Would you support a bombing raid on the Somali pirates base?

[Junkdrawer]

Poll question: Would you support a bombing raid on the Somali pirates base?

[ingac70]

1. Nope....

Let the companies that own these ships hire an outfit like Blackwater (or whatever they are calling themselves today) for on ship security.

[KamaAina]

26. Xe

is what they are calling themselves today.

Good idea! They might actually be useful for something.

[DURHAM D]

30. Amen to that.

The shipping industry has worked for over 50 years to be beyond the old school notion of "nation based" in order to avoid taxes, regulations, employment rules, etc.

They smugly took themselves off the grid in order to hype their independence. Let them be independent - they can hire their own protection. Don't let them use the U.S. military and our tax dollars now that their old position has become inconvenient. F-them.

Also, someone needs to review the AIG loss runs for the past 5 years to see how much they have paid out in ransom. Perhaps AIG has too many risky policies for merchant vessels on their books and as a taxpayer I don't feel like covering the losses.

[mike_c]

2. absolutely not....

Bombing the pirates is not the answer. Stopping the offshore dumping and theft of Somali natural resources by more developed nations has to come first, as well as rebuilding the government of Somalia so that IT can look after the needs of its people.

[Junkdrawer]

3. I'm hearing those drums of war again...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5446953&mesg_id=5446994

[damntexdem]

35. No, these are drums of policing.

And these drums are needed.

[Junkdrawer]

36. Do you agree with Bolton or Wilkerson or both?

:shrug:

[librechik]

4. Only if they drop cash, candy and food boxes.

Bombs make too many enemies

[LaurenG]

5. They have a base?

They are so organized that they have a base? Wow.
(on edit, I just read the link and no we shouldn't bomb their bases, whatever those may be)

[Junkdrawer]

10. Last Thursday, NPR had an "expert" who called for this...

Maj. Gen. Tom Wilkerson, CEO of the U.S. Naval Institute in Annapolis, Md., talks with Renee Montagne about the problem of piracy. Wilkerson says current anti-piracy tactics are not working, and the U.S. will need to root out the pirates' bases in Somalia.

...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102900914

Today, Bolton joined the chorus with a call for invasion...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5446953&mesg_id=5446953

[LaurenG]

16. Yeah - I saw that

:(

[Junkdrawer]

18. By 2015, 25% of our oil will come from Africa. China currently gets 30% of her oil...

from Africa now.

Somalia has vast unexplored regions of potential oil - and no political stability to allow exploration.

One way or another, the US will increase its military presence in Africa. Count on it.

[Juche]

23. Thanks for posting that

I know places like Equitorial Guinea and Nigeria have tons of oil, but not Somalia.

At least now I will be prepared 10 years from now if our politicians tell us we have to invade 'african country X for humanitarian reasons'.

[kestrel91316]

6. Nope. Blockade their ports, knock out their communications systems,

surround their individual boats and tell them surrender or die.

[get the red out]

8. That's good!

I like that strategy!

[scrinmaster]

7. No, while I have no problem with killing pirates, you'd probably kill too many fishermen, etc.

Killing the warlords, etc., would be fine. The country will not be able to succeed until aid can be distributed without the warlords taking it for themselves.

[endarkenment]

31. kill the warlords: we've tried that a lot and it hasn't worked well

There have been lots of Battles of Mogadishu:

Battle of Mogadishu (1993) (sometimes called the First Battle of Mogadishu): Operation Gothic Serpent/Code Irene. United States, Pakistani, and Malaysian forces fought forces of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid

Battle of Mogadishu (2006) (sometimes called the Second Battle of Mogadishu): The Islamic Courts Union attacked and captured the city held by the ARPCT

Fall of Mogadishu (2006): The Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian Army attacked and captured the city held by the Islamic Courts Union

Battle of Mogadishu (March–April 2007) (occasionally called the Third Battle of Mogadishu): The Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian Army battled the insurgents of the Islamist PRM and the Hawiye clan in the city

Battle of Mogadishu (November 2007): Another battle between the TFG/Ethiopia and the Islamist PRM.

Battle of Mogadishu (2008): Another battle between the abovementioned forces.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mogadishu

Perhaps a few dozen more proxy and/or direct attempts, plus massive civilian slaughter will solve the problem.

[Sebastian Doyle]

9. I'd rather see a full assault on the "pirates" that are truly robbing this country blind

And they aren't in Somalia.

[rucky]

11. I don't think they're really that organized enough to have a base.

Do they?

maybe hit Ye Olde Somali Tavern, and you'll get a few.

[JVS]

12. Sending million dollar missiles after a couple thousand dollars worth of stuff is not a good plan.

[EFerrari]

13. No.

[Hubert Flottz]

14. No just keep the ships away from that country and the...

"pirates" will be out of work like people in this country.

[dem629]

15. Yes. I agree with President Obama's philosophy.

“I will not hesitate to use force, unilaterally if necessary, to protect the American people or our vital interests whenever we are attacked or imminently threatened.” (July/August 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs)

[lamp_shade]

17. Of course not.

[Canuckistanian]

19. No, we should boycott them

Never again will I buy Somali....er.... things.

[Smith_3]

20. For I second I thought "shit, I gotta DU this poll" before I realized...

[Juche]

21. 90% of the dead would be civilians

On another note, I'd think about 5-10% of adults have committed a sex crime. Bombing a football stadium and killing tons of civilians to get those 5-10% wouldn't be justified either.

[Junkdrawer]

22. Doubt we could do it, but in Gaza, the trick was to redefine "civilian"....

and to do your own counting while keeping objective journalists out.

[slackmaster]

27. 100% of pirates are civilians

:shrug:

[Juche]

33. Maybe you are misunderstanding what civilian means

Hitler was a civilian too by those standards.

Civilian = someone who isn't directly involved in a battle effort.

[slackmaster]

37. Hitler was Commander-In-Chief of the German military

Civilian = someone who isn't directly involved in a battle effort.

For there to be a battle, there has to be a war.

This is just plain crime. Attacking the criminals would be a police action. ;-)

[Juche]

38. Damn

Foiled.

[Warpy]

24. The "pirate base" is a CITY

and a whole lot more than a bunch of teenagers playing at being pirates would be killed in such a foolish endeavor.

[G_j]

29. thanks nt

[Xithras]

25. Well, they are holding over 200 hostages at the moment so that might not be wise.

Unless we're willing to write them all off as collateral damage since they're not 'Merkins anyway. The Germans and a few other nations with citizens being held by the pirates might have a few choice words for us though.

[Arctic Dave]

28. Would you support Iraqis bombing an American base?

They have a more legitimate reason.

[Optical.Catalyst]

32. Absolutely not

These pirates in Somali are little more that a loosely organized rabble. Bombing is a strategic offensive action taken against an organized and well lead operation. The pirates have no well defined leadership or infrastructure to damage through bombing.

Bombing would be a waste of both human life and expensive military equipment.

[MrPerson]

34. Not for one American boat so far.

We should deal with the root causes - poverty.

[lunatica]

39. What makes you think there won't be hostages there (human shields)

Or children. I don't think there's an easy solution. Bombing the crap out of criminals entails too much collateral damage. Sorry to be so nuanced, but there it is.

[Junkdrawer]

40. I voted No. My aim was to show how unpopular this would be...

at least with Democrats. I'm surprised there's as many Yes votes as there are.

[lunatica]

41. Oh. OK.