"Pittman Pirate" wrote in message
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"Eisboch" wrote in message
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"Pittman Pirate" wrote in message
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"HK" wrote

The ship, its contents, and ransom money are just property, a commodity
much less valuable than the lives of the ship crews.

True. And to continue to send unarmed men into these situations in
these areas is plain stupidity. We have US naval vessels all over the
globe doing such things as jellyfish research, listening, and retesting
something they tested 2,000 times before. It would be nothing to
station vessels on patrol in that area of the world, and to handle these
situations as they come up. If a SEAL can't handle a skinny terrorist
with an antiquated RPG, he should turn in his flippers.


Haven't spent that much time in the blue water, huh?
Mighty small ships in gigantic oceans. We have ships patrolling
the normal shipping lanes, but this event happened about 300 miles
from the nearest Naval vessel according to the reports.
Furthermore, there were apparently about 150 cargo ships transiting
the general area at the time. Which do you protect?

Eisboch

Actually, spent eight years there, holding Leading AB status. Other
certifications and positions, but I digress. I do know that it is
Pollyannish to think that we can patrol every ship and every waterway.
Imagine sugar ants on the Superdome parking lot, and multiply the asphalt
by 100,000.. During WW2, we had convoys, and the U boats still sank
ships. I was talking about situations where ships are seized, and action
taken after that. Maybe the knowledge would trickle down that if you
attack a US vessel, there will be a no nonsense response. A captain who
drops anchor (if in shallow water) or some other way disables his ship
isn't going to have to worry about some illiterate villager getting it
under way. So they sit there in a Mexican standoff.

Steve


I certainly go along with that.
Another option maybe is to have open village meetings and Obama can go over
and give his "Hope and Change" motivational speech and then answer
questions. Heck, it worked on millions here.

Eisboch