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The Pirate State
Piracy has been a mainstay of Islamic culture since the beginning of the religion. Although they had conquered the southern rim of the Mediterranean Sea, they had no ability to make proper use of it for trade. Instead, they became the greatest pirates of all time. From the 9th century on, piracy was a mainstay of Islamic culture.
In 1801 Thomas Jefferson sent a flotilla to deal with the Barbary Pirates. Once they had been soundly defeated in battle they were quite happy to allow safe commerce for American shipping. No kidding.
Iran, in the great tradition of Islamic piracy, is using the Strait of Hormuz to extort the shipping going through. Of course, they would also like to be extorting all of the shipping going through Suez and, to that end, have hired on the Houthi jihadists to attempt to take control of Yemen. So far they haven’t managed to accomplish this but not for lack of trying.
Great Britain has thwarted the Iranians by stopping one of their oil tankers. Tehran, pirate central, claims that the British are behaving like pirates. Instead of taking these claims to the UN or some such international body, they have tried to attack British ships in the Straits. What a surprise.
They have planted bombs on the hulls of tankers. They have tried to rush a warship with their fast boats. They have tried to attack a warship with a remote-controlled bomb ship.
Britain has hundreds of years of experience dealing with pirates and has now sent its third warship to the Straits to deal with the Pirate State.
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused Britain of “piracy” after the Royal Marines seized a supertanker believed to be carrying Iranian crude oil to Syria on July 5.
He has called for the immediate release of the oil tanker Grace 1, which was detained on suspicion it was breaking European sanctions by taking oil to Syria.
In a TV speech, the Ayatollah said: “Evil Britain commits piracy and steals our ship and gives it a legal appearance.
“Iran and those who believe in our system will not leave such vicious deeds unanswered.”
Mysteriously, I have been receiving communications from Scapa Flow (Britain’s chief naval base in WWI and WWII). These signals may have bounced back from some radiation belt far out in space and are thus quite old.
Hmm … the tune does sound familiar. Perhaps we should listen to something more modern. This is from Her Majesty’s Royal Marines. They took control of the Iranian Oil Tanker.
Yes, yes, of course, I recognize it now. Hopefully, the idiot Iranians will recognize it too.
Published in General
Rudyard Kipling
“Soldier an’ Sailor Too”
As I was spittin’ into the Ditch aboard o’ the Crocodile,
I seed a man on a man-o’-war got up in the Reg’lars’ style.
‘E was scrapin’ the paint from off of ‘er plates, an’ I sez to ‘im, “‘Oo are you?”
Sez ‘e, “I’m a Jolly — ‘Er Majesty’s Jolly — soldier an’ sailor too!”
Now ‘is work begins by Gawd knows when, and ‘is work is never through;
‘E isn’t one o’ the reg’lar Line, nor ‘e isn’t one of the crew.
‘E’s a kind of a giddy harumfrodite — soldier an’ sailor too!
An’ after I met ‘im all over the world, a-doin’ all kinds of things,
Like landin’ ‘isself with a Gatlin’ gun to talk to them ‘eathen kings;
‘E sleeps in an ‘ammick instead of a cot, an’ ‘e drills with the deck on a slew,
An’ ‘e sweats like a Jolly — ‘Er Majesty’s Jolly — soldier an’ sailor too!
For there isn’t a job on the top o’ the earth the beggar don’t know, nor do —
You can leave ‘im at night on a bald man’s ‘ead, to paddle ‘is own canoe —
‘E’s a sort of a bloomin’ cosmopolouse — soldier an’ sailor too.
We’ve fought ’em in trooper, we’ve fought ’em in dock, and drunk with ’em in betweens,
When they called us the seasick scull’ry-maids, an’ we called ’em the Ass Marines;
But, when we was down for a double fatigue, from Woolwich to Bernardmyo,
We sent for the Jollies — ‘Er Majesty’s Jollies — soldier an’ sailor too!
They think for ’emselves, an’ they steal for ’emselves, and they never ask what’s to do,
But they’re camped an’ fed an’ they’re up an’ fed before our bugle’s blew.
Ho! they ain’t no limpin’ procrastitutes — soldier an’ sailor too.
You may say we are fond of an ‘arness-cut, or ‘ootin’ in barrick-yards,
Or startin’ a Board School mutiny along o’ the Onion Guards;
But once in a while we can finish in style for the ends of the earth to view,
The same as the Jollies — ‘Er Majesty’s Jollies — soldier an’ sailor too!
They come of our lot, they was brothers to us; they was beggars we’d met an’ knew;
Yes, barrin’ an inch in the chest an’ the arm, they was doubles o’ me an’ you;
For they weren’t no special chrysanthemums — soldier an’ sailor too!
(Continued)
To take your chance in the thick of a rush, with firing all about,
Is nothing so bad when you’ve cover to ‘and, an’ leave an’ likin’ to shout;
But to stand an’ be still to the Birken’ead drill is a damn tough bullet to chew,
An’ they done it, the Jollies — ‘Er Majesty’s Jollies — soldier an’ sailor too!
Their work was done when it ‘adn’t begun; they was younger nor me an’ you;
Their choice it was plain between drownin’ in ‘eaps an’ bein’ mopped by the screw,
So they stood an’ was still to the Birken’ead drill, soldier an’ sailor too!
We’re most of us liars, we’re ‘arf of us thieves, an’ the rest are as rank as can be,
But once in a while we can finish in style (which I ‘ope it won’t ‘appen to me).
But it makes you think better o’ you an’ your friends, an’ the work you may ‘ave to do,
When you think o’ the sinkin’ Victorier’s Jollies — soldier an’ sailor too!
Now there isn’t no room for to say ye don’t know — they ‘ave proved it plain and true —
That whether it’s Widow, or whether it’s ship, Victorier’s work is to do,
An’ they done it, the Jollies — ‘Er Majesty’s Jollies — soldier an’ sailor too!
which it has thrown out the window.
Prior to the last half of the 20th century, the royal navy, upon encountering harassing vessels, would have sunk them. If the vessel was flagless, any survivors would have been hanged for piracy.
Prior to the first half of the 20th century, the survivors would have been sodomized before hanging.
Prior to the second half of the 20th century, mass electronic news reporting wasn’t really a thing.
I admit to being a bit curious about the “Blow Fish Type” remote control explosive boat pictured above. In early 2004, Iraqi insurgents were attempting to attack and disrupt maritime operations in the north end of the Persian Gulf with such devices (although those were crude and unsophisticated in comparison to the Houthi version illustrated here.) Those early attempts mostly failed; have these Blow Fish been more successful?
I find it hard to believe that any significant fraction of the Houthi weapons are actually indigenous.
ct,
You said it. The Houthi represent less than 1/4 of the population of Yemen. They are mostly in the northwest away from the major cities. Other than pure jihadist genocidal tactics, they have a good steady supply of Iranian weapons and training. These are the “oppressed” that the idiots at the NYTimes think should be “supported” in their “liberation” movement.
Stupidity is the hallmark of Western Leftist Media but as Andrew Klavan likes to say, I repeat myself.
Regards,
Jim
UPDATE: THE PIRATE STATE STRIKES AGAIN!
The Pirate State is really looking for trouble.
Regards,
Jim
Performing sodomy upon a pirate does not strike me as being a particularly attractive prospect. Those Royal Navy lads must have been really, really hard up.
I was just at Portsmouth last week.
Nelson’s Victory and the Queen Elizabeth II
“The cabin boy the cabin boy the dirty little nipper,
He stuck some glass, inside his a–
And circumcised the skipper”
…when Winston was at the Admiralty, the Board objected to some suggestion of his on the grounds that it would not be in accord with naval tradition. ‘Naval tradition? Naval tradition?’ said Winston. ‘Monstrous. Nothing but rum, sodomy, prayers and the lash.’
Your first paragraph errs in trying to make piracy intrinsic and unique to Islamic culture. Even by your own terms Islamic piracy begins only in the 9th century, two hundred years after the founding of the religion. And it begins in the area of North Africa, previously run by the Vandals, Christian barbarians who were the pirate scourges of the Mediterranean during the 5th and 6th centuries. Piracy was endemic in that sea for 2,000 years. One of the great accomplishments of Rome was to finally bring piracy under control for a few centuries, the only time before the 19th century that happened.
As for trade, it was the piracy of the Knights Hospitallers on Rhodes, which interfered with trade between Constantinople, Alexandria and other ports, that led Suleiman to conquer the island in 1522.
And, of course we have plenty of examples of widespread endemic piracy elsewhere. The Vikings, in East and Southeast Asia, and the 17th and 18th century piracy hotbed of the Caribbean and the Atlantic Coast of North America. My recollection is none of that involved Islam.
Gumby,
This is strawman time again. I didn’t say they were the “only” pirates. I simply said that piracy (not to mention the slave trade) was a mainstay of their culture. This means it has been consistently a large part of their culture from the beginning to the present day. The question isn’t about purity but about Islam failing to progress. Democracy, Rights, Toleration of other religions, all seem to have not happened. The enlightenment didn’t happen for them. The rule of law on the high seas also didn’t happen for them.
Unfortunately, piracy is all too normal for them.
Regards,
Jim
UPDATE: THE PIRATE STATE GET’S HIT BACK
Regards,
Jim
Fox is reporting that the drone was jammed by the USN. I was hoping that they had told R2-D2 to give it a 20mm squirt.
Perci,
What’s nice about R2-D2 is that it is a totally self-contained system, radar and all. The footprint isn’t that big either so it’s ideal for retrofit on older boats or to increase the punch of new ones with more R2-D2s. With ever more asymmetric schtick going on, I think having a nice little system like this to welcome interlopers is just perfect. Decide to thumb your nose at a real warship and it could be the last act of violent nonsense you try. This might seem a bit harsh but when these jerks get hold of civilian crews they kill them so bye, bye jerks you earned it.
R2-D2 is also the last line of defense for incoming missiles. Just so handy.
Regards,
Jim
Shouldn’t they wait until they have nukes before inviting us to attack them?
Who is the Master are they baiting the west so blatantly for? Perhaps, one of their Masters need to get something into orbit, or clean up after the NY and other grid mischief, yes?
Iran is too obvious. Almost certainly not the real action going down right now.
Looks like the Iranians have grabbed a British tanker in the Persian Gulf.
Iran Seizes UK Tanker For “Violating International Regulations”
Now it gets interesting…..
Time to send in HMS Ludicrous or whatever now passes for the Royal Navy.
Not sure how I want this to go.
Kozak,
You are dealing with the Pirate Nation. They didn’t go to the U.N. and complain they took hostages. Standard operating procedure for the Pirate Nation. Mealy mouthed western journalists will now pseudo-justify their behavior. “If only we hadn’t put so much pressure on them, if only we hadn’t provoked them, if only we had just caved-in to their extortionate demands.” blah blah blah.
We are living in a country where the Commander-In-Chief is constantly vilified in the most grotesque terms. Now we are going to face a test. I’ve got an “If only” too. If only we had realized who we were dealing with we would have escorted every single Tanker through the Straits of Hormuz and shot a few fast boots out of the water if they got too close.
Can’t cry over the spilled milk now.
Regards,
Jim
And looks like they just seized a second tanker….
Well, HMS Elizabeth II looked like a pretty formidable ship, see my picture above.
But no doubt they will have to call on us.
Iran just committed an act of war on a NATO ally.
HMS Ludicrous and HMS Ridiculous fire a bunch of cruise missiles at Iranian naval targets. Iran responds by launching 6 nuclear tipped IRBMs at the UK. Aegis ashore in Romania takes out 4. Two get deflected a bit and hit Paris and Brussels.
Whatever really happens, it is unlikely to involve Teresa May saying “Some chicken! Some neck!”
Does Iran currently have that capability?
Even with aircraft (which it currently lacks) it is hardly formidable. They could probably rush 10 F-35Bs into service which would provide little benefit as they all would have to be dedicated to air defense.
The UK’s key assets would be to put Eurofighters in bases in several Gulf States and send in a sub or two.
In that case the local temperature in Tehran will approximate 1 million degrees for a few milliseconds.
Almost assuredly. Given the size of Iran’s uninspected military program, they likely have 10-20 warheads. The whole point of the “deal” was to increase their breakout capability to quickly get from that 20 or so to 200-400.
Kozak,
The idiot press takes one so far from reality that if you didn’t mention this I might have forgotten. Of course, what are the monkeys in Brussels worth at this point? The idiot Macron and the new very German Woman running the EU are living in their magic dreamworld of the EU Army. The Maginot Line was much more likely to succeed than the EU Army but who cares when you are knee-deep in your globalist wonderland.
Who knows how Eva Braun will react.
I can just hear it now. “If Trump hadn’t been so bellicose none of this would have happened.” Then next week those cute innocent little Iranian Jihadist murderers will test-fire a missile that lands in the Baltic Sea. Soon she will invite the Mullahs to help craft Sharia Law in Brussels because she is so flexible. Then when she is wearing a hajib and sitting beneath the feet of the Ayatollah surely she will be demonstrating the “leadership” qualities that a woman can bring to a supreme executive position.
I have a headache.
Regards,
Jim