And you wonder ...

Why progressives are characterized as pussies?

As you all know, Gord and I been on this pirate thing for the last 6 months, since the escalation in their frequency of attacks. In the last week, since Maersk Alabama was attacked, we've been posting more regularly. So has the rest of the blogosphere. And, as you all know, we've been somewhat disappointed with the response of the U.S. government. Most on this side of the dial aren't.

The reason I bring up other progressive bloggers is, aside from a few, most have adopted the line that you can't blame the pirates because of the poor situation found in their homeland. Oh, the poor dears can't find work. Oh, the unfortunates have no functioning government. Oh, they're trying to feed their families and we have to fix the systemic problems in their country instead of blasting the pirates and their 'headquarters' into subatomic particles.

Fuck them.

Firstly, the window for helping the Somalis opened and closed in 1993. Remember Black Hawk Down? One of Bill Clinton's rare fuckups. You think we have a clusterfuck in Iraq and an unwinnable war in Afghanistan? Try bringing about "regime change" in Somalia. Ain't happening. The American people won't have it. Maybe, had we not our other military obligations, it would have been a "good fight", but not when we're stretched so thinly, not when our economy is on the balls of its ass.

Nextly, there are several million other folks who are trying to feed their families in Somalia who aren't pirates, starving their asses off in refugee camps. Do the pirates, who netted $80mln in ransom last year, use that money to buy food for their fellow countrymen? Um, no. They cruise around in American SUVs, have satellite dishes, and buy dope for themselves. And let's not forget the weaponry (making their job of capturing ships that much easier), getting more sophisticated all the time. Were they attempting to be modern-day Robin Hoods, I might be a little more understanding. Were they trying to finance an army to break the grip of a corrupt, tyrannical government in their country, I might be inclined to help them. They are doing nothing but looking out for Number One.

Lastly, taking the above into account, they are merely criminals. Just as their forebears centuries ago, they are nothing but thieves and murderers. Gordon will correct me, but I'm pretty sure one of the missions of the Marines back then was to hunt down and kill these bastards. It's what they should be doing now.

Someone mentioned, either in comments here or on another blog that it shouldn't be that difficult to follow these guys clandestinely (the Navy's watching that fucking lifeboat holding Maersk's captain inside with their little toy planes) and find out where they live. The Air Force and CIA have more toy planes that can make some craters where the pirate hideouts (and pirates) used to be. Most certainly. It is unconscionable that these clowns can sit within a few yards of a United States Navy warship and basically give them the finger without consequences. We look like a fucking joke.

Listen to me. While Somalia is in a bad way, we can't afford to worry about them right now, on many levels. There is a tangible threat to the civilian shipping lanes in international waters and that should be dealt with aside from all of the other Somali problems. The pirates have to be shown there are consequences for interfering with international trade. Paying them millions of dollars, euro, or drachmas isn't a fucking deterrent, you boneheads. Helping the refugees and 'negotiating' with either the pirates or the government in Mogadishu will do nothing to discourage the pirates. Making these criminals look over their shoulder all the time, wondering if a little model airplane, unseen thousands of feet above, will decide to shittify their day most certainly will.

Fuck the pirates, this is no time to be touchy-feely. Bring it to an end the same way we did with Blackbeard and his ilk. Kill them brutally and hold them up as an example to those others who would attempt to burglarize the high seas. The Seven Seas belong to all of us, for shipping, for defense, for recreation, and in my case for travel. We pay, in so many ways, for the actions of these renegades and it's time to start recouping our losses.