Comments on: What would you do?

By: Bren May

Bren May — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:11:08 +0000

Have you thought of getting Al Jazeera news involved, I watched an interesting interview with a muslim leader who was gaining ground and popularity in Somalia. Maybe Al Jazeera can put up a small reward for an exclusive and use their contacts. It would be a very good way for both parties involved in the release to gain a lot of support from the west. Also monies obtained from the exclusive being sold on to other TV channels could be far in excess of any ransome paid. It costs money to feed and guard hostages, it may be time for the gang to let go and save face.

By: Ray Jenner

Ray Jenner — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:11:34 +0000

Use ‘Q’ ships to tempt the pirates to attack, any surviving pirates should be hanged at sea.No negotiations,no Show trials.

‘Q’ ship is an outwardly ‘normal’ cargo ship, infact is a military crewed navy ship, fully armed.

Until they are afraid to attack cargo ships they will carry on.

By: David

David — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:06:06 +0000

My sympathies, of course, to the family and friends of these unfortunate people.
I searched for news of this as I had not heard anything for a while, and would like to hear that they are safe and well (and ideally, free).

But the sad reality is that, although giving a sack of cash to these people could free the Chandler’s, it would NOT make the general situation in the area safer. It would only serve to make it worse. The very reason that this continues to happen (and it happens a lot) is that many nations DO give in, and continue to give vast amounts of money to these ‘pirates’. And that makes it worth their while to continue to do it.
If nobody ever paid them ransom money, they would soon give up.
It’s the fact that they know that people WILL give them money that inspires them to continue.
But yes, if it were members of my own family there, then I would probably be trying to find a pile of cash, and not be too concerned about the rest of mankind!

By: admin

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 03:00:10 +0000

Jessica, I suggest you re-read what this site is about. It appears you may have overlooked the fact that this is exactly what your first sentence suggests.

By: Howard Stern

Howard Stern — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:57:00 +0000

These people do not think as we do; they are now mind blinded by their greed, multiple successes and fundamentalist religious beliefs. Neither are they afraid nor will they be intimidated and if they die in their cause they see it as honourable so you have a tough adversary. Currently they see themselves as invincible.
The British Gvt cannot enter into open payments for ransom as it would open the floodgates; nor can they afford the political fallout that would emanate from the Islamic world following any military action. Just look at what the Gvt didn’t do for the Brits caught up in Saudi in 2004/5 as an example or the joint ops of the early 90’s in Mogadishu? Sadly, politics, oil and Arab/Islamic investment in London has tied our Gvt’s hands. However, every such group has an Achilles heel; a weakness, which may be a need or a local pressure point – its just a case of finding it. Terrible as this story is and their suffering, realism calls for a pragmatic approach reconising that this will be a long haul and it will require some “outside-the-box” thinking to find a solution. The pen may be mighter than the sword on this one. Who is negotiating this case on the Chandlers behalf?

By: Dylan Samarawickrama

Dylan Samarawickrama — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 22:26:34 +0000

I think the joint international ventures patrolling the Somali region is a joke if you can’t even shoot at those who are equipped with arms and trying to abduct people or highjack ships. This is exactly where we have to adopt a different strategy by making a law which can work effectively.

The region should be declared under curfew and whoever crosses the international waters without a permit & armed with weapons should be blown off without asking questions. It’s OK f you don’t want to go into Somalia and start fighting these rats. Americans once tried it and failed. I can understand if you don’t want to see too many civilians getting killed. But any small boat which crosses the international waters should be dealt with as potential pirates and should be eliminated without any European courts getting involved. Law is good as long as you deal with terrorists who are afraid of dying or scared of any punishment. But if anyone comes to harm another person knowing that he puts his life at risk should not be spared. Take Sri Lanka as an example. They wiped out a 30 year old terrorism fighting the most feared and the biggest terrorist organisation of the world very successfully! How did they do it? They just ignored the “the law” which protect the suicidal culture of the Terrorists. The result is now anyone can travel in busses trains or go to market places in Sri Lanka without having this fear in mind “is there a bomb here somewhere?”

By: Jessica Sheppard

Jessica Sheppard — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:41:15 +0000

Can’t someone set up a donation website for the hostage fee, yes this might be interpreted as feeding their activities; however, the people who have taken them would set them free and activities could be undertaken to advise other people how to prevent falling into the hands of pirates. I don’t think a moral victory is a just reason for their continued captivity. I would donate all I could afford.

By: Jenny - Notts

Jenny - Notts — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:16:33 +0000

I knew Paul & Rachel when they first got together more than 25 years ago – they are truly delightful, gentle people and I am horrified at the FCO’s recently overriding a kind gentleman’s offer to pay a considerable amount of money in order to free them – I almost entirely agree with toby’s comments.

I await my lottery win with eager anticipation and nothing the cruel b******s at the FCO would do could stop me getting them out. AND THAT’S A PROMISE.

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 21:56:38 +0000

“I think its shocking that these people are still in captivity…. surely this is what we pay the SAS and SBS for?? Time to take the leash off and let the dogs loose to find these people and prove that Britons ANYWHERE are not to be messed with …. it worked for the romans !!”
This is what Rob said, back up the Thread a ways and I totally agree.
I cant believe this situation has been going for so very long, those poor people.
Here’s the thing I dont understand, the government cant pay the ransom. That makes perfect sense, but they’ve blocked attempts of privately raised money being paid over too ? How can they do that when surey that’s exactly what the Shipping insurers are doing all the time, every time a merchant ship or Tanker is taken, after a few months of negociation huge sacks containing millions of dollars are air dropped to the pirates ? If the government cant stop that practice then how can they block a private collection for the release of the Chandlers ? It’s my understanding that the K&R people had negociated their release down as low as 100k at one point ? With around 1500 ships a year passing through the Suez canal on through the Gulf of Aden and around 50 ships a year being taken by Somali Pirates with easy payouts of 3-10 million dollars being rutinely paid out then sadly our government blocking a relatively tiny payment for the Chandlers really wont have much effect on this ongoing problem. Something has to be done, there’s a time and a place for coalition forces and this is one of them ! There are plenty of wishy washy reasons for our troops to be in Afganistan but not a single concrete one, so why are we there when there is a real and easily defined situation with these pirates in Somalia, yet we turn a blind eye to it ? Our global economy is effected partly by the cost of shipping around the Horn of Africa and Shipping companies are now paying out small fortunes in added insurence and private security companies ! It nuts isn’t it that these Pirates can prowl around the indian ocean plucking Merchant ships out of transit like packs of Hyenas taking down a mighty Wildebeest ?
Pay for the Chandlers, put security on all merchant ships along the irtc and send in coalition forces to root out the Warlords… Coupled with paying Somali coastguard handsomely to patrol the hotspots along the coast ( ok, they’d mostly be made up of pirates, but they’d be paid far more than their punitive share from boarding a capturing a ship?).
These are just my thoughts, they may or may not work but I’m sure if enough people put their heads together then this situation could be quelled ?

By: Toby

Toby — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:07:40 +0000

i think these bloody bastards should get a life. wondering around with guns scaring the hell out of people, who do they think we are. I am writing a letter to the PRIME MINSTER and thats that. I will ask him questions and then approach him with the think I will ask ‘FREE THE CHANDLERs’ (in the nicest way possible) he will then feel quilty and hopefully negotiate with parliament. then we will send HMS northumberland in and surround somalia. contact the police and army and maybe take as many hostages as possible. if you would like to be at the end of the letter , email me with some ideas of what else to do to approach this appaling and devastating disaster.

Email: toby.j.ware@googlemail.com