Somali Pirates Receive Millions From Kidnappings

Piracy of the high seas is not a romantic and funny "Pirates Of the Caribbean", full of glamour and romantic conclusions. Jack Sparrow, or Captian Barbosa is not with these pirates! These pirates are brutal, heartless, and just a bunch of thugs, and kidnappers and just downright criminals. Which is what real pirate's are. It has been stated from a CNN online article and I quote, "Somali pirates have turned high-seas kidnappings into a lucrative business, one that netted between $50 million and $150 million last year." Most of the sea going captains know that this condition exist, they have know it for hundreds of years, this is nothing new. Although it takes the kidnapping of an American Captain, to bring this condition, and situation to light to the public.

These actions have to be not only intolerable, but "nipped in the bud", as it is getting out of hand. Insurance companies have paid literally millions on these kidnapping charges that the pirates, whom by the way, are heavily armed, and this is WHY the keep doing it.Needless to say, insureance rates are soaring, which we end of paying for. Take away the money, and give them (the pirates) ultimatums. No negotiations, no mercy. Although my heart goes out to the families of those involved in this most recent event, it cannot, or should not, be tolerated, by the American people, and by the world family of countries that could be, and have been in this same type of situation of having loved ones kidnapped. This piracy needs to stop, abruptly.

It is right up there with terrorism in this writers book, and the lunacy needs to end. These pirates should be blown out of the water by our warships. I cannot believe how complacent that some folks that I have seen on Good Morning America, or on the news that interview certain people that have had the "experts" that know about the piracy acts on the high seas, only to have this guy say, "We should take a step back, and take a breath, and think about this. Our naval vessels could and are intimidating the pirates whereas they may do something rash, like kill the Captain.

I know that this sounds cold, and I know I will get crucified by saying this, but this is why this is happening in the first place, these so-called pirates are DEPENDING on the emotions of the masses, to pay for their inapproprirate deeds and greed. They need to be dealt with harshly, not only to end this lunacy, but also to send out a clear message that ANYONE in to world, who is entertaining the thought, on becoming a part of this lucrative business of kidnapping innocent victims, and that they will be executed with extreme prejudice, and they will be dealt with, and blown out of the water!

This would end the terror for all of those that could be, or would be otherwise kidnapped. The seas will once again be secure, and safe for international travel. I read an interview this morning where CNN was interviewing an ex-SEAL, and I would like to share this with you thanks to CNN online news, and I quote;

Kaj Larsen spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper Wednesday night about the changing tactics of pirates in Somalia. Below is a transcript of that interview, portions of which have been edited.

Cooper: You have spent a fair amount of time there. You have actually met with the pirates, right?

Larsen: I did. I met with some of the pirates that were operating out of Port of Mogadishu in 2006. And that was right before this current uptick in piracy that we're seeing so much of right now.

Cooper: And why the uptick? Just because now they realize it's so profitable?

Larsen: Sure, absolutely. Piracy is a extremely lucrative business. And, obviously, the cheap flow of weapons available in Somalia all contribute to this problem of maritime piracy.

Cooper: And this is a different situation, because now the USS Bainbridge is on scene. This is the first time an American has been held hostage.

But, normally, a whole crew gets taken hostage, and it's basically a negotiation between the company that owns the vessel or the cargo and the pirates.

Larsen: Right Obviously, this is a very unique situation and it's developing right now as we speak. So, this is setting new standards and new precedents. My concern during this situation is that the pirates, seeing their first batch of resistance, in the future might be using more aggressive tactics now that they see that some ships are willing to fight back.

Cooper: You were a Navy SEAL. What is the procedure in something like this?

Larsen: Well, obviously, each situation is very unique, and so they have to balance the use of force with the potential threat of injury to the hostage. Again, this is a unique situation. This is the first time Americans have been taken hostage, so we could see a new precedent being set. Watch how pirates operate off Somalia

In the past, the U.S. Navy and the other coalition forces and the combined task force in the region has been reluctant to engage with the pirates militarily, for fear that one of the hostages will be hurt. We will see if that continues to be the case here.

Cooper: And, basically, I mean, if [ pirates are] operating 350 miles offshore, and they're running around, and then they're going around in these little skiffs, do they have a larger boat nearby somewhere in the area? ... They can't go 350 miles offshore in a little skiff, can they?

Larsen: No, absolutely not, I mean, although you are seeing improved weather conditions in the Gulf of Aden, which is responsible for the increased in attacks over the past week, 350 miles is a long ways out at sea.

So, again, the pirates are becoming increasingly more sophisticated, are actually [using] mother ships in many cases, from which they send out the small speedboats out to both track and then sometimes assault these tanker and these container ships in the gulf.

Cooper: How do you think this thing is going to end? Do you have any idea?

Larsen: I don't really have any idea. (Thanks To CNN Online News)

In closing, bottom line, this has got to stop, and it should be a war on terrorism, in the same way we harshly handleing terrorist that commits those very same acts. They are illegal, and should be dealt with, along with severe consequences. We outnumber the pirates, to me this is a no brainer. Just a thought from this writer.