Comments on: Yet Another Pirate Attack near Somalia

By: ComingAnarchy.com » Blog Archive » Somalia Piracy Followup

ComingAnarchy.com » Blog Archive » Somalia Piracy Followup — Sat, 03 May 2008 04:35:27 +0000

[...] I discussed the most recept pirate attack in Somalia’s territorial waters and asked a series of questions about possible responses to it. My questions have been [...]

By: IJ

IJ — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:54:41 +0000

Curzon, you mention the sea off Somalia. Your post on the Arctic heralded some of the international conflict likely from US hostility to international rules.

By: Curzon

Curzon — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:37:24 +0000

IJ: Interesting question. If the country harbouring the ‘pirates’ refuses to sign up to international order, such as the UN Law of the Seas, anything goes.

I beg to differ—recent pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia were dealt with swiftly by the US navy with prejudice. Somalia’s participation or lack there of was not even on the radar screen.

Chirol: Will other countries finally chip in navally, or at least financially or is it not yet financially worthwhile?

It would seem unlikely, as long as America is happy to fill the vacuum as world policeman.

By: IJ

IJ — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:16:13 +0000

It surely can’t be only the inability to explain US hostility to the United Nations and international rules that so disturbs bristlecone. Even the selective socialism and $44 trillion of off-balance sheet liabilities or the unusual war accounting. It must be America’s love affair with war.

By: bristlecone

bristlecone — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:45:08 +0000

I can think of a defenSe, but, again, you are not worth my time. Buh-BYE.

By: IJ

IJ — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:30:12 +0000

Bristlecone still can’t think of a defence. Only abuse.
Until the hostility to the UN and international rules changes, we’re likely to continue with a system of ‘might makes right’. Foreign Affairs were right to warn of such an attitude.

By: bristlecone

bristlecone — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:56:31 +0000

No, but it is the only defense I think you are worth.

Now shaddap and let the grownups talk.

By: IJ

IJ — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 08:46:02 +0000

So that’s the only defence ‘bristlecone’ can come up with. No wonder the US is in trouble.

Until the hostility to the UN and international rules changes, we’re likely to continue with a system of ‘might makes right’. Foreign Affairs warned of this at the start of the year.

By: bristlecone

bristlecone — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:06:29 +0000

OK, IJ, we get the point. The United States is Satan.

Now, can you quit posting until you have something to say?

By: IJ

IJ — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:14:14 +0000

Interesting question. If the country harbouring the ‘pirates’ refuses to sign up to international order, such as the UN Law of the Seas, anything goes.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:52:24 +0000

Question in my mind is, how much can actually be done to eliminate piracy without control of the land where the pirates shelter?

By: IJ

IJ — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:54:31 +0000

Will other countries finally chip in navally, or at least financially?
Unlikely in view of the US attitude at present. From today’s Guardian America atavistic love affair with war

By: IJ

IJ — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:41:40 +0000

Will other countries finally chip in navally, or at least financially?
Unlikely in view of the US attitude at present to multilateralism. Younghusband links to early international progress – some African, Middle Eastern and Asian nations agree that piracy in the Indian Ocean should somehow be tackled. But security elsewhere on the high seas, especially in the Straits of Hormuz and Malacca, is also a concern.
On the suggestion that the rest of the world is socialist, the banking crisis is showing that the United States is socialist too (but selectively). And I heard last week that the US disguises its socialism by putting $44 trillion of liabilities off-balance sheet, never mind the unusual war accounting.

By: Younghusband

Younghusband — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:02:11 +0000

See EagleSpeak: Planning begins to fight Indian Ocean piracy.

By: Kurt9

Kurt9 — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:13:33 +0000

What is the reason for the shipping companies to not hire mercenaries to protect their ships? This strikes me as an obvious market for the likes of Blackwater, Triple-Canopy, and other private military organizations. Also, I understand that there are many mercenaries available for hire in South Africa.

This seems to me the obvious solution to the problem of piracy, both off the horn of Africa as well as the Straits of Malacca, which is another pirate-infested shipping lane.

The U.S. has not signed the UN LOST treaty, but does actually abide by all parts of it, except for Part XI. The problem with Part XI is that it is relic of the cold war when socialism was still in vogue. The fact that the U.N. has failed to get rid of Part XI is illustrative of the inept bureaucracy that the UN has become.

If the UN dropped Part XI, the U.S. would sign the treaty today. The fault lies with the UN, not the U.S.

By: IJ

IJ — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:38:11 +0000

Are the United States near to signing the UN’s ‘Convention on the Law of the Sea’?
One reason for refusing was said to be that the United Nations agreement impinged unacceptably on the sovereignty of the United States.
Until the hostility to the UN and international rules changes, we’re likely to continue with a system of ‘might makes right’. Foreign Affairs warned of this at the start of the year.

By: Wagar

Wagar — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:50:02 +0000

Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution gives Congress the power to “...grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water…”

Letters of marque. Yep, there’s your contractors going after pirates.