jwz - Oh Somalia, you're so zany. [entries|archive|friends|userinfo]
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Oh Somalia, you're so zany. [Sun, 28-Sep-2008 11:08 AM]
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[music |Thomas Dolby -- Europa and the Pirate Twins]

Pirates. With tanks.

On Thursday, pirates seized the Ukrainian ship Faina en route to Kenya with 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and a substantial quantity of ammunition and spare parts. Russia's navy said Friday it had dispatched a warship to the area, and the United States said American naval ships were tracking the Ukrainian ship with special concern because of the weaponry on board.

The hijackings were the latest in a series of audacious maritime attacks off the coast of Somalia, a war-torn country that has been without a functioning government since 1991.

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Comments:
[User Picture]From: [info]jeremiahblatz
Sun, 28-Sep-2008 6:12 PM (UTC)

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National talk like a pirate day: "We require a payment of US$20 million to the following Swiss bank account in order to release the cargo"
[User Picture]From: [info]saltdawg
Sun, 28-Sep-2008 6:34 PM (UTC)

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Maybe the Russian bear can swipe these subhumans off the high seas. I had hopes for the US after the cruise ship attack, but they sei=zed one mothership and headed back to the Persian gulf. I've been chased by these motherfuckers, and we aren't allowed to carry weapons aboard per IMO regulations. So basically we have 100psi fire hoses against AK's and RPG's.

Oh, and diesel. Lots of diesel and paint thinner, but that's a story for another time...
[User Picture]From: [info]romulusnr
Mon, 29-Sep-2008 5:36 AM (UTC)

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It takes balls to pirate a boat full of tanks and ammo.

It also takes sheer lack of balls to have a boat full of tanks and ammo pirated from you.

Here's a hint: You have tanks, and ammo.
[User Picture]From: [info]rcl
Mon, 13-Oct-2008 11:30 AM (UTC)

not really

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I guess tanks were somehow packaged for transport, they might be even disassembled to make them more compact, and they were certainly shipped with minimal amount of fuel.

But even if they were combat-ready, how do you imagine using tanks aboard the ship? They could not maneuver, they could not use their guns, they probably could not even see the enemy. Besides, crewmen were sailors, not tank drivers, and modern tank requires some knowledge to even start the engine.

Ukrainians did the mistake of sending such a cargo unguarded, but your proposed "solution" to the problem is a joke :>
[User Picture]From: [info]macguyver
Mon, 29-Sep-2008 7:22 AM (UTC)

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Somalia is still the best example of anarcho-capitalism in the wild, gotta love that shit.
[User Picture]From: [info]jwz
Mon, 29-Sep-2008 9:35 AM (UTC)

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Yes, I enjoy comparing and contrasting Somalia and Burning Man.