I’m sorry. I just don’t get it. Imagine yourself, if you can, a Somali pirate out on the open waters marauding, looking for your next victim to pillage. All of a sudden, you see a ship off in the distance and decide, “looks like a good day for a raid.” As you get closer, you must see the U.S. flag and yet you still fire on a United States Navy ship? These are some of the bravest buccaneers around or the most pea-brained pirates ever.
According to an article in the Huffington Post, a Somali boat, filled with brainless bandits opened fire on the USS Ashland, mounting the third such attack in two weeks. One would think, that after President Obama gave the order to kill the pirates that took U.S. Maersk Alamba Captain Richard Phillips hostage last year, they would wake up just a bit.
The captains on these outlaw skiffs must be the greatest motivational speakers ever. Move over Zig Ziglar and Tony Robbins. Can you imagine giving, better yet, following the order to “open fire” on a U.S. Navy warship? For a new definition of lunatic looters, I nominate the latest round of Somali simpletons.
As for our side, I’m all over pirate diplomacy backed with a bit of gunpowder!
Afghanistan Moves from Opium to Lithium?
This has to fall into the category of “game changer” for the United States, Afghanistan, the Taliban and the very war itself. Seems U.S. geologists recently found vast reservoirs of natural minerals buried beneath the war torn country. According to the New York Times article, over $1 trillion of mineral deposits, including lithium, lay scattered beneath the rugged Afghan terrain.
You gotta wonder what will this do to the ongoing U.S. strategy both in country and throughout the entire region.
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