What is in a name?

[Cookie]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090414/ap_on_re_af/piracy
Undeterred Somali pirates hijack 4 more ships


"The four pirates that attacked the Alabama were between 17 and 19 years old, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. "Untrained teenagers with heavy weapons," Gates told students and faculty at the Marine Corps War College. "Everybody in the room knows the consequences of that."

I think for starters, stop calling them Pirates, it is feeding into the glamorization they probably feel of being a Pirate. Call them what they are, criminals. Arrrrrh!

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/...s/atworldsend/

[Peanut9199]

I say call them Pirates:

Maritime piracy, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, consists of any criminal acts of violence, detention, or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or aircraft that is directed on the high seas against another ship, aircraft, or against persons or property on board a ship or aircraft. Piracy can also be committed against a ship, aircraft, persons, or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state.

and do what they used to do with Pirates get them and "Hang" them.
If they are classed as criminals you would need to give them a trial.

[kingsotall]

Why not a punishment that fits the crime¿

[Cass]

They'll never catch jack.............

[Macman]

This topic came up at the dinner table Sunday when we had our family over. The ten year old grandson apparently was not aware of what had been going on, but at the mention of the word "pirates" his eyes lit up and he was immediately interested. I explained to him that it wasn't pirates like in the movies, but that it did mean someone who had taken over a ship by force. I did note the romance of the word pirates.

[Redwood]

Why not call them what they are...
Dead!
The Navy seals sniped them out with 3 head shots at the same time...



I wonder what that looked like...
I'm sure the Navy has a video...
Somehow I don't think it will be on You Tube...

[kingsotall]

Somehow I don't think it will be on You Tube...

You'd be suprised what makes it on there. Question is for how long.

[Ian Gills]

These guys are definitely pirates. And in many cases preventing piracy is becoming the main role for most modern navies.

What I am still failing to understand is why the US and others are not using an air response?

With the last attempt on a US ship, the Navy Destroyer took "several hours" to get there. A jet from a carrier would take minutes.

You've got the biggest navy, but we have the best-trained one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DlN4Sh06po

[stevep111]

All modern ships can be steered and navigated directly from the engine room. All the others have the ability to take full control of the ship from the engineroom. All the older ships need is a navigation system installed in the enginroom to make them pirate proof.

This way the pirates can come on board and take over but if the entire crew is safe locked in the engineroom then they are really in control of where the ship goes. If the ship immeidately heads farther out to sea and alerts the navy of their position then the seals can just parachute on board at 3am and kick some ass.

The pirates can get on the ship but I gurantee they have no way to get behind a locked steel hatch. Even if they do they have to get past the swinging dog wrenches that will surely meet them as they enter the hatch in pitch darkness.

[stevep111]

I fail to see why anyone has not noticed that the entire country has only one port city. That means only one place for the Pirates to get gas for their boats. Block the harbor and they can't get in and out to raid ships. Cut off their fuel supply and they will eventually go out of business.

[Cass]

all they need is a few of these flying around and after a few of the pirate boats fail to return they will quit...