A lopsided standoff in the Indian Ocean seems to only be getting tenser by the hour. A small lifeboat holding four pirates with machine guns and an American hostage face off against a 780 million dollar Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer. These outlaws, from the ‘safety’ of their dead-in-the-water life boat, are demanding 2.5 million dollars for the safe release of their captive. Reports say that one of the pirates, speaking to the mainland via a satellite phone, has said that they are not afraid of the Americans and will retaliate if attacked.
Retaliate if attacked? Isn’t that what the USS Bainbridge should be doing right now, retaliate?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the United States didn’t raid a pirate-crewed ship in international waters with the intent of taking hostages and hijacking cargo.
The longer the United States sits, the more we look more like fools. This impotent display will surely welcome more pirate attacks on American vessels. These people do not respect restraint. This will definitely be construed as weakness.
What happened when the American hostage, Captain Richard Phillips, jumped overboard in the wee hours of the morning? I realize that reports are still sketchy surrounding the matter, but why didn’t we open fire on the pirates the moment their hostage was (at least temporarily) out of their control? Why are we holding back on using lethal force with these pirates? They clearly are not interested in the safety or well-being of any of the people on the over 50 vessels (six successful hijackings in the last week alone) they’ve tried to raid in the last four months. Why should we be concerned with theirs?
They are essentially bank robbers, except the banks they rob are out of everyone’s jurisdiction. They are essentially kidnappers, except they ransom these captives from a place where no legal authority exists.
