The Beeb Beeb Ceeb on stopping Somali piracy

[unixronin]

“International efforts to thwart Somali piracy would appear to be floundering. Perhaps words from the 19th Century could offer a solution [...]”

A pretty good historical retrospective comparing the Somali piracy problem with the Barbary pirates and the suppression of the slave trade.

With Somali piracy still threatening shipping, it sounds as if modern navies need a few Captain Robert Denmans, or the like-minded American, Commodore Stephen Decatur.

...And I can’t find it in myself to argue with that.

Comments

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yup, I was speculating on that a while back. I'm not sure it could legally be done under current law-of-the-sea treaties though... not that most of the Somali pirate gangs have anything worth taking as spoils or prizes.

[n5red.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a big issue. For a lot of small private craft, being able to have ordinary rifles and pistols aboard would dramatically increase their safety. Somali is far from the only area where piracy occurs. Drug smugglers have a habit of capturing boats, killing the crew, and making a single drug run with them.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, too much of the "civilized" world has the idea that "No, you can't be armed, that would be uncivilized. You should rely on us to protect you. ...Oh, did we fail to protect you? Too bad. Sorry about that. ...No, your next of kin can't sue us. You see, we're not actually obligated to protect you. We can't be everywhere at once, you know."

Robert Heinlein said "An armed society is a polite society." Available evidence suggests that a uniformly armed society also tends to be a relatively law-abiding one. (Naturally, nations like Somalia, where the unarmed majority of the populace are ruled by a small minority of heavily-armed violent thugs, do not qualify as "uniformly armed".)