A recent issue that is all over the news in the past few days is that of Somali pirates. A few days ago these pirates were able to overtake a US cargo ship, capture its captain (Richard Phillips) and take him hostage and have demanded $2 million dollars in exchange for the safe return of the US captain. Ransoms have been requested in previous hijacking efforts and many foreign countries that have dealt with these pirates have opted to pay millions of dollars in ransom money in order to resolve the ordeal safely without involving alternative negotiating strategies or some sort of alternative confrontation. It is speculated that the total of the ransoms that have been paid are in the neighborhood of $30 - $80 million dollars!
I'd like to offer up a different strategy.
My approach, I'm sure, lacks the diplomacy that our goverment would prefer to exercise but when you're dealing with a country and people that have no concept or respect for such, I think you deal in terms everyone understands - highly equipped armed force!
Our first order of business is to rescue Captain Phillips without the risk of having him harmed in the process. How you might ask? Negotiating is not the answer. Nor is meeting any monetary demands the pirates might suggest. Above the water tactics are proving to be a bit tricky without putting Captain Phillips in harms way.
Short of sending in Jason Bourne, here's my idea: dial in the coordinates of whatever lifeboat these captors are on and have a US submarine surface directly underneath the vessel and capsize it. All occupants of the boat are thrown overboard. A Navy Seal team swoops in and secures Captain Phillips while the pirates are left to either drown or get sucked through the propeller of the submarine.
While the current state of the situation is requiring our military forces, I think future endevours could be every bit as effective without the expense of our most kick-ass resources.
In order to appreciate the nature of the situation you have to understand who we are dealing with here. Somalia has lacked structured government since 1991 and has thus, been in anarchy for the last 18 years. Therefore, the inmates are running the asylum which means druglords are very influential people that have access to resources that are typically very hard to come by. These druglords are recruiting and equipping desparate Somali people with the promise of part of the cut of any ransom money that might be received from these heists. As I understand it, the Somali coast is littered with people of many trades trying to earn a living - most notably fishermen. The pirates involved in these heists appear as typical fisherman when they approach these cargo ships and eventually brandish weapons as they take over these highly valued ships.
Nonetheless, the pictures of these ships and their pirates would hardly seem tough to ward off for the types of liners that are sailing the seas off the African coast - especially if each liner was equipped with a US Marshal in change of "negotiating" with these "fishermen".
Here are the details of my suggestion: For the immediate future (and I don't think it would take long to get this point across) I would like to see these ocean liners be equipped with multiple touret guns and a US Marshal that is also armed with a couple of rocket launchers, hand grenades and a few other assault type weaponry. Any lifeboat, dingy or upside-down car hood that comes within 200 yards of any commercial liner will be fired upon. I think that language translates whether you're from Somalia, Mogudishu or Rwanda - back the "F" off! You looking for some ransom money? You're barking up the wrong tree.
I'd venture to say that after maybe three of four dingy's get blown into smitherines it might start to get a little tough for those druglords to recruit the next wave of brave souls looking to score some cash on the high-seas. But maybe not since there's always other liners out there whose countries are evidently more willing to cooperate.
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