in Musings |

Why blazing guns might not be the best approach

While hunting down Kelly’s letter to the editor, I came across this recent, chest-pounding N&O editorial, chiding the “maritime world” for hand-wringing and praising the Indian Navy for sinking a pirate “mother ship.”

Here’s to India’s navy. While much of the maritime world wrings its hands over the annoying pirates of Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula, an Indian frigate takes decisive action. On Tuesday the INS Tabar blasted a pirate “mother ship” out of the water.
[…]
Some well-placed rounds of shellfire, not endless rounds of ransom-paying, might persuade these waterborne robbers to reverse course.

Wouldn’t you know it, word comes today that the Indian Navy didn’t fire on a pirate “mother ship” after all: it sunk an innocent fishing trawler that had been captured by pirates. Fourteen Thai sailors are now missing.

In one action, the Indian Navy killed more captured sailors than the pirates ever have. To the Rambos writing the N&O editorials: do you see why going in with guns blazing might not be the best approach?

You can threaten these guys all you want. Kill a few, even. It won’t matter: they’re from arguably the toughest neighborhood on the planet: Somalia, where the only things ruling are fear and abject squalor. If you think these pirates are afraid to die you’re out of your fricking mind.

The fact is, there is no simple answer to the problem of piracy. The African coast is far too vast and the shipping traffic too numerous to effectively patrol it. I’m not sureanything can be done to even put a dent in it. How do you dissuade a pirate from piracy when they have no other alternative for making a living? And “making a living” is charitable: its more like surviving.

From the Somalis’ point of view, piracy is the best thing to happen in decades.

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  1. It does seem clear that the Somalis need to change the attitude that piracy is a good thing.

    It also seems clear that killing the victims of a crime isn’t much of a deterrent.

    A good example of firing before aiming.

  2. if people would read the article, you would have seen that the profile of a fishing boat with speed boats in tow is a typical pirate setup. Also, the Indian ship pulled up alongside it demanding an inspection. The pirates then threatened and then FIRED upon the indian vessel. The Indian’s responded.

    How was it that they were “going in guns blazing”? Mark, you worked on a navy ship would your captain not have done the same thing?

    Your point about the pirate desperation is interesting and has merit but to fabricate, or at least misinterpret, the actions to make your point actually undermines it.

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