Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Jazz
We should invade to enforce that right? 
Your Constitutional rights end at the border. And I don't think that anyone has ever said that sailors can't arm themselves.
Really, I don't see where there's much to be done beyond setting up a task force to watch for pirates. An international peacekeeping force isn't going to be able to accomplish much with no government to prop up, only feuding warlords. Elections are pretty much impossible. The Etheopians have had some success bringing some stability to the southern parts of the country, but that's limited at best. And enforcing the old pirate codes would be distasteful to many of the countries that would normally be called on to do so. |
You can have 'legal' guns in US waters, but once you go to Mexico or Canada the laws are different. In many ports, guns are banned or have to be handed over when arriving and then picked back up when you leave. It isn't worth it.
And I'm not talking about invading Somalia or bringing elections and a stable government. Maybe we could help Ethiopia take over part of the country to give them access to the sea, but that is a different discussion.
All I am suggesting is a change in tactics. A more offensive stance if you will. Many countries currently have to provide military escorts to convoys of ships sailing in that region. The military ships, helicopters, and UAVs are there. The UN or any one country isn't stepping up and coming up with a unified strategy of working together to stop pirates from leaving Somalia.
And this is the main reason that this and other countries created Navies and kept them around. We pay billions of dollars for all the ships we have, yet in the old days they had no choice but to kill criminals (they didn't have the food rations or space to keep them), yet it also was a pretty good deterrent.
I have no problems with warning them, but if they make the decision to go out to sea and look for ships to hold for ransom, they should be stopped.
And yes, over fishing and pollution might have been the reasons this started, but now it is a fairly low risk business venture for the druglords on land to make lots of money.