Comments for Save The Chandlers

Comment on What would you do? 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.

Comment on What would you do? 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 ?

Comment on What would you do? 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

Comment on What would you do? by Harry Birch

Harry Birch — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:44:49 +0000

SAS is the only way
Get good intelegence then get our boys in with gliders.
Soprise the bastards free the chandlers, take as many hostages as possible and try them in the Internation court.
British Gov is not going to be black mailed.
However some thing must be done to stop Piracy, Why dont an international force occupie the coastal regions of Somalie, and make some examples of the bad guys.
As for ship owners giving money for ransom for two indivisuals. I cant see this happening.

Comment on What would you do? by alexander

alexander — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 05:07:47 +0000

If everything would be so easy as to pay x-amount of money and presto, problem solved, then we would be living in Utopia. The harsh reality of the world we live in is that it hardly ever is the solution to any and all of our problems. If we could solve poverty, hunger, violence, etc. with money, we would have done so decades ago. So what am I saying? Do not pay the ransom. Ransom payed they no longer have to care for food and lodgings of their ‘guests’. So a vacancy sign is posted in the heads of these ‘peasants’. What will you think they will venture out to do next? Use the ransom money to farm the earth, raise crops, grow beautifull flowers and live in peace and harmony with all the creatures on this beautifull planet of ours? They will kidnap again any unfortunate western traveler they can get their hands on. And now they have the means and funds to operate even further and with more modern tech at their disposal. Paying Ransom, will create an industry that will further bring instability to an ever expanding ink stain in this part of the world.
So, okay no money. What will it take? What’s the answer to most of our problems? A brutal unrelenting will to really solve ‘the problem’. It requires a critical look at what goes in and out of this region. Human and material traffic aswell as ideological-religous import and export. Political will to ‘make a change’ is what the big players in this region lack in abundance; China and Russia, Arms for natural resources; leaving the rest of us to pay for humanitary aid via the UN. Japan for their floating fishing plants that ravage the coastal waters of eastern Africa, putting Somali fisherman on the pirate trail in the first place. The Muslim world for not taking any responsibility on their part for the ungodly stories that take place in this region.(the focus is always Israel and the Filistines, there’s scores of people dying due to extremist violence every day not to mention how many people died in Darfur, but they always blindly focus on genocide commited by Israel and the poor Palestinian people that supposedly die like flies in Gaza and Westbank) And ofcourse the UN. For not taking the lead to show everyone involved the exit to a stable Eastern Africa. BTW, my best guess is SAS or MI6 already have boots on the ground or eyes in the sky searching for the wereabouts of the Chandlers.(Submarine of the coast listening in on chatter, operatives in Kenya on stand-by) A hefty ransom in turn for information leading to the liberation of the Chandlers would be very effective imo. That’s also sending a message to Pirates. It still would be a delicate and high-risk operation to secure the Chandlers. But, if succesfull it would not be encouraging the Pirates and any who fancy making obscene amounts of money by trading westerners for ransom. My solution? Offer a means of escape for informants, send out the word, save passage for you and your immediate next of kin to any commonwealth country with added bonus a finders extraction fee when and if the Chandlers are in good health standing on British soil. Make our notorious wealth and high standard of living work for the Chandlers. And if this works, well I happily stand corrected on my theory that money never solves anything. It’s probably how you use that money, be smart about who your giving it too. Fix bayonets maybe the only viable solution however I fear to bringing them home alive. There will be blood in the end, I hope it’s not theirs. The best of luck to all involved. Hope we get good news soon.

Comment on What would you do? by Brian Kerslake

Brian Kerslake — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 22:43:03 +0000

Contact the owners/governments of commercial vessels still being held hostage. Ask their owners/governments to think of the Chandlers as part of their own crew and negotiate a price for the ship + crew + Chandlers. One snag – a big one – is that the crew of the hostage vessel and the Chandlers would probably be being held by different sets of gangsters. Can anyone see a way round that?

Comment on Disturbing news regarding Rachel Chandler by Helen Simpson

Helen Simpson — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:58:00 +0000

I’ve just signed a petition & emailed no 10 – it’s appalling that this couple is still in captivity – last I saw them on tv their health was deteriorating & Rachel looked in a really anxious state.

Terrible that our government has not rescued them yet – by whatever means.

Comment on Family of British couple make appeal for their release by Blake Rogers

Blake Rogers — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:29:30 +0000

i just thought that married life is the happiest point of my life..:-

Comment on Somalia kidnap: Chandlers’ plea to Cameron by Greger S/Y Cabrima

Greger S/Y Cabrima — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:58:16 +0000

I feel ashame of the British government. Obviously you dont care about british people. I will never support anything british again!

Greger from Sweden

Comment on Somalia kidnap: Chandlers’ plea to Cameron by Bill

Bill — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 21:27:03 +0000

I believe the Government should send in a covert team of armed forces to get these people out. Surely we have the skill and resources to do this. Such action would send the necessary message to the pirates,i.e., don’t mess with us, and reduce the future risk to UK citizens.