Security analysts and the Somali government are publicly flirting with the idea of hiring mercenaries to stop the pirates that are terrorizing east Africa. Now, the notorious guns-for-fire at Blackwater are responding to the call, with a resounding arrrr!!!!!Concerns with Blackwater domestic operations notwithstanding, I find a free market solution interesting. As long as there's no problem proving the scalps and ears turned in for the bounty are righteously harvested...and all the controls are in place to prevent abuses and ensure protection of the innocent that that implies.
Without it, what's to stop some enterprising mercenary from shanghaiing a crew, placing them on a stolen vessel, blowing it to hell and then collecting a reward? I mean, it's not like we're dealing with professors of ethics here. And what's the saying, "Dead men tell no tales"...?
[Via David H]
Once the U.N. withdrew, a relative peace developed in Somalia.
ReplyDeletegovernment and foreign government intervention the problem and anarchy the solution? who woulda thunk it.
actually, now that i think about it, what's preventing them from doing that is probably: their pay.
ReplyDeletesort of like how you pay a CEO enough that he won't find it more profitable to scam investors with questionable accounting and such, sell his options and bust out of a sinking ship.
you can raise a lot of questions, like: what if someone else pays more? well, try to find a question like that where someone at blackwater doesn't suddenly have to make a moral decision. then explain to me how intervention will "make (read: force) them do the right thing" and the market won't, without using a circular "force for force's sake" argument. ain't happenin'. you want something, you gotta buy it.
you want outsourced force, you're entering into a shady world where you could get burned. and don't forget that the people burning you are the ones going around burning others -- they're already in a still shadier (black as night?) world. they aren't going to need punishment in this life, just a deterrance to leave the moms and the babies alone.
the market works, people fail. that's why we have guns.
I'd buy that for a dollar! (sarcasm) The common execution of mercenaries who murder innocents is....drum roll.....starvation. Going on a life ending diet impresses any copycats. That, or the ole' rat cage strapped to the face. Cruel and unusual? How about what they have intended for us? The only way to discourage this kind is to be nastier than they are.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna disagree with Sean.
ReplyDeleteNo trial, no hoopla, just execute them quickly, and dump the bodies overboard.
Repeat until the pirate problem is no more.
How quickly the "pirate hunters" become indistinguishable from the "pirates". Especially with such an ethically challenged group such as Blackwater.
ReplyDeleteHarrr! So, the Blackwater crew be sailin' the high seas fer adventure, eh? Be they privateers or be they pirates, no scurvier sea dogs ever set sail! Harrr!
ReplyDeleteO.K., so Talk like a Pirate Day is one of my favorites!
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I love folks who refuse to read history. This was tried, IIRC, in Madagascar, and the mercs ended up running the country.
ReplyDeleteOf course, in the case of Somalia, this would be an improvement.
Chef, I'd go for that method too, as long as they were shot point blank in the face.
ReplyDelete