Somali Pirates

[Betty]

I'm sure they really wanted to do it that way. But since you thought of it first they couldn't make the movie version as it would be stealing your idea - therefore they came up with plan B. And as they say - the rest is history.

[Strangler Lewis]

Obama 1
Pirates -3.

We shouldn't prosecute the kid who jumped ship. We should do the Captains Courageous route and make him work on a navy boat to get his head on straight. Then, when he goes back to Somalia . . . well, he'll probably become a pirate again, but until then it would make a good movie.

[Alex]

I hadn't realized at first that the lifeboat was only 100 feet away. Interestingly, at that distance for snipers a factor increasing difficulty is that they were too close (according to this the scope can't properly align at shorter than 300 feet).

[Ghoulish Delight]

Probably true. But while perhaps the reason for not having taken US ships isn't what I first might have guessed, it still stands that they're a pretty dramatic 0-for-1. The fact that there are so few US ships makes it even more likely to be empty bluster as that means they won't even have much opportunity to be put in the position of making good on their bluff.

[Alex]

I hope you're right.

But the French have been killing them for a while (and capturing plenty) and that hasn't prevented continued hijackings of French ships.

[Betty]

Well it is the French...

[Moonliner]

From the annals of history:

In 1851, the Navy sent the U.S. sloop-of-war Dale to Johanna Island, a pirate haven off the coast of Madagascar, in response to the seizure of Capt. Moore of the bark Maria by local strongman Sultan Abdullah bin Salim. The Dale's commander, Capt. Pearson, rejected any notion of ransom for Moore and instead demanded $20,000 from the pirates for our trouble, or he would open fire. In the ensuing negotiations, the sultan was willing only to give $5,000, most of which would be paid in trinkets, cattle and cotton cloth because of lack of cash on hand. Pearson was unimpressed, and after a series of threats from the sultan, the Dale commenced firing. It took 19 volleys to make the sultan see the error of his ways. He raised the white flag, said he would pay what he could of the demanded indemnity and promised never to harm Americans again - a promise he kept.

That's even better than just sniping these guys. Demand payment from them for each ship captured.

[SacTown Chronic]

That couldn't have been good for ol' Captain Moore's self-esteem.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by SacTown Chronic

That couldn't have been good for ol' Captain Moore's self-esteem.

"Self esteem" was not invented until 1972. So that was not an issue in this case.

[Morrigoon]

Originally Posted by Moonliner

"Self esteem" was not invented until 1972. So that was not an issue in this case.

Before that it was called "honor". But, like New Coke was rolled out to cover up the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup to the Coke formula, we had a name change to obscure the loss of sugary honor in favor of cheaper self esteem.