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| Africa Horn |
| HANG 'EM HIGH! |
| 2009-04-12 |
| by Ralph Peters For a young Somali, piracy's a glamorous profession, the local equivalent of being a Manhattan hedge-fund manager a few years back: His risk is minimal, the rewards are huge - and there's no punishment for pillaging other people's wealth. If there's no serious penalty for lucrative bad behavior, the bad behavior will spread. That's the story of Somalia's Skull and Bones club. Coping with pirates is also simple. We make it hard by agonizing over the "human rights" of these seagoing terrorists. This week, as a powerful US warship loomed over a bobbing lifeboat, FBI negotiators begged for understanding from thugs who had attacked a ship flying our flag. The correct approach would have been to lower boats with armed sailors and take the Somalis, dead or alive. Historically, civilized nations understood how to handle pirates: When captured, pirates were hanged. When found, their bases were destroyed. That worked. But threatening to put one pirate in a thousand in a posh European cell where he gets free visits from a prostitute isn't much of a deterrent when a single successful raid on a ship can bring in millions of dollars. Yeah, "citizens of the world" will cry that "You can't just hang pirates!" Sure you can. It's easy. If you're short of rope, wire will do. The only serious question arises once the noose is around the pirate's throat: Should we drop him over the side and let the rope snap his neck, or raise him up on a spar and let him suffocate slowly? |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #6 VARIOUS MSM NEWS > seems PIRACY is still good for attracting the SOMALI = LOCAL BABES??? D *** NG IT, CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW gets to nail/marry KEIRA KNIGHTLEY - "YAAARRRRRR, ABAST YE BABES"!? Who knew? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-04-12 19:53 |
| #5 Tis a glorious thing to be a pirate king. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2009-04-12 15:45 |
| #4 "Historically, civilized nations understood how to handle pirates" Unless they gave them Letters of marque, of course. Or made them governors of Jamaica. Or let them sleep with the English Queen And of course many pirates just "relieved" Spanish ships of all that gold and silver they had just stolen in Peru. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2009-04-12 15:05 |
| #3 Traditionally, when a pirate ship was captured, it was rigged to slowly sink, then the pirates were hung aboard it, hopefully to be found by their fellows. This served several purposes. First of all, it kept your own decks clean, as it were. Second, the hanged pirates would serve as a message to other pirates. And third, the pirate ship would be unrecoverable by other pirates, so would sink one way or another. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-04-12 13:55 |
| #2 WWBD? He would use public funding to organize the disadvantaged pirate community in a protest of this obvious international racial discrimination. |
| Posted by: USMC6743 2009-04-12 13:53 |
| #1 But Glen, you must ask yourself the Southside, Chicago community organizer question......What Would Barry Do (WWBD)? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-04-12 10:17 |