Coast Guardsmen jump onto moving narco-sub

[Drang]

Hah! We don't even treat pirates like pirates anymore.

We take their weapons, give them water and halal meals, then set them free.

Not always, but I take your point.

[TGS]

That was an in-extremis hostage rescue, not just piracy (the act of unlawfully seizing a vessel) in itself. They weren't shot because they were pirates.

It's the policy of CTF-150/151, Ocean Shield, and Atalanta to catch and release armed persons suspected of piracy (i.e. roaming the high seas with weapons, pursuing vessels when evasive action is taken, more people than usual for a boat of its size, and not hauling any cargo or fishing). Those who are caught in the act of attempting to seize a vessel are arrested and sent to Kenya where they are almost always released due to non-prosecution.

The system is incredibly weak; no western nation treats piracy on the high seas as punishable by death anymore.

[KellyinAvon]

Totally bad ass? Yes. Were there better courses of action that could've been taken? Yes. Could you say that about every totally bad ass action in the history of forever? Yes. Did the Union Navy call? Yes. Do they want their ironclad back? Yes.

[Drang]

It's the policy of CTF-150/151, Ocean Shield, and Atalanta to catch and release armed persons suspected of piracy (i.e. roaming the high seas with weapons, pursuing vessels when evasive action is taken, more people than usual for a boat of its size, and not hauling any cargo or fishing). Those who are caught in the act of attempting to seize a vessel are arrested and sent to Kenya where they are almost always released due to non-prosecution.

I can't even begin to tell you how sad that makes me. In the 19th Century and before, the consensus was that pirates were the enemies of all civilization; I see no reason to believe otherwise today.

[Cypher]

Should it be though? Was the “war” on drugs ever brought to a close? I know I got some people fired up in the past for a similar topic, but this one seems to have even more credibility for at least a discussion. These are [presumably] foreign nationals and I assume the USCG had decent reason to believe they were smuggling illegal substances into the country. I’m curious what their ROE/EOF is and if they’re able to use some type of less than lethal/signaling method to remove any doubt that they’re attempting to stop the sub. If compliance isn’t immediate, would it be so bad if lethal force was authorized? What’s the alternative? What’s honestly going to happen to the guys in the sub?