Seminar: Anti-piracy Operations

No doubt. I already pointed out the Strait of Malacca. The RSN is well aware of piracy in the region but as I pointed out, it has dropped significantly. That beggars the question of how did such a hazardous leg become safer? Obviously various navies played a key role in that solution.

I have used Somalia as it is the international head line grabber for piracy and presents so many problems (sovereignty, etc). It is a multi-faceted problem, a hydra of sorts. You cannot stop one problem without another appearing.

I dunno about your analysis of S'poreans. Singapore already enforces its right to try foreign citizens who commit crimes in its territory. There was the American kid who got caned for vandalism. I was in grade school and most of the kids all laughed about how it was about time we showed the westerners that they can't just ignore our laws. There was also an Aussie who was hung for smuggling drugs through S'pore to Vietnam or something. Aussie PM and people made a bit of a row but it did nothing - why? Sovereignty. Our land/water, our laws apply to whoever enters and no one has the right to force us to do otherwise. See China-US relations on human rights.

If they're caught in Singapore waters, I fully support my government's right to enforce its laws. Just as if I'm caught committing theft here in the US, I am tried by US, not Singapore, law. Now, it obviously becomes murky once its international waters.

And it also highlights the ... deficiencies of international law and how much it needs to progress but cannot (Sovereignty!). What happens to the perpetrator of a crime in intn'l waters? It seems to be a bit of a paradox. If a German citizen is a pirate who resists and gets shot by a Japanese warship in international waters, it's all cool. He gets caught, the powers that be kick up a fuss over who tries him

I wonder if Wilson knew what a double edged sword he had come up with. But then, it was a time of isolationism for the U.S. so international laws didn't matter as much to him.

Indeed. Two British hostages were taken last week as they were yachting off the Seychelles and a ransom has been demanded. Solely for ransom. I consider their imprisonment and release/rescue something a little higher on the priority list than getting NGOs and aid groups started on the long, hard road to building infrastructure in a country torn between warlords and a militant islamic faction bent on blowing up whoever disagrees with them.

Like heart surgery, one cannot simply begin working on the heart. The surgeon must cut away skin and tissue to access the heart. So too in anti-piracy, it is necessary to address the source but while that begins to work, one must still combat the surface level raiders. You can't just set up shop in Somalia, Aceh or Malaysia and start assuming it's all going to work.

Building infrastructure in unstable and/or impoverished regions takes time. Years usually for results to show . It takes a few hours for pirates to leave port and wait for an easy enough catch. They need to driven back whilst being shown there's another way. Otherwise, if they can make more money through piracy, why bother learning math or some other kind of skill?

The only way I can see this happening is if something occurs to allow foreign troops shoreline access. That is, the ability to make an assault on pirate bases, destroy those bases and keep them from being rebuilt. But that's going to happen when pigs in Mecca fly, thanks to the issue of sovereignty.

Preemption is nearly impossible. America and the West in general lack the ability to flex their military muscle currently due to our ongoing conflicts in the middle east and the current economic climate.

I think any ship of a given size (cargo ship+) should have a small escort vessel or two. All it would take are a couple of patrol boats with some anti material caliber guns and a couple of assault rifle armed security officers with some anti ballistic vests and a number onboard if it is a cruise ship sized vessel.

I feel some good men with some speed and firepower can counter some peasants with the same.

Oh really?