Happy Easter! (Again)

He Has Risen! He Has Risen Indeed!

Just had to make sure that everyone knew it was Easter. My Original "Easter Sunday" Blog was actually written on "Good Friday", and since I posted a bunch of stuff over the weekend, I was afraid that the news of our risen savior would be lost in the clutter, which happens all too often in our own lives.

Posted are a couple of really cool pictures I found from my last tour in Iraq. The above picture is a British Rolls Royce Armored Car from the British Mesopotamian Campaign in 1920. Above the 1920 picture is an Uparmored HMMWV being used by the Iraqi Army in Iraq (it is identical to the US Version except for different radios and crew-served weapons) from last year. The more things change, the more they stay the same!

UPDATE Captain Richard Phillips, Captain of the SS Maersk Alabama has been freed reportedly after Navy SEALS killed three of his captors shooting from the fantail of the USS Bainbridge, which was towing the captors and captain on a captured lifeboat.

I spoke with my father, Jim Kaserman, who has done extensive research on piracy and written a few books, reference this issue. Dad's take on this is that the killing of the pirates could potentially lead to escalation along the Somali coast. Up until now, very little blood has been shed. For the Somalis, this has been a cash transaction with little risk. The few casualties we have seen were mostly due to accidents. With this intentional take down of the pirates, no matter how justified, the US has raised the ante, and the pirates may seek retribution in order to save face and scare merchant fleet owners into pressuring the US Navy behind the scenes to stop anti-piracy actions.

Hopefully, we are willing to bear the cost of fighting piracy not only in the Aden Gulf and Indian Ocean, but worldwide. The straights of Malacca are still a pirate hot-spot, and drug smuggling in the Caribbean, with it's use of stolen and hijacked ships, boats and planes has become a first-cousin to outright piracy. At one time, this seemed like a no-brainer; however, I have seen the war-weariness in our population with regards to both Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the pro-drug legalization movement in the US, I am not so sure that we have the national will to stay the course. Ransoms are cheaper than Destroyers and SEAL Teams. Anti-piracy is a lot like seaborne counterinsurgency, or at least a form of Stability Operations combined with Military Support to Civil Authorities. Considering how quickly many in our media, academia and political class tire of these long, hard missions and turn against them, if I were a Coast Guard Acquisition Officer, I would probably start researching how long it will take to design a long-range helicopter optimized for dropping ransoms to pirates. I hope I am wrong, but based on our recent experience in Iraq, I am expecting a "Code Pink" protest any day now in support of the Somali "Freedom of the Sea Fighters" and hear congressmen calling those SEALS who took out the pirates using night vision devices cold-blooded murderers and/or assassins on the floor of the house.

Hope I'm Waaay off base on that one!

Happy Easter (and a Belated Passover for my Jewish friends).

Sincerely,

Rick