Monday, May 26, 2008
In Grateful Memory...
...to my grandfather and three uncles who served and are no longer with us, and to all their now-resting brothers in arms who loved the idea that is America.
Better men than me left us a great treasure. I pledge to do what I can to honor their memory and their sacrifice, and to keep it from being compromised, squandered or stolen.
Better men than me left us a great treasure. I pledge to do what I can to honor their memory and their sacrifice, and to keep it from being compromised, squandered or stolen.
A Pirate's Life For Me Redux
Mariners are being warned of a growing threat from pirates around the world after attacks on shipping rose by 20 per cent over the last year.And unsurprisingly:
Four of the six Somali pirates arrested for kidnapping a French luxury yacht are related to Somali President Abdullah Yusuf Ahmed, the French weekly Le Point reported Monday on its website.We're dealing with Barbary pirates--aided, abetted, harbored, and in many cases directed by corrupt thugocracies. Commodore Decatur showed us how to deal with that, but I guess the lesson has been forgotten.
Somalia is particularly interesting because of the pervasive and longstanding UN effort there. So what do the globalists at the International Maritime Organization suggest doing about piracy in international waters?
The following is from "A Pirate's Life for Me!," one of my GUNS & AMMO columns from 2002:
Hoses against weapons. Trembling behind hatches. Everything but standing up on your sea-legs and fighting. How about just opening fire on them?It seems to me we're missing a lemons-out-of-lemonade opportunity here, to not only take care of the problem, but to turn it into a profitable bounty-hunting/ship capturing venture. Perhaps if privateers operated under Letters of Marque and Reprisal when American interests are involved...
The IMO's Captain Hartmut Hesse says armed guards on ships "will only increase violence, it will not deter the pirates."
The IMO guide Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships, cautions "The carrying and use of firearms ... is strongly discouraged. [It] may encourage attackers to carry firearms thereby escalating an already dangerous situation, and any firearms on board may themselves become an attractive target for an attacker. The use of firearms requires special training and aptitudes and the risk of accidents... is great."
...Agreeing with Captain Hesse, and chastising Lloyd's List for editorially suggesting otherwise, is Captain John Dalby of Marine Risk Management, a "maritime asset recovery and protection" company. While admitting "It is the sailors... who are being kidnaped, beached, set adrift ... or summarily killed," he warns that "only tragedy will result from inexperienced people trying to fight fire with fire. Leave intervention and reaction to those who are best equipped and trained for it."
This Day in History: May 26
A British Navel surgeon visits an American encampment and notes that the Americans are "a drunken, canting, lying, praying, hypocritical rabble without order."Which really ought to give us hope, if you think about it.