What a strange world we live in now. In the old days, piracy in the Mediterranean drove up the price of goods due to the increased costs of bribes to the local costal kings in the Magreb. Merchant vessels that flew under flags that paid the bribes received a free pass, while others that did not were subject to attack:
American ships sailing in the Mediterranean chose to travel close to larger convoys of other European powers who had bribed the pirates. Payments in ransom and tribute to the Barbary states amounted to 20% of United States government annual revenues in 1800… After some serious debate, the United States Navy was born in March 1794. Six frigates were authorized, and so began the construction of the United States, the Constellation, the Constitution and three other frigates.
Now, another coastline wracked with anarchy has given birth to piracy, which seems to equally affect global trade. Pirates shot a rocket at a Japanese oil tanker off the coast of Yemen, which promptly shook global oil prices:
Oil reached a record $117.40 a barrel at one stage yesterday, dragging up the price of gas to a new peak, amid concerns about crude supplies after a Japanese tanker was attacked in the Middle East and militants blew up a Royal Dutch Shell pipeline in Nigeria.
The civilized world seems to have reacted to this:
UNITED NATIONS – The United States and France are drafting a U.N. resolution that would allow countries to chase and arrest pirates off Somalia’s coast, responding to a spate of attacks including this week’s hijacking of a Spanish tuna boat, U.N. diplomats said Monday.
France’s U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said the resolution would authorize foreign governments pursue pirate vessels into territorial waters, make arrests, and prosecute suspects.
“We want to do it fast, but it could take one or two weeks because it has to be by consensus — it’s not confrontational,” he told the Associated Press.
Consensus used to be that pirates were hanged. I see no reason for that to change because of the number of years between today and 1778.
Correct me if I’m wrong,
These incidents have been going on since….
well since Clinton pulled us out of the region after the bloody nose his wag the dog admin. got. Just like Carter in Iran oh so many years ago. The chickens do come home to roost do they not? In the peanut farmer’s case, the chickens are about to lay Nuc Eggs!
Snerk
In my opinion if we start hanging pirates we run the risk of engendering even more violence on the part of those who do not wish to die; they’d rather die fighting.
At least that’s one possibility. I for one would like to see them hang as well.
I, for one, would like to see more Captain Jack Sparrow jokes.
Pirates, terrorists… What’s the differance?
DWD -
Terrorists don’t shout, “Arrrrrrrrgh!”
Down to the depths with whoever invented parlay!
Sir Charles,
To rip without remorse from the ACE’s header.. “Even Normal Men At times want to spit in their hands, hoist the Black Flag and Slit some throats”. I from this day will never use the phrase PC since the SECSTATE wishes to remove the term JAY-HAD-ISTS from this nation’s lexicon. A test ballon to guage the pulse of CONS? On the heels of some nameless Gov. from some nameless state telling some MSM tools that we should just GET over REAGAN? Hmmmmm, smells like….(insert vile ofactory history HERE!) and feel free to use NON-PC verbal bootage to kick it into the proper 3D form…and smell!
venting….
I just wannna vote for the right man to lead this country in these difficult and dangerous times. But will ya look at what we have to choose FROM??? Have we as a country really come to this? Where are the LEADERS in this sorry bunch? The curse of the shiftless “What about ME?” boomers has come to roost. Now what? NOW WHAT??
Historically this matter of Pirates was met in two ways. In the Carribean, the powers there (France and England) finally put a plan together and relentlessly pursued the pirates on land and sea and ended the scourge by destroying them one ship and crew at a time, even pursuing them for hundreds of miles on occasion.
President Jefferson solved it for the U.S. by sending the navy (without formal declaration of war by the way) to the Mediteranean. It was finished with action at sea and by invading tripoli by land and making the pirates government understand they could be killed to. He also had to make a few “freindly” western governments understand that we wouldn’t abide a proxy war with them siccing pirates on our shipping.
I say let’s declare open season on ‘em. Hell, it’ll give the surface and sub guys something to do besides lobbing the occasional cruise missile at something. I mean, it’s going on sixty plus years since an American sub crew could tie a broom to their periscope coming into port.
We pay enough for the damn things… as a taxpayer, I demand to see what a Mk-48 can do to one of these shitty pirate dhows.
My Kids scatter to bed, kiss to the Dad, and this is going to be a tough post.Who are we to elect this go a round? Are we going for the Marxist drift REAL? Please, not now, not EVER! But this could be the play with the MSM cover. 20 years of no focus on who is teaching in the brain tanks of the university.s We the Baby Boomer.s are reapin what we sow’d. Just sayin….