Unless you’re trying to be sarcastic; in which case, I don’t think that it’s very funny.

Here’s the link. Contrary to leftylurker’s implicit assertion, the ship in question was in fact controlled by pirates; apparently there were still prisoners aboard the recently-captured ship when the Indian navy appeared on the scene. Contra the author of this attack piece on our allies, the Indian navy is not the guilty party; the original pirates were.

You just burned pretty much every bit of goodwill that you’ve accumulated on this site with this stunt. I suggest that you think three times before you write another diary here.

and the police open fire through a closed door.

That’s what this was…sorry about the bad link, and sorry about the goodwill, but this is not acceptable.

Pirates are bad, evil, and should be stopped. But this is not the way, and this is not okay.

Or a discussion of the actual facts in the matter.

If you want this to be the way you go out, that can be arranged.

I’m sure your angst is motivated by only the purest of motives (OH! The Humanity!), but the bottom line is that the only way to deal with pirates is to kill them.

Often. And without endless and timid equivocation.

They will only re-think their actions when it becomes clear that taking sailors hostage will not prevent us from boarding and killing them (or, as in this case, sinking the bloody ship).

Will some innocent sailors die? Yep.

My brother-in-law works as an engineer on these cargo ships. He’s a nice guy, and I don’t want him dead.

Best way to prevent my relative from getting dead is to make as many pirates dead as possible in the shortest time possible.

Remember: these guys are out for money, not jihad (yet). For them, dying is not the goal. Dying, in this instance, can function as a deterrent.

At least the Indian Navy had the stones to act properly.

Some things in life are ugly, but need to be done. It is the timid hand-wringers (like yourself, perhaps?) who weaken us all.

Interesting article Moe, thank you.

Again though, I’m not mad about the pirates being killed, especially as it seems more or less historically legal to shoot pirates on sight.

to the full extent of what is legal at sea is that they put innocent mariners at risk. The Gulf of Aden is full of rickety dhows, some with unreliable engines. I can’t cite the germane laws, but as I understand it, if a ship/boat signals distress, any passing ship is supposed to render aid.

With the threat of pirates in the area, merchant ships may be disinclined to offer help for fear of being taken over by pirates posing as a crew of a distressed vessel. A perfectly innocent ship and crew stranded without a working engine and without a good supply of fresh water could be lost at sea that way.