More (armed) security needed at sea
By Daniel Gelinas
Updated Mon April 13, 2009
The most recent Somali pirate drama got me thinking. Should U.S. merchant ships be more secure? Should it become common practice to have armed security on-board? At least one ex-marine believes so.
The point of a security system is protection of life and property, right? I mean, let's be honest, there's probably not going to be anything gained from installing intrusion alarms, motion sensors, and video monitoring on a ship which is out in international waters most of the time and in foreign jurisdictions a lot of the time, unless the first responders are right there on the ship. And unless they're equipped to deal with the menace these pirates increasingly pose.
I say, arm the ships, and, to quote the aforementioned ex-marine, "smoke[d] every one of those guys." That may sound harsh, but these pirates aren't modern day Robin Hoods, they're criminals and murderers, and maybe need a little operant conditioning in the form of punishment.
Just my opinion. I welcome yours.
Oh, and I just have to comment on this line from the linked ABC story above:
Justice Department officials are trying to determine whether to try the pirate in the U.S. or leave him to a pirate court in Kenya that has yet to try anyone for piracy.Am I understanding this correctly? The U.S. Justice Department is actually considering handing the one surviving pirate of a band of pirates who terrorized hard-working Americans, over to a "pirate court?" Huh...? A pirate court that has yet to try anyone for piracy, no less. Really? How do we know this court to try pirates isn't run by pirates? Yeah, let's consider handing this guy over to the pirate court. Good thinking. Again, just my opinion.
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