Wednesday, November 19, 2008

This is what you do to pirates

An Indian navy warship has sunk a Somali pirate "mother ship" in the Gulf of Aden, the world's most treacherous waterway, after the renegades threatened to attack the frigate.

The clash happened as pirates claimed to begin negotiations over a ransom for the Saudi super-tanker that was seized nearby on Saturday with two Britons aboard. The Sirius Star, which is carrying at least $100 million worth of oil, is the biggest ship ever to be hijacked.

INS Tabar, an Indian frigate dispatched last month to the area to protect the country's merchant fleet, sighted the pirate vessel late on Tuesday. Indian officers said they spotted pirates moving on the deck with rocket propelled grenade launchers and automatic weapons.

"On repeated calls, the vessel's threatening response was that she would blow up the naval warship," the Indian Navy said in a statement.

I've been listening to a bunch of hand wringing from nations saying that there really isn't anything that can be done about these Somali pirates.

Bull crap.

The civilized world used to know exactly what to do about piracy. You engage pirates on sight and destroy them.

The only regrettable thing here is the indians feeling the need to justify themselves by talking about self defense.