Somali pirates attacked the ship with automatic weapons early Wednesday about 350 nautical miles east of the Somali coast, but guards on board the craft fired back and thwarted the attempted hijacking. [More]Gosh, who could have ever predicted that would work?
Still, I wish they'd stop calling them "pirates."
I believe the approved non-judgmental term is "voluntary coast guards."
[Via The Bitter Clinger]
8 comments:
When they attack and sack Charlestown, like they did in olden times, The Ozombie will sprint for a microphone and tell us not to rush to judgement about the ethnicity and aims of the pirates. Then, like at the grotesquery in Ft. Hood, morons can CHEER him as he arrives at a funeral service.
Armed self-defense works, yet the International Maritime Community still says to rely on the cops (Navy). Thank Heaven that the Maersk thumbed their noses at the IMC and got armed guards.
You miss the fact that it was special "only ones" who handled the arms.
"though private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship repelled the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device."
Had regular ol' folks used them the press would be singing the tune to titanic I suppose.
hey, if they want to "own the coast," let them! they can be the voluntary coast guard; that's still no justification for crimes like these.
when the u.s. dollar is worthless there isn't going to be a u.s. coast guard anymore. we'll find we need our own voluntary efforts. and when we make decisions to arrest real actual intruders, how will the rest of the world react? maybe invaders really do use somali coasts in ways the coastal residents don't appreciate. if we'd use intelligence and offered to help, maybe they'd have told us, "no, we don't protect anyone, we just hijack boats and take prisoners." if you live by the sword in the first place, you're probably not smart enough to hold those cards close to your chest.
remember, nobody owns the sea. those who try to conquer it, find it conquers them. the best you can hope for is just stewardship.
It's piracy when it's not done by government employees. It's the sort of like that definition of terrorist: a man with a bomb but no airplane.
"Still, I wish they'd stop calling them "pirates.""
Somali tax collectors?
Under the category of "It's a small world", Capt. Rochford, the current captain of the Maersk Alabama, is a Massachusetts Maritime Academy classmate of Capt. Phillips, who was captain during the last pirate attack on the ship. As MMA only graduates 50 students at a time, it would appear that Maersk does value the MMA education.
Gosh, who could have ever predicted that would work?
well, only the sane people.
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