NAIROBI, Kenya -- In the first killing of its kind, private security contractors shot dead a Somali pirate in a clash that left two skiffs riddled with bullet holes, officials said Wednesday.
The killing raises questions over who has jurisdiction over a growing army of armed guards on merchant ships flying flags from many nations.
Ooooh. "Growing army of armed guards" sounds so sinister. Sinister enough for an acronym I think. Let's refer to them as the GAAGs from now on.
But the bureaucrats are concerned with regulation and investigations:
There's currently no regulation of private security onboard ships, no guidelines about who is responsible in case of an attack, and no industrywide standards, said piracy expert Roger Middleton from the British think tank Chatham House.
"This will be scrutinized very closely," said Arvinder Sambei, a legal consultant for the U.N.'s anti-piracy program. "There's always been concern about these (private security) companies. Who are they responsible to? ... The bottom line is somebody has been killed and someone has to give an accounting of that."
Who's responsible? Great question. Let's start with the attack itself:
Now is it the boat captain for steering his ship into the wrong neighborhood of international waters? He should have known better after all.
Or is it those renegade GAAG members, who just ask to be attacked by their very existence? Seriously, arming yourself heavily just invites violence. Why would someone want to run up on an unarmed crew and handily steal and pillage when they could have the challenge of dodging a hail of bullets Frogger-stlye. The real possibility of death and dismemberment makes the game so much more fun!
Then there's those Pirate fellas. They couldn't possibly be at fault. No, who could blame them - they're just trying to feed their families with the millions in ransom money they're attempting to pilfer from the free world. Add the lure of reciprocating violence and the chance of an attack not occurring goes to zero. They're the real victims here.
Now to the responsibility of investigations. A Pirate was sent back to where he belongs and "someone has to give an accounting of that." Right. Well, seems like the best solution is to just get rid of security, that way we won't have to have an investigation, just a messy, but paperless, clean-up job of the wasted crew.
Violent confrontations between ships and pirates are on the rise. Crews are becoming adept at repelling attacks by pirates and many more ship owners are using private security guards.
Yes, we'd all be a lot better off if we'd just stop repelling Pirate attacks and let them rape us of our wealth, because that'll definitely temper the "rise" in violent confrontations.
The International Maritime Bureau says 39 ships were fired off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden in 2008, but that number increased to 114 ships by 2009.I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with the $80 million in ransom paid during 2008.
Several organizations, including the International Maritime Bureau, have expressed fears that the use of armed security contractors could encourage pirates to be more violent in their approach.
Question: How can a Pirate be more violent in his approach if you freed him of his head during the last incident??
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