Pirate Symptoms

Britain must wake up!

A royal navy ship, an auxiliary tanker named Wave Knight, stood by whilst a rag-tag crew of mostly unarmed Somalian pirates kidnapped Paul and Rachel chandler from their yacht the Lynn Rival.

Yes WARNING shots were fired from the Navy vessel with its hundred strong crew, two 30mm cannon and four machine guns, but the Pirates were happy to ignore this, if it were an American vessel would they have ignored it I wonder. Would the heavily armed tanker simply have stooged around waiting until the pirates had secured their prey and left? I think not.

To compound the cowardly inaction the government has said that it will not pay the ransom demanded by the pirates... well I am sorry but is this not exactly the same as putting their lives at risk? The official excuse for inaction was that the captain was worried about causing casualties to the hostages... now we are still inactive but that inaction is risking their lives!

This is a symptom of how weak Britain has become internationally that even a band of ill equipped hoodlums know for certain they have nothing to fear from our forces.

The official excuse was that the captain was worried about causing casualties to the hostages. Well sorry but if his men are such rubbish shots with their modern weaponry that they cannot blow the bow or stern off a shoddy pirate craft or hole her beneath the waterline, then stand off and watch her sink then they should be replaced with people who can and will.

What should have happened is the craft shopuld have been sunk from underneath both the pirates and hostages. Then they can all swim (try swimming holding a weapon for any length of time) until they are exhausted, or sharks appear, and the pirates are begging to be let aboard the RN ship.

This is just a symptom of the lack-lustre do-nothing attitude that has pervaded britain for the last 30 years.

I say the captain of the Wave Knight should face a Court Martial and the relatives of the hostages.