Why don't we just blow the pirates out of the water?

If you've seen the pictures of the pirates, then you know that they're in these little boats hardly any bigger than row boats. Why can't we just install a cannon or two on big commercial ships, then blow the pirates to smithereens if they get too close? It's not like we exactly lose valuable members of society when we do this.
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Mark F, this has nothing to do with skin color or religion. If I was a boat captain and a bunch of white guys tried to jack my boat, I'd want to blow them out of the water too.

firewomen

So you want us to blow ships out of the water if they get to close to our ships. I am sure they will carry big signs saying "Look at me I am the pirate."*

!truth!

With the millions of dollars ransoms payed to the pirates that same money can fund the use of Special Ops/Seals squads to travel with the merchant ships travelling the seas around Somalia and the Gulf of Aden. Those pirates operate in small boats which can be blown out of the waters with grenade launchers or hand held missile launchers. I see already how the bleeding heart liberals are reacting to the pirates being blown out of the waters. Duh! Piracy is a crime against humanity and pirates should be treated be dealt with just like terrorists.

dylanfox

you, can blow whoever you want, in or out of the water, just so long as you're both consenting adults.

mooned22

A 50 caliber machine gun would work.

Because the difference between us and them is were civilized and everything has a process

David F

Too expensive to arm all merchants.
Pirates have hostages once they board merchants.
Many ports will not allow armed merchants to dock.

And in response to an earlier post, piracy control has always been the responsibility of military forces to control.

There is a better solution than arming merchants called convoys. I'd like to see the pirates try to take over a ship with a frigate standing watch.

Mark F

Because blowing them out of the water would be a criminal act. This is a law enforcement matter, not a war. Just because their skin is darker than yours and they have a different religion does not make them subhuman.

Mercer Devil

The cost of putting cannons on every boat of a merchant fleet and maintaining them is more than the losses to pirates. It's still economically more feasible for businesses to pay the pirates' ransoms.

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