As you are probably aware if you have been following the news at all there was an American ship off the Eastern coast of Africa that was attacked by Somali pirates last week. The pirates boarded and then the crew fought them off for awhile. Eventually the Captain gave himself up as a hostage so crew could go free. The captain was held hostage in a lifeboat surrounded by the US Navy for nearly 5 days before being rescued when his life was deemed in immediate danger and Navy snipers took out 3 of the pirates while one had already surrundered earlier for medical treatment after his hand, which had been wounded inthe inital vessel capture, had become infected. The goal was not to kill the pirates, but to capture them unharmed as was made abundantly clear numerous times. However, if Captain Phillip’s life was in danger they were authorized, by President Obama, to use lethal force. The pirates were being very threatening to Phillips, one of them pointing their weapon at him and they were talking very aggressively so the order was given to the SEAL snipers to shoot the pirates. They made 3 shots that were quite precise taking all 3 out.
A couple comments:
- Though I overall I disagree with a great many of President Obama’s policies and ideals, I think he made the right decision in this instance and I applaude him for that. I personally was afraid he might pull a Carter and sort of commit, but not really, and cause a huge gaff. However, he made a firm decision to use force to protect an American citizen and American shipping interests, interstingly the last time America attacked maritime maruaders was when Thomas Jefferson ordered the Marines to attack the Barbary Pirates at Tripoli in the early 19th century(Which ended up turning out well).
- I also am happy that, at least apparently, the way things were done the Navy was given authorization and allowed to make their own decision without to much meddling from “higher-ups”.
- There tend to be fewer ships flying an American flag, even if crewed by Americans and owned by an American company, than many other countries because of a large number, possibly excessive though I am not well versed in these things, of regulations and such that are costly and take a lot fo time. This however is one very good reason to be flying an American flag, you have the United States Navy far more readily available and likely to help when things go wrong.
- This alone is by no means going to stop the pirate action along the Somali coast, that would require a mixture of more forces and a stable government in Somlia to crack down on the land that has been lawless for two decades and to allow for legitimate business operations so the people can support themselves.
- While it may not stop all pirating and attacks, I think this is very important to show that America means business and will fight to protect her shipping interests and citizens and that you don’t mess with America if you want to live. It is that respect that has helped America in her wealth over the years. This is also an extremely heavy factor in why the U.S. Dollar is the international currency that people and nations invest in when they want something that is incredibly stable and safe(or at least has been in the past). The military might(and willingness) along with a stable economy and stable government are things that have made the U.S. Dollar accepted worldwide for years, hopefully that might continue though I fear that may not be the case.
- I think this ties in very closely with the War on Terror. It was absolutely necessary to do something after 9/11 to show that you can’t blatantly attack America and get away with it, unfortunately through many things from many sides, that I will by no means attempt to discuss here, it has drug on for a long time and will probably still take some time to finish out in Iraq and Afghanistan satisfactorily.
- There is now talk of possible plans for more military action in the region, possibly helping the current Somali government. While the violence there is bad, and might need military ships guarding things, I think any sort of broad military operation would not be good right now. Besides the fact the military can’t handle it since they are stretched thin over Afghanistan and Iraq, partly because of huge budget cuts in the 90s, I don’t think the American public would like it, and it would turn into a long term commitment to help stabilize and rebuild the government that we honestly don’t need more of right at this time.
So those are some thoughts on this recent International incident that has so far ended happily and hopefully will not cause a large escalation in violence in that region.
For more information regarding the Somali pirate incident you can Google it or here are a few articles I found real quick:
Somali Pirate article from the LA Times.
Hopps
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