Pirates threaten to blow up ship

Not clever.

If they don't get paid they will ensure that they don't get paid.

This stuff is becoming pure 'Piranha Brothers.'

This story continues to be so surreal to me. Pirates in the 21 century, who'd of thought it.

If the lives of the crew cannot be saved, sadly, the destruction of the ship would be the best recourse. But the desperation in the region that would result in this kind of brazen piracy has to be addressed for the sake of our long-term security (not to mention purely humanitarian reasons, which are my main motivation). Maybe if we try to help without trying to use the humanitarian mission as a smokescreen for establishing military bases we might have more success.

The Somali government apparently have disavowed the pirates and left them to their fates. It may indeed be one less problem for that government to deal with..

By now probably the most the pirates can hope for is to get out alive and be exiled to another country.. Otherwise Somalia becomes the new Pakistan and the Russians will not ask permission to take out whoever they find at the pirate bases. And who will tell the Russian troops it's a really bad idea?

There still remain a lot of questions.

How did the pirates know what was on board a Ukrainian vessel? Or didn't they? Why didn't the vessel sail around the area not through it? Where was their protection?

When the pirates found out what was on board did they think the Russians would not react with force? Even after seeing the results in South Ossetia?

If there is any upside to this what is encouraging is that the west stepped in first to stop the off-loading of cargo. Obviously two military commanders were in contact with each other very quickly and agreed on common action.

This could be a turning point and the start of a cooperative international effort to wipe out other pirates.

In particular - "The narrow Malacca Strait between Indonesia and Malaysia is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and has long been a haunt of pirates."

this story gets better by the day..if they are willing to rid themselves of their own burden..it would save more money for the governments concerned..far better with 1 strategically placed torpedo though..

Is Johnny Depp in this movie?

attack them and force them to kill themselves, hunt down and kill their leaders and their families if necessary. That will bring about an end to this crap, sooner or later. I know a lot of you bleeding hearts will decry my viewpoint and that is fine. You who whine need to know that sometimes this is a harsh world and some people just do not give a damn who or how many die so that they can take from others. Please note also, up to this point every ship that they have held hostage they have received their requested ransom. The ship owners have created this monster by feeding it all of the money they want with no repercussions.

Brendan_M,

...are we thinking 'another armchair chickenhawk' here?

This is intense.

I wonder if they have an escape plan in the works.

I hope they just pay up and save the crew.

Brendan_Moron
Why don't you run over there to Somalia and french kiss the pirates asses till they share your bleeding heart viewpoint. You make me want vomit, its scum like you who cannot face the reality that there are unsavory people that you will never be able to reason with. That is why you are a natural born victim just waiting to be done in by bad people, but you will defend them to your dieing breath. I personally do not give a tinkers damn for tools like you who cannot handle the harsh events in life

Brendan_moron and A very moo re I have worked in 21 different countries and have an excellent understanding of the differences in societies between U.S.A. and the rest of the world. If you were able to visit some of the third world countries you would discover their utter lack of concern for the value of a human life. You would be shocked and appalled at their attitudes. So until you have those events in your life you would be better served remaining silent. As Mark Twain put it: "It is better to remain silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt".