Somalia: World can use force against the pirates

[ben_meyers]

Source: USA TODAY

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Foreign powers have permission to use force if necessary against the Somali pirates who hijacked a Ukrainian ship loaded with battle tanks and heavy ammunition, Somalia's foreign ministry said Wednesday.
Mohamed Jama Ali, the ministry's acting permanent director, said his country granted its permission on the condition that the foreign powers coordinate their actions with Somali government officials beforehand.

"The international community has permission to fight with the pirates," Ali told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "Permission to use force was given."

He also said that negotiations between the ship's Ukrainian owners and the pirates were taking place by telephone, but that "no other side is involved in negotiations."



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-10-01-somalia-piracy_N.htm?csp=34

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How did Bush/Cheney and Rove get the Somali government to go along with this?

It's October...SUPRISE!!!

[bigworld]

1. The Somali "government"

has little real legitimacy, and even less power.

[Mesteryo]

2. the Somali govt. is fearing..

The pirates will interrupt and take arms being sent to them most likely.

[ohio2007]

12. which Somali goverment would that be ?

There are two that say they are the powers that be in Somalia

[anarch]

3. to be honest, this sounds like exactly the kind of situation that merits the use of force

I just hope that the ship's crew doesn't all get wiped out in the meantime....

[ben_meyers]

8. And when the pirates light off a flare aimed at a US ship

can we all say Gulf of Tonkin? Not that it has ever happened before.

[Regret My New Name]

11. Exactly how do think that would play out?

I'm not fully getting your position here...

I don't really even see a gray area when it comes to dealing with pirates. yaaaaar

[HopeHoops]

4. I seriously doubt they Somali government answered the phone from the US. Russia is involved.

[Coventina]

5. I thought maritime law allowed for the use of force against pirates anyway?

Does anyone really need permission from the government of the country where the criminals were born? Or is it an issue of being in Somalia's waters?

[bigworld]

6. It's a territorial issue

because they're in Somalian waters. Of course, since there's no real gov't in Mogadishu, there's no one to keep law and order in Somalian waters.

[jbane]

7. Another term for Somali pirates...target practice.

but I doubt that anyone wants to sink that boat with all those tanks on board.
It would make a nice coral reef.
My guess is they'll wait till everyone onboard is ready to give up and have some Seals
come aboard to take the ship back. And that won't take long once they get started, believe me.

[mainegreen]

9. What does Puntland say I wonder?

Being that the pirate port is based in Puntland.

[maxsolomon]

10. the pirates can't offload the tanks without a deep water port

the US can't take action without risking the lives of the 20 Ukranians in the crew.

so, a standoff. except Russia will kill the Ukranians before they'd let the tanks be offloaded.

if i were the pirates, i'd lower my ransom to something reasonable - like "I get to live".

[ohio2007]

13. The ship is a "hatchback"

It only needs to lower the ass end draw bridge and the vehicles drive off. It's those little parasite boats surrounding the great whale that need to be swamped out.


They start off loading small arms into those boats and head toward shore,the game changes.



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_E-QOnTGFX_o/SOOse5DEkXI/AAAAAAAAEE0/fN6pfPP0uGI/s320/eyes+on.jpg

wonder how much food and fresh water they have on board.





http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10014967.html
If you think about it, that Ukrainian ship may be the only thing keeping those particular pirates alive at this point . Don't think they can stray far from it without 'a situation' surfacing.

[MrSlayer]

14. Arrr, it be rough out there for a pirate today.

Although traditional pirates were usually smarter than this. It's against logic to take a prize and attempt to ransom it off to it's owner. Pirates generally either kill everyone that they do not press, loot the ship and burn it or they kill everyone who will not turn pirate and take the prize with them to a safe port. This current situation is an example of poor pirating. You never want to expose yourself like this if you want to be an outlaw. Now the government is practically begging someone to come and bomb you and you have nowhere to go. And the prize they took, 30 tanks, you need to have buyer set up for this type of thing. A drug lord or something. It seems to me that these guys just hit this target at random and got big ideas. They're all going to end up dead behind this.

[KillCapitalism]

15. These pirates need to be dealt with.

We should send a few Navy cruisers & destroyers off the African coast to sink these pirates before they hijack ships.

[ohio2007]

16. Somali pirates say they will fight commando raid

Somali pirates say they will fight commando raid

snip

""Anyone who tries to attack us or deceive us will face bad repercussions,"" the pirates' spokesman, Sugule Ali, told The Associated Press by satellite telephone from the Ukrainian ship MV Faina.

Ali sounded calm and relaxed despite being surrounded by a half dozen U.S. Navy vessels and buzzed by American helicopters.

snip

Ali said the pirates planned to release the ship with crew and cargo intact after receiving the $20 million ransom they have demanded. They seized it Sept. 25 and are now anchored off the coast of central Somalia.

""We have nothing to do with insurgents or terrorist organizations. We only need money,"" he said. ""We would never reduce the ransom.""

snip

A proposed UN resolution took aim at high-seas lawlessness. The French-drafted plan calls on all countries with a stake in maritime safety to send ships and aircraft to fight piracy off Somalia, according to a draft obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Ali specifically warned against the type of raids carried out twice this year by French commandos to recover hijacked vessels.

snip

The Faina standoff will probably be resolved with a ransom payment like nearly 30 other hijackings this year......

""In some of these instances pirates have held out for almost two months,"" Middleton told the AP. ""They know how to wait things out. I think the likeliest conclusion to this, and the swiftest, is the payment of ransom.


snip



http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=179127

Shipping companies need to chum the shipping lanes with pirate bait put on vessels transiting the area



or

pay tribute.

jmo