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| 5/17 |
| 2008/12/4-9 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Domestic/President/Clinton] UID:52162 Activity:kinda low |
12/4 Regarding the Somalian pirates, how about sailing some decoy
ships back and forth around there, clandestinely armed, and
give the pirates a very nasty shock?
\- this is not a hard problem to solve. there just inst much
interest in solving it on the part of the us govt. i.e.
it's a issue of priority, not technique.
\_ Does a decoy ship work? How do you make your decoy ship more
attractive than the hundreds of ships out there? I don't think
pirates choose the ships the same way pick-pocketers choose their
victims by picking a seemingly vunerable one out of random
victims by picking a seemingly vulnerable one out of random
passers-by.
\_ You put out a big sign that says "I'm just a poor undefended
freighter loaded with gold. And poor me without any crew to
guard me. Please don't hijack me."
\_ Just say "Parlay"
\_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship
\_ The obvious thing to do is to take over the Somalia government
for a regime change, put in a puppet ruler of your choice
or better yet, hold elections so it looks like it's their
own fault for picking a leader nobody likes. Then you write
constitutions in the new government, and MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
\_ You mean like what Clinton tried to do with Aidid?
\_ Yeah, something like that, except O will have to stick
around long enough to make sure it is done right.
\_ how about "encouraging" a friendly neigbor, say, Ethiopia,
to invade and install a suitable government...
\_ Which country would want to invade a devestated messy country
and set a foot into the mud? "There is no other country like
America!"
\_ The UN, with US leadership, would do it. This is a great
opportunity for Obama to start to rebuild the shattered
International community, that Bush so badly damaged.
\_ Although I still think the international community should do
something about this problem, once I read up on WHY the Somalis
resort to piracy things made more sense. Many of these Somalis
were fisherman, but the factory trawlers that scraped their fishing
areas clean of fish have destroyed that livelihood -- first they
tried attacking the trawlers but the trawlers fought back -- now
they just make their money from piracy.
\_ And they fight back against evil fish sailors aboard the Flying
Dutchman, yarrr.. |
| 5/17 |
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| en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship submarine was by gunfire or by ramming while on the surface. One solution to this problem was the creation of the Q-ship, one of the most closely-guarded secrets of the war. These would be known to the Germans as a U-Boot-Falle ("U-boat trap"). The Q-ship would pose as an easy target for the U-boat but in fact carry hidden armament. A typical Q-ship would be an old-looking tramp steamer calmly sailing alone near an area where a U-boat was reported to be operating. By posing as a suitable target for the use of the U-boat's deck gun, the Q-ship would encourage the U-boat captain to bring his vessel to the surface rather than use one of his expensive torpedoes, which were in short supply. The cargoes of the Q-ships would be wooden caskets and wood (eg, balsa or cork) so even if torpedoed they would stay afloat, encouraging the U-boat to surface and use its gun. If necessary the crew could even stage an "abandon ship" routine. Once the U boat was in a suitable position the Q-ship would change rapidly, false panels would drop to reveal the hidden guns which would start firing. U-boat commanders found peacetime conditions prevailing along the coast: towns and cities were not blacked-out and navigational buoys remained lighted; shipping followed normal routines and "carried the normal lights." United States Fleet (Cominch), sent a coded dispatch to Commander, Eastern Sea Frontier (CESF), requesting immediate consideration of the manning and fitting-out of "Queen" ships to be operated as an antisubmarine measure. USS Anacapa (AG-49) formerly the lumber transport Coos Bay which was converted to Q-ship duty as project "Love William." Anacapa was not successful in engaging any enemy submarines, although she is believed to have damaged two friendly subs with depth charges when they were improperly operating in her vicinity. Anacapa was also withdrawn from Q-ship duty in 1943 and served out the remainder of WWII as an armed transport in the South Pacific and Aleutian Islands. Q-car") has subsequently been used to describe cars that have much higher than average performance (often through extensive modification) but look like conventional, uninteresting family transport. |