It's about time. TimesAn international armada was preparing to head towards the Somali coast yesterday as the stand-off with pirates holding a Ukrainian ship to ransom threatened to escalate.
....
Amid warnings that an effective blockade by the pirates could spark a famine in the Horn of Africa, European Union defence ministers meeting in Paris agreed to set up a naval taskforce to tackle the threat.
Two Royal Navy frigates, HMS Chatham and HMS Lancaster, are already in the region and could join the proposed fleet.US military sources said that there was no international legal mandate to take such action, although steps were under way to seek approval from the United Nations.
The World Food Programme says that security against pirates is needed urgently if Somalia is to receive supplies to avert a famine on the scale of the 1980s.
“Plans to beef up the EU's anti-piracy taskforce with several frigates which can escort boats carrying food cannot come too soon,” Peter Goossens, of the World Food Programme for the east African country, said.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Europe Declares War against Somali Pirates
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
"US military sources said that there was no international legal mandate to take such action, although steps were under way to seek approval from the United Nations."
This is what I do not understand - why do you need a "legal mandate" to deal with outlaws? This is why the barbarians laugh at us. Conferring legal status on "unlawful combatants" and pirates - this is why western civilization is doomed...
I don't understand. Europe is finally responding to this? The US Navy already has 3 warships that surrounded the cargo ship to ensure the pirates don't attempt to offload any of the cargo.
I think they've declared war on Somali pirates in general
Post a Comment