Matt Yglesias

29 Responses to “Today in Piracy”

1. Rich in PA Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 12:29 pm

   That was a big dose of idiocy. You stop piracy by stopping piracy, Mr. Lecturer in Terrorism Studies at the University of Wherever. And Matt’s going down the same path, with the ludicrous notion that you combat piracy on land (where it’s only a negigible proportion of human activity, in a Hobbesian mess of a no-longer-a-country) rather than at sea (where it’s a large share of human activity, in a place where humans kind of stand out and where navies even have the formal right to attack pirates).

2. linus Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 12:29 pm

   maybe they’ll get george clinton to write the mothership theme when it comes to broadway

3. Don Williams Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 12:36 pm

   I also think both Guardian writers were idiots who failed to check with Navy officers on how interdiction is done.

   You don’t park a fucking destroyer every 200 yards or so.

   You park one or two Marine Harrier jets on a platform, have surveillance systems monitor the area, and then have the Harriers shoot the piss out whatever rears its head. Let a bunch of bodies wash up on the Somali beach and this problem goes away.

4. The Other Steve Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 12:44 pm

   Matt is right, you combat piracy on land.

   By bombing the shit out of them, destroying all of their boats and ports and harbors.

   Then you run a blockade along the coast. It won’t eliminate it, but it’ll sure make it less profitable for them.

5. blah Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 1:07 pm

   You don’t stop piracy by engaging in a long, protracted, and perhaps ultimately futile attempt to bring stability to an area that has been under a state of anarch and warlordism for the past 20 years or so.

   You stop piracy by bombing the fuck out of the pirates so that other would-be pirates decide that there must be better things to do. The cost/benefit analysis for a pirate is probably a lot more straightforward than it is for most terrorists. Pirates want to make money, not become martyrs.

6. Scott de B. Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 1:19 pm

   All of the classic anti-pirate campaigns in history — Pompey’s campaign against the Cilician pirates, the British anti-pirate campaigns of the 1700s, and our actions against the Barbary Pirates, involved denying the pirates basing facilities. It’s very difficult to intercept pirates at sea.

   That said, perhaps GPS technology, aerial reconnaissance, and the confused conditions in Somalia make an all-naval operation more practical. I’m skeptical that any of us have the expertise to make that call one way or the other.

7. Hector Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 1:23 pm

   Al,

   It’s called “Islamophilia”, and it infects most of the chattering classes nowadays. When the Somali jihadist yahoos murdered a couple of Italian nuns a while back, the response from Mr. Yglesias’ ilk was that “Pope Benedict made them do it.”

8. jerri Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 1:58 pm

   Pirates???? Think not. These guys are more like the FARC in Columbia. The Somalians are holding more than about 300 people for ransom besides the ships and cargo. An attack will probably put those 300 at great risk of loosing their lives. The only response to FARC to date has been a free trade agreement with Columbia which probably will not work in Somalia. So what to do???? I have no suggestions.

9. OtherMatt Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 2:51 pm

   YGZ,
   any thoughts on the idea, floating around in the blogosphere (I think I saw someone linked to it on Tapped) that since their are citizenship and detainee legal issues when dealing with captured pilots, the rules of engagement should just be changed to maximize bodycounts?

10. Glaivester Says:
    November 22nd, 2008 at 12:35 pm

    How about requiring that all ships that are likely to be attacked by pirates carry weaponry?

    If the merchant ships were better armed, they would be less tempting targets.

11. somali pirates Says:
    December 5th, 2008 at 11:52 am

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Somali pirates hijacked a supertanker hundreds of miles off the Horn of Africa, seizing the Saudi-owned ship loaded with crude and its 25-member crew, the U.S. Navy said Monday. It appeared to be

12. somalia pirates Says:
    December 7th, 2008 at 3:12 pm

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The U.S. Navy says pirates who seized a Saudi-owned oil supertanker are taking the ship to a Somali port where hijacked vessels are often held. Navy spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen of the U.S. 5th Fleet says

13. somalia pirates Says:
    December 7th, 2008 at 3:13 pm

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The U.S. Navy says pirates who seized a Saudi-owned oil supertanker are taking the ship to a Somali port where hijacked vessels are often held. Navy spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen of the U.S. 5th Fleet says

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