A Lot More Pirates Where Those Came From

Even if all captured pirates were hung from the yardarms, how long would it take to end the problem of piracy on the high seas? Forever! Since more potential pirates are being made every day than would conceivably be hung every year, the piracy problem would never be solved by summary executions.Image SourceSomalia is the source of most of the Indian Ocean pirates who prey on freighters, tankers, cruise ships, and even fishing boats. Some companies have gotten smart and hired well-trained security crews.

Six men in a small, white Zodiac-type boat approached the Msc Melody at about 1730 GMT Saturday and opened fire with automatic weapons, Msc Cruises director Domenico Pellegrino said. They retreated after the security officers returned fire and sprayed them with water hoses. The ship continued its journey with its windows darkened.

"It felt like we were in war," the ships commander, Ciro Pinto, told Italian state radio.

None of the roughly 1,000 passengers and 500 crew members was hurt, Pellegrino said. The passengers were asked to return to their cabins and the external lights on board turned off.

Pellegrino said all Msc cruise ships around the world are staffed with Israeli security agents because they are the best trained.

The attack occurred about 200 miles (325 kilometers) north of the Seychelles, and about 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of Somalia, according to the anti-piracy flotilla headquarters of the Maritime Security Center Horn of Africa. _Yahoo

Image SourceA brief look at Yemen's population pyramid suggests that Yemen may well be the next big source of Indian Ocean pirates. In fact, pirates are already using islands just off the coast of Yemen as forward bases.

When I traveled the Saudi-Yemen border some years back, it was crowded with pickup trucks filled with armed young men, loyal to this sheikh or that, while the presence of the Yemeni government was negligible. Mud-brick battlements hid the encampments of these rebellious sheikhs, some with their own artillery. Estimates of the number of firearms in Yemen vary, but any Yemeni who wants a weapon can get one easily. Meanwhile, groundwater supplies will last no more than a generation or two.

I’ll never forget what a U.S. military expert told me in the capital, Sanaa: “Terrorism is an entrepreneurial activity, and in Yemen you’ve got over 20 million aggressive, commercial-minded, and well-armed people, all extremely hard-working compared with the Saudis next door. It’s the future, and it terrifies the hell out of the government in Riyadh.” The future of teeming, tribal Yemen will go a long way to determining the future of Saudi Arabia. And geography, not ideas, has everything to do with it. _RobertKaplan_via_ComingAnarchy

The "zones of lawlessness" are growing ever wider -- propelled by the demographic explosion of the third world, and abetted by the demographic implosion of the first world. Now that Barak Obama is the leader of the western world, the defenses are down and the gates are thrown wide open. The machinery of freedom and the marketplace begins to rust of neglect. Third world entropy swarms the half-built barricades.

Stand By to Repel Boarders! 10 Hi Tech Ways

"Standard maritime doctrine is that crews should not resist once boarders are on deck," he says. "The [Somali] pirates are really just after the ransom money, so it's best to keep things as calm as possible." _Source

In today's politically correct world, using deadly force to repel pirates is simply not done -- at least in polite international maritime company. That means that politically correct captains and crew must find non-lethal means to repel unwelcome guests on the high seas. Here are a few:

Fire hoses. The simplest way to repel boarders is to train high-pressure hoses on them. Spraying them straight down the sides of the ship at bad guys trying to climb aboard usually works. But there's a catch — if there's more baddies standing in the speedboats aiming guns at the crew, then you have to give up.

Remote-controlled fire hoses. To get around that logistical problem, several companies market high-pressure water cannons that can wash pirates overboard without exposing anyone to enemy fire.

Molotov cocktails. If ships' crews aren't given weapons, they can always make their own. In December, Somali pirates shadowed the Zhenhua 4, a Chinese cargo ship, for days, giving its crew ample time to prepare a stockpile of Molotov cocktails using empty beer bottles.

The baddies got on board, but the crew used the homemade bombs and fire hoses to fend them off for six hours, enough time for Malaysian Navy helicopters to show up and scare the pirates away.

Sonic weapons. In November 2005, the cruise ship Seabourn Spirit in the western Indian Ocean fended off pirate speedboats, partly by blasting them with an long range acoustic device (LRAD), which is designed to cause painful level of sound up to 300 meters away. (The Seabourn Spirit also ran over one of the speedboats.)

Slippery foam. Boat decks are wet places. Somali pirates are often barefoot. Hence the need for what the acronym-happy Marine Corps calls its Mobility Denial System (MDS), also known as Non-Lethal Slippery Foam (NLSF) or Anti-Traction Material (ATM).

Basically, it's water, drilling-mud additive (used for boreholes) and a flocculent, an electrically charged suspension of solids that makes liquids even more slippery. No one's actually deployed this stuff yet, but a few serious squirts would send pirates sliding around helplessly like happy penguins on an ice floe.

Rubber bullets. Riot police typically fire non-lethal projectiles from real guns, which wouldn't be allowed on many ships. But high-powered air guns could fire plastic or rubber bullets almost as easily, causing pain if not serious injury to boarders hit in the torso or limbs. Head shots could cause injury or even death, however, and there's always the chance they could be used in a mutiny.

Electric fencing. At least one company sells a high-voltage fence that sticks horizontally outward from a ship's sides, zapping any would-be boarders like so many wayward cattle.

"Only a few [ships have that] so far," says Quick. "I don't know if it's worked or not. In the long run, nothing will against a persistent group of pirates."

Nets. In the same way that police lay out nail strips to stop speeding cars, ships could launch small nets into the water to entangle the propellers of the pirate speedboats. The Coast Guard and the Dept. of Defense are testing these by dropping these from helicopters, but it's possible smaller versions could be launched from the stern of a cargo ship using the sort of catapults that launch clay pigeons in skeet shooting.

Blinding weapons. Airline pilots already deal with jokers who shine laser pointers into the cockpits of landing planes. Pirates might have to face the Dazzle Gun, a futuristic-looking laser rifle designed by the Air Force that temporarily blinds adversaries who get too close to bases and personnel.

The pain ray. The Air Force had fun a couple of year ago bringing reporters to a test facility at Moody Air Force base in Georgia and zapping them with the Active Denial System, a truck-mounted weapon that focuses a tight beam of electromagnetic waves on your skin.

Basically, it's like sticking your hand in a microwave oven. It's nonlethal and very painful. There's a smaller version as well that's effective up to 500 yards, which might work against pirates coming up to a ship. _FoxNews

A final, top-secret method of repelling pirates is related to the blinding weapons mentioned above. A highly trained maritime model, such as the one pictured to the left, will use a secret tooth-whitening agent [advertisement] prior to every voyage. As soon as pirates approach the ship, the model will release a dazzling smile, temporarily blinding the pirates and allowing the ship and crew to escape. Amazingly enough, the method works in either direct sunlight or overcast -- even at night. All that is required is for a small LED-style flashlight to be directed at the maritime model's highly whitened teeth.

Reality Poses Annoying Distraction for Obama

The Reuters headline put it this way: “Pirates Pose Annoying Distraction For Obama.” _Steyn

It is not only pirates that pose an annoying distraction for the clown president. The whole world distracts most annoyingly from the main attraction on the stage, The One, Dear Leader, Messiah for Life.

As it happens, Somali piracy is not a distraction, but a glimpse of the world the day after tomorrow. In my book America Alone, I quote Robert D. Kaplan referring to the lawless fringes of the map as “Indian Territory.” It’s a droll jest but a misleading one, since the very phrase presumes that the badlands will one day be brought within the bounds of the ordered world. In fact, a lot of today’s badlands were relatively ordered not so long ago, and many of them are getting badder and badder by the day.

...According to Chatham House in London, Somali pirates made about $30 million in ransom and booty last year. Thirty mil goes a long way in Somalia, making piracy a very attractive proposition. It’s also a low-risk one. Once upon a time we killed and captured pirates. _Steyn

It is all just so much bother, for Dear Leader. He would much prefer to travel the world giving speeches before large and adoring crowds. The world will get better, just give him time. The world is already a much better place for the Obamas and friends, for George Soros, Goldman Sachs, the Chicago mafia, and the entire web of "Friends and Sponsors of Lord Barry." This year the blossoms bloom brighter, songbirds sing sweeter, and grass grows greener, thanks to The One.

We certainly do not need crews of scurvy pirates distracting from the message, now, do we? Certainly not!

"Bow down and praise The One
Give Him your money and your guns
Build Him a country that makes His Wife proud!
Lord Barry, heal the bitter ones....."

Meeting the Pirate Threat on the High Seas

Piracy is once again a serious threat to world shipping -- even to the leisure cruise industry. Ad hoc approaches to defending a ship from well armed pirates in high speed boats have achieved variable results. Current maritime laws prevent crews from using lethal force against armed invaders. Summary justice on the high seas -- immediate execution -- while effective in earlier ages, is prevented by modern international law.

Here is one non-lethal approach for preparing ships in advance for this threat:

Engineers have modified a firefighting robot to fend off attacks by pirates. It can ‘wash away pirates along with their weapons’ and even sink their boats.

The device is based upon a design for extinguishing fires on seagoing vessels and in ports. It was developed by the Centre of Firefighting Robotechnics in Petrozavodsk, a city in northern Russia.

A total of 12 such robots are needed to protect a ship. In automatic mode the system monitors its sector and if motion sensors detect an attack, a water cannon shoots at an approaching boat. Cameras also allow the robot to be operated manually from the bridge.

The water cannon is powerful enough to wash away boarding pirates and even sink their motorboats.

The manufacturer says a freighter company in Murmansk has ordered a number of their novel robots for testing.

The increased number of attacks in the Gulf of Aden off the African shore has forced several countries, including Russia, to send warships to patrol the troubled waters. _RussiaToday

High pressure salt water might just be the ticket, if properly targeted -- and if the systems are properly maintained. Of course pirates would immediately attempt to develop counter-measures to this new threat to their livelihood.

Interesting question: In the course of defending their ships, would crews be obligated by international law to rescue any pirates that end up thrashing about in shark-infested waters after a failed attempt at piracy?