Oops

[Jim147]

Okay Ivan, who thought it would be funny to tie the life raft line to the prop.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8675978.stm

Ten suspected Somali pirates captured by the Russian navy last week may have perished after their release, a defence source in Moscow has told reporters.
Marines seized them during a dramatic operation to free a hijacked Russian oil tanker far from shore, killing an 11th suspect in the gun battle.
They were released in an inflatable boat without navigational equipment.
Within an hour, contact was lost with the boat's radio beacon, the defence source said.
"It seems that they all died," the unnamed source was quoted as saying by Russia's Interfax news agency.
Russia initially said the 10 pirates would be taken to Moscow to face criminal charges over the hijacking, but they were released instead because there were not sufficient legal grounds to detain them, the defence ministry in Moscow said.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which Russia is a signatory, gives sovereign nations the right to seize and prosecute pirates.
Western officials were very surprised when the Russian authorities dropped plans to put the pirates on trial in Moscow, the BBC's Richard Galpin reports from Moscow.
Now there is even more surprise the pirates were set adrift in the Indian Ocean to make their own way home, he adds.
Unknown factors
The tanker, the Moscow University, was seized on 5 May some 350km (190 nautical miles) off the Yemeni island of Socotra as it sailed for China, carrying crude oil worth $50m (£33m).

Marines from the Russian warship Marshal Shaposhnikov stormed the ship the following day, freeing the 23 Russian crew members who had locked themselves in a safe room after disabling their ship.
Cdr John Harbour, spokesman for the EU naval force in Somalia, Navfor, said the Russian navy had been within its rights to release the suspects.
It was, he told the BBC News website, impossible to judge their situation without knowing the details of the boat - described as an inflatable by Russian sources - and the radio beacon they had been given.
It was quite likely the Russian ship lost radar contact with the boat after an hour, Cdr Harbour said, while the signal from the beacon would depend on the strength of its battery and whether or not it could be detected by satellite.
The Navfor spokesman suggested the loss of navigational equipment would not necessarily be critical if there was an experienced mariner among the 10 men on the boat.
Stressing that nothing could be said for sure without knowledge of the boat, the weather and other factors, he noted that pirates had been known to operate up to 1,200 nautical miles (2,200km) from the Somali coast.

That's one way to deal with the problem.

But what is Hizbul Islam up to?

jim

[AJ Dual]

IMO, the Russians shot them, dumped them overboard, and then went with the life-raft story as middle-ground story with plausible deniability.

This way the Russians don't look "soft" to the people they need to look tough/hard for, but could avoid international backlash for just executing them right there, right then.

It's really about the same thing anyway, putting them adrift in a raft. Shooting is kinder. Not that I'm all broke up about it either way. 

[Bob F.]

I think I'll buy a fifth of Russian Vodka to show my support of the Russian marines!

[Nick1911]

I really enjoy the Russian approach to dealing with problems like terrorists/hostages/pirates. 

[230RN]

Brings new meaning to the expression "...without a paddle."

[crt360]

It says they were released in an inflatable boat, but it doesn't say anything about it being inflated.  :D

[White Horseradish]

It says they were released in an inflatable boat, but it doesn't say anything about it being inflated.  :D

Air is extra.

[sanglant]

the pirates probably attacked the raft after they were on it.

[AZRedhawk44]

It says they were released in an inflatable boat, but it doesn't say anything about it being inflated.  :D

You win.

[taurusowner]

You can always depend on the Russians to behave exactly like Russians. 

[kgbsquirrel]

It says they were released in an inflatable boat, but it doesn't say anything about it being inflated.  :D

It also doesn't say anything about the pissed off freighter crew waiting for the warship to leave so they could run the raft over. Shot, uninflated raft or run over, none of which would really surprise me with the Russians and I can't say I feel bad for the pirates. 

I'm actually more surprised some other nation hasn't gone ape #$&% on the pirates and started hanging them from yard arms again.

[MicroBalrog]

I really enjoy the Russian approach to dealing with problems like terrorists/hostages/pirates. 

Especially firing MLRS batteries at hostage-takers and hostages, right?

[BrokenPaw]

<vader>"Send a distress signal, and then inform the senate that all aboard were killed"</vader>

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Especially firing MLRS batteries at hostage-takers and hostages, right?

pumping sleeping gas into the theater and killing the hostages was a pretty aggressive approach

[AJ Dual]

pumping sleeping gas into the theater and killing the hostages was a pretty aggressive approach

I was rather critical of that plan as well, but some others pointed out some things to me.

1. The main problem was that the Russian .mil would not tell medical/EMS on scene what was used. (Gaseous Fentanyl) and had they known, they could have pushed Narcan or equivalent and saved 90% or more of the hostages.

2. I can't remember if Beslan was before or afterward, but the Chechen's are not for show. They'd have killed as many if not more/all of the hostages. They knew what they were doing and were interspersed with the hostages with machine guns and explosives at the ready.

If they'd simply told the first responders what the gas was, it would have been a HUGE win for them. Stereotypically Russian of them. They're very decisive in terms of taking strong action, but are utterly paralyzed with CYA and bureaucratic authoritarianism the rest of the time.

[roo_ster]

I fully expect a Beslan on COTUS if the non-crazy muslim community can't or won't ferret out the kra-zees in their midst.

In that case, I sure hope parents & others nearby have CCW, because early and aggressive "right the &^^% now" response by the real "first responders" is the only way to prevent a massacre, once the attackers have time to set up.

[Balog]

If they do it fully Beslan style, I really doubt any CCW'ers are going to be able to stop them. Dozen guys in body armor with rifles and explosives vs sumdood with a snubby.... Might take one or two out, but stopping the attack? I doubt it.

[PTK]

Hell, half a dozen guys with AR-15s or AKs or similar, slung, chambered, and ready to go could hardly stop that. :(

[kgbsquirrel]

If they do it fully Beslan style, I really doubt any CCW'ers are going to be able to stop them. Dozen guys in body armor with rifles and explosives vs sumdood with a snubby.... Might take one or two out, but stopping the attack? I doubt it.

Sumdood dropping one or two before going down is still preferable than Sumdood just getting hosed and not taking any of the belligerents with him. Enough Sumdoods with snubbys and the belligerents are going to get whittled down a bit before the authorities show up.

*shrug* I guess I'm just for a more proactive self-defense approach than the current "curl up in a fetal position and pray" tactic being espoused by the gun-control fanatics.

[Balog]

Sumdood dropping one or two before going down is still preferable than Sumdood just getting hosed and not taking any of the belligerents with him. Enough Sumdoods with snubbys and the belligerents are going to get whittled down a bit before the authorities show up.

*shrug* I guess I'm just for a more proactive self-defense approach than the current "curl up in a fetal position and pray" tactic being espoused by the gun-control fanatics.

I'm pretty sure I never advocated being helpless or not fighting back. Merely observed that a Beslan style attack has no realistic chance of being stopped by random passers-by, no matter how well armed they may be.

[kgbsquirrel]

I'm pretty sure I never advocated being helpless or not fighting back. Merely observed that a Beslan style attack has no realistic chance of being stopped by random passers-by, no matter how well armed they may be.

Yup, I got that. Some things are just so bad ju-ju that there isn't much to be done, but I'm not about to let that deter me from trying.

[Balog]

Yup, I got that. Some things are just so bad ju-ju that there isn't much to be done, but I'm not about to let that deter me from trying.

Indeed.


I'm still surprised they haven't tried that here, but I guess it's easier for Chechens to access the Rodina than for radical Muslim groups to get enough sufficiently motivated folks over here.

[kgbsquirrel]

Indeed.


I'm still surprised they haven't tried that here, but I guess it's easier for Chechens to access the Rodina than for radical Muslim groups to get enough sufficiently motivated folks over here.

That whole Ocean thing kinda has that effect. It's harder to get a plane or ocean going ship than to swipe a pickup and drive. :)

[Harold Tuttle]

[Scout26]

Sumdood dropping one or two before going down is still preferable than Sumdood just getting hosed and not taking any of the belligerents with him. Enough Sumdoods with snubbys and the belligerents are going to get whittled down a bit before the authorities show up.

*shrug* I guess I'm just for a more proactive self-defense approach than the current "curl up in a fetal position and pray" tactic being espoused by the gun-control fanatics.

Sumdood may be enough to screw up their plan just enough.......