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At Sixes and Sevens · 04-10-2009, 08:27 PM

I'm going to jump on my soapbox right now for a few minutes. Sorry to do this but I feel like I need to go on a good rant right now.

We have all heard the news stories going on with the pirates that tried to overtake that American shipping vessel off the coast of Somalia. The captain of the ship, who gave himself up for the safety of his crew, is being held hostage on a lifeboat (which is out of gas) in the middle of the Gulf of Aden. The USS Bainbridge and other US Navy ships are on scene and as close as 500 feet from the lifeboat. It has been over 48 hours and we have gotten no where. The pirates are sending in reinforcements and are planning on making a run for the coast. We just sit idly and twiddle our thumbs.

I can point the blame at a lot of people in this situation. The two people at the top of my list is President Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It has been over 48 hours, Mr. President, what are we going to do? Are you going to let these 4-5 jagoffs take an American hostage and hold off entire WARSHIPS with nothing more than small arms for two days?!? Are you going let them go? The French military just recently (yesterday or today) went in and took over a yacht that was overtaken by pirates in the same region. The French have balls and we don't.

George W. Bush was criticized for him spending 8 minutes in a classroom reading to children after being informed of the first attack on 9/11. Where is the criticism now for Obama when it has been nearly three days and we have yet to see any kind of action taken? We are going soft and right now is not the time to go soft. This story right now is just going to inspire more and more piracy acts in the near future. It's already gotten out of hand, but it's about to get a lot worse after this debacle.

Which leads me to my next rant. What is the United States going to do about all these pirate attacks? The U.S. Navy (MY U.S. Navy :rolf: ) claims we operate for the purpose of providing free and safe travels for any vessel across the seven seas. We justify the billions and billions we spend a year on these ship deployments across the globe as "physical deterrent and to assure freedom of the seas". There is no other region right now that needs that presence than the horn of Africa. So why isn't the Navy making more of an effort to confront and counter act these kind of attacks?

This is the United States Navy. We are the most powerful Navy in the entire world. Ever since the last World War, the Navy has been in somewhat of an identity crisis mode. We don't have large naval battles anymore. We don't need these ships to transport all these materials and troops anymore. The Navy has been rather lost over the past decade or so. The rise in pirate acts over the past few years should bring in the forefront of the new Navy's agenda. This is a concern and threat to national and global security that the U.S. Navy can specialize in. Yet I don't see any kind of effort or even a mention that the Navy plans on making anti-piracy missions a large part of it's gameplan.

It's not the Nay's fault. They are ill-equipped to effectively patrol the Gulf of Aden and the surrounding waters. Our smallest ships, frigates, aren't small enough to be successful in such missions. We don't have enough ships to patrol that large of an area, that tightly. It is a problem they have but I don't see them trying to come up with an alternative.

We have mobile security force teams that specialize in deployable, security team measures. Why not start training all of those units in anti-piracy? You could slowly start forming units specifically designed for those missions. Even if you can only put one or two units out there at a time that would be better than what we have right now. Our ships would be within range to respond to pirate attacks in a day rather than two or three. They would be trained and ready to handle these matters. It wouldn't be a cluster**** of FBI officials and big government brass. I don't think anyone really knows what we are doing out there right now and all that's doing is making us and everyone who sails the Horn of Africa that much more vulnerable.

We need to take action and these attacks. This is an important shipping lane for many nations and allowing these scumbags to interfere in it and get away with millions is passim.

/rant

04-10-2009, 08:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
At Sixes and Sevens Groupie Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Yorktown, VA Posts: 19	Pirates I'm going to jump on my soapbox right now for a few minutes. Sorry to do this but I feel like I need to go on a good rant right now. We have all heard the news stories going on with the pirates that tried to overtake that American shipping vessel off the coast of Somalia. The captain of the ship, who gave himself up for the safety of his crew, is being held hostage on a lifeboat (which is out of gas) in the middle of the Gulf of Aden. The USS Bainbridge and other US Navy ships are on scene and as close as 500 feet from the lifeboat. It has been over 48 hours and we have gotten no where. The pirates are sending in reinforcements and are planning on making a run for the coast. We just sit idly and twiddle our thumbs. I can point the blame at a lot of people in this situation. The two people at the top of my list is President Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It has been over 48 hours, Mr. President, what are we going to do? Are you going to let these 4-5 jagoffs take an American hostage and hold off entire WARSHIPS with nothing more than small arms for two days?!? Are you going let them go? The French military just recently (yesterday or today) went in and took over a yacht that was overtaken by pirates in the same region. The French have balls and we don't. George W. Bush was criticized for him spending 8 minutes in a classroom reading to children after being informed of the first attack on 9/11. Where is the criticism now for Obama when it has been nearly three days and we have yet to see any kind of action taken? We are going soft and right now is not the time to go soft. This story right now is just going to inspire more and more piracy acts in the near future. It's already gotten out of hand, but it's about to get a lot worse after this debacle. Which leads me to my next rant. What is the United States going to do about all these pirate attacks? The U.S. Navy (MY U.S. Navy :rolf: ) claims we operate for the purpose of providing free and safe travels for any vessel across the seven seas. We justify the billions and billions we spend a year on these ship deployments across the globe as "physical deterrent and to assure freedom of the seas". There is no other region right now that needs that presence than the horn of Africa. So why isn't the Navy making more of an effort to confront and counter act these kind of attacks? This is the United States Navy. We are the most powerful Navy in the entire world. Ever since the last World War, the Navy has been in somewhat of an identity crisis mode. We don't have large naval battles anymore. We don't need these ships to transport all these materials and troops anymore. The Navy has been rather lost over the past decade or so. The rise in pirate acts over the past few years should bring in the forefront of the new Navy's agenda. This is a concern and threat to national and global security that the U.S. Navy can specialize in. Yet I don't see any kind of effort or even a mention that the Navy plans on making anti-piracy missions a large part of it's gameplan. It's not the Nay's fault. They are ill-equipped to effectively patrol the Gulf of Aden and the surrounding waters. Our smallest ships, frigates, aren't small enough to be successful in such missions. We don't have enough ships to patrol that large of an area, that tightly. It is a problem they have but I don't see them trying to come up with an alternative. We have mobile security force teams that specialize in deployable, security team measures. Why not start training all of those units in anti-piracy? You could slowly start forming units specifically designed for those missions. Even if you can only put one or two units out there at a time that would be better than what we have right now. Our ships would be within range to respond to pirate attacks in a day rather than two or three. They would be trained and ready to handle these matters. It wouldn't be a cluster**** of FBI officials and big government brass. I don't think anyone really knows what we are doing out there right now and all that's doing is making us and everyone who sails the Horn of Africa that much more vulnerable. We need to take action and these attacks. This is an important shipping lane for many nations and allowing these scumbags to interfere in it and get away with millions is passim. /rant