
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That’s a change I can hope for.
Well, once there are hostages then there are limits to how aggressive you can get unless you are going to disregard the safety of the hostages. Then you would really see the US Navy getting blamed.
This problem exists because ransoms have been paid in the past and the West cannot muster the political will to deal with the problem. Now it has grown to the point where there are currently 32 vessels and 725 hostages being held. It’s going to require a serious strategy and the willpower to execute it to clean this up. It would also require hitting the home bases of the pirates where they are mixed in with the civilian population and all that that means. Some civilians would likely be killed even though we wouldn’t target them. In fact, the pirates would almost certainly make sure of it. I’m willing to be a cold-hearted bastard about that, but you know that the usual suspects will scream bloody murder. I don’t think the leadership of the West has the stones to do what needs to be done.
Bing, if only it were that easy. The laws concerning piracy and the sea are oh so complicated and IMHO complete BS. I would blow the mother ship/s out of the water then go after the home bases on the mainland. Short of nuking them from space, it’s the only way to be sure and get them.
Park a keyhole over the area and track ships. When an attack happens, back-track, first to the mother ship (boom, glub glub), then to the home port. Raze.
Let them know that we know where they live.
Snaqwells is offering a “Q Ship” strategy, which has been used before in wartime. Piracy may be dicier, though. Summary execution of surrender pirates is off the table (unfortunately), but throw in an ROE just short of “No quarter!”, and some legal judo, and it might be made to work.
Oh, and a backbone in the Administration. That should go unsaid with Obama; I just like rubbing it in.
Forget about backbone from the Obama Administration. It was difficult enough to get from the Bushies.
In an ideal world my suggestion is this, since nobody wants to go ashore in Somalia to shoot it out with Somalian khat-heads. There is a city in Somalia that is the main base of the pirates, Eeyo or something like that. The whole populatin there is in cahoots with the pirates. make an example of it. Three squadrons of B-52s with old iron bombs from WWII (no meed to waste modern smart bombs when we just want to send a message) carpet bomb the place. Make sure all other Somalis know that we have lots more bombs if any more piracy occurs. That and hanging of all captured pirates should do the trick.