Circle jerk for the ages

I defy ... DEFY! ... anyone to read this and still retain their sanity.

This news story could have been incrediby simple:

Headline: The U.N. is worthless.

Text: The U.N. has devolved into purely bureaucratic wrangling with zero accomplishments in ages. It might be amusing to catalogue the infighting among various bureaucracies, but then again, it might be amusing to cut yourself with a razor blade untill you bleed out. Why does the U.S. support this bunch of kleptocrats? Fuck only knows.

Posted by: Hermit Dave at 10:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It's not going to go away

For Obama, this may be a distraction, but the piracy situation in the Gulf of Aden is not going to go away:

Defiant Somali pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at another U.S. cargo ship on Tuesday but failed to hijack it, officials said, just days after Navy SEALs rescued an American hostage after an earlier unsuccessful hijacking.

RPGs, eh?   Doesn't that sound familiar?  

"Our latest hijackings are meant to show that no one can deter us from protecting our waters from the enemy because we believe in dying for our land," Omar Dahir Idle told The Associated Press by telephone. "Our guns do not fire water. I am sure we will avenge."

This is an interesting take on the situation.  Never mind that the majority of incidents happen in international waters.  This sounds positively Islamic, if I may be so un-PC to say so.

The Egyptian boats were taken in the gulf off Somalia's northern coast. Said Mursi, Egypt's ambassador to Somalia who is based in Kenya, said the trawlers probably did not have licenses to fish Somali waters. "From my experience, I think that they were illegally fishing," he told The Associated Press.

Commercial fishing boats have been illegally harvesting Somalia's rich and varied sea life, including sought-after yellowfin tuna, since the country collapsed into lawlessness in the 1990s. The United Nations estimates the illegal fishing costs the Horn of Africa nation $300 million annually.

Ok, so some of this is two bunches of criminals fighting over territory.  Piracy isn't exactly a civilized repsone to illegal fishing, but whatever.  The thing that bugs me is the sentence in bold (my highlight).   It only costs Somalia $300 million if that nation had the capability of fishing their own waters.  Which they don't, because they're a bunch of savages.

Hell, I estimate that it costs me $10 billion annually when Microsoft sells their operating system, because I could otherwise be selling an operating system.  Never mind that I have no capability to do so.  Maybe I should hold a few Microsoft software engineers hostage so that I can get my fair share of the operating system profits.

All right, this post has kind of spun off the rails from a "We should do something about this before it really gets out of hand" kind of thing into a "The UN is completely stupid" thing.  The bottom line:  Nobody is going to take this seriously until it's completely out of control.  Which is kind of the stage where much of "Western Civilization" is at in regard to most issues right now.  Good luck with all that.

Posted by: Hermit Dave at 10:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Well played on the pirate stand-off ... so far

Three scumbags dead and one in custody.  The captain made it out alive.  Nicely done Navy and big kudos to the captain who seemed to show courage and resolve throughout.  I'm not going to nit-pick Obama's ROE on this part of the operation, as it got the job done.

So, what next?  There had best be a 'next' as the current environment in the Gulf of Aden can not be allowed to remain as it is.  American lives and cargo were in jeapordy, and the Navy and FBI just expended a major amount of resources dealing with the situation.

As it looks like the remaining pirate basically turned himself in prior to the shootout, I'm fine with a range of options other than hanging.  I'd prefer that he not get an American trial, as that would just turn into a circus and cost us money keeping him behind bars the rest of his life.  I'm not sure what the best option is in dealing with him.  I doubt he wants to go back to piracy, as he'd likely be killed by other pirates at this point anyway.

However, the most important part of this saga is yet to come.  Will Obama have the balls to order a serious anti-piracy military operation?  I strongly doubt it ... I expect him to just breathe a sigh of relief that the captain is alive and get on with the business of spending the US into poverty.  Clinton did exactly that with far more serious attacks on the US around the globe (although the business he got on to was a bit more .... personal).  Come on Obama, surprise me and grow a pair.

Posted by: Hermit Dave at 06:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm sure the pirates are terrified now

In one of the single most appalling news articles I have ever read, the AP (via Fox) discusses the FBI's investigation into the pirates:

FBI agents planned to interview the crew of a U.S. cargo ship Saturday as the bureau began building a criminal case against Somali pirates who attacked the ship and took the captain hostage.

...

"If there were ever a U.S. victim of one of these attacks or a U.S. shipping line that were a victim, our Justice Department has said that it would favorably consider prosecuting such apprehended pirates," Stephen Mull, the acting undersecretary of state for international security and arms control, told Congress last month.

Hey FBI -- thanks for supporting the military with your crack hostage negotiation skills, now GTFO.  And while I'm glad that the short-bus boys at Justice would at least consider prosecuting priates, why should they even be involved?

I sincerely hope that this is not the approach the administration is going to take.  This is not fricking Bonnie and Clyde running around hitting up banks.  If we don't take some serious military action, not only is the Somalia situation going to continue to degrade, the rest of the world is going to know it's open season on Uncle Sam.

Posted by: Hermit Dave at 04:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Thoughts on the Pirate Standoff

The latest news report on the situation is here.  My thoughts:

• The only reason to drag this out is to allow the armed forces to gather intel on the pirates' operations.  Once they have sufficient intel to completely dismantle their operations, they should move to end the showdown.
• The pirates must not be allowed to move the captain to land, nor can they be allowed to transfer him to another vessel.  The military knows exactly where he is right now and that advantage cannot be handed away.
• The pirates want $2 million?  Our counter should be plain and simple:  Turn him over immediately and we'll let you live ... for now.  If you don't, we'll take no prisoners and you can either die fighting or be hung after capture.
• Once the immediate situation is resolved, which may unfortunately include the death of the captain, the forces built up in the area should give the warning that the shelling of pirate ports and vessels will commence after a reasonable time for people to leave the area.

The main complicating factor is that the pirates also hold hostages from other nations.  One hopes the administration is doing some behind-the-scenes work with their nations regarding that situation.  If the pirates attempt to bring those ships into play in the current standoff, it would create a huge set of additional problems, which makes prompt resolution of the standoff even more important.

America needs to send a very strong message that this activity will no longer be tolerated in any way, shape, or form.  Will we?  Probably not, as we've become so emotionally risk-averse as a nation, that securing the life of the captain will likely be our top priority, rather than doing our best to stop the pirates from committing more hijackings and hostage takings.  I sincerely hope the guy comes out of this in one piece, but it simply can't be our top priority.

Posted by: Hermit Dave at 02:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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