Self-help Off Somalia?

摘要

Commodore Bob Davidson, commanding officer of Coalition Task Force (CTF) 150, told Fairplay. "There's got to be an element of self-help. There needs to be security on board - it has to be armed. If they don't have weapons and fire back then [the pirates] will get on board." He pointed out that CTF's primary mission is not counter-piracy, despite what many in the industry might wish. Legal limitations prevent the force from taking decisive action against pirate bases. The main focus of Davidson's command is to deny and deter terrorists and theirrnoperations. That means looking for 'persons of interest'and intercepting the maritime drug trade which funds counter-terrorist operations in central Asia.rnWith just three ships and an area of 2.4M square miles to cover, it is very difficult for CTF 150 to disrupt a hijacking in progress unless a naval vessel is on the spot. This was the case with the Stella Marls, which was 60n-miles from the nearest coalition ship when it was seized on 20 July.