"Dems wrestle with ethics problems"

Politico.com: Dems wrestle with ethics problems - .

So far "ethics problems" have a take down, a couple of narrow escapes and a near fall and are leading on points...

Will the last taxpayer who leaves California please turn out the lights?

Probably time to dust off Atlas Shrugged, when you read analysis like California’s Tipping Point

I think a threshold or tipping point exists in the ratio between the political power of those who pay taxes and those who consume taxes directly. After that tipping point is reached, those who pay taxes become the economic slaves of those who consume taxes.
***
In effect, government workers have hijacked democracy. Instead of state employees working for the people, the people now work for the state employees. As far as the state government is concerned, people in the private sector work merely so that they can be taxed for the benefit of the tax consumers. They’ve entered a condition not unlike like that of pre-industrial serfs.

Of course no one is being whipped, but in effect an ordinary citizen of California cannot get their desires for reduced state spending implemented due to the disproportionate power of the State’s employees and allied interest. It appears now that the government unions will not accept any solution to California’s budget crisis except increased taxes in a declining economy. Ordinary citizens have no choice but to either emigrate or just lie there and take it.

And when they emigrate, I hope they remember what drove them out of California so that they don't start the cycle again in a new state...ooops, too late...

Further, while the state workers are a problem, add in those receiving various benefits from those they vote into power . . .

My name is John Galt.

Latest ONI Worldwide Threat to Shipping Report (to 23 Jan 09) and the Latest ICC CCS Piracy Report (to 19 Jan 09)

The latest ONI Worldwide Threat to Shipping Report (to 23 Jan 09) can be found here and the latest ICC Commercial Crime Services Weekly Piracy Report (to 19 Jan 09) can be found here.

Highlights from the ONI Report:

1. UN/GULF OF ADEN: As a result of the growing piracy threat, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has proposed a number of measures to deter, arrest, and prosecute pirates in the Horn of Africa to the United Nations Security Council in December 2008. The most immediate of these is to put forward international agreements allowing law enforcement agents from the Horn of Africa region to join warships as 'ship riders' - as these are known - to circumvent legal impediments to arresting pirates on shared waters. Traditionally used to combat drug trafficking and illegal fishing, ship rider agreements are designed to remove policing barriers in international maritime boundaries, and to stop smugglers and other criminals from taking advantage of shared territorial waters for illegal activities. The practice has been employed successfully in the Caribbean to fight drug traffickers. This proposal - endorsed by the Security Council in a resolution passed in December 2008 - is an immediate response to the growing threat of piracy in the Horn of Africa. Ship rider agreements would make use of existing functional criminal justice systems in the region to be able to arrest and try pirates. Subject to a special agreement, a ship rider arrangement would allow a law enforcement officer from, for
example, Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania, or Yemen, to join a warship off the Somali coast, arrest the pirate in the name of their country and have them sent to their national court for trial. . .
***
2. ASIA: The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Center (ISC) extended its Annual Report 2008. The following is a summary of their results. The total number of incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia in 2008 has decreased compared to 2004-2007. The decrease was most evident in the ports and anchorages of Indonesia, and the port of Chittagong, Bangladesh. There were 96 incidents reported in 2008, of which 83 were actual and 13 were attempted incidents. This was a 4% decrease compared to 2007, when 100 incidents were reported, of which 77 were actual and 23 were attempted incidents. It is noted that there has been an increase in the number of actual incidents in 2008 compared to 2007. The greatest increase occurred in the Category 2 (moderately significant) incidents. There is a slight decrease in the number of Category 1 (very significant) incidents in 2008 compared to 2007. Of the Category 1 incidents reported in 2008, two were hijacking incidents. In the two hijacking incidents, the culprits were arrested, the crew rescued and the hijacked ships recovered. The number of Category 3 (less significant) incidents, comprising mainly petty theft incidents at ports and anchorages, has remained fairly consistent between 2006 and 2008. The incidents in 2008 were generally less violent compared to 2004-2007. Incidents involving assault of crew and taking hostage of crew occurred less frequently in 2008 compared to 2004-2007. Tankers were involved in a larger portion of incidents in 2008. Notably, there has been an increase in the number of incidents involved tug boats in 2008 and majority of these incidents occurred in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, and off Pulau Tioman, Malaysia. The ReCAAP ISC notes similarities in the modus operandi of the robbers operating in these areas. Theft of ship stores and engine spares made up a higher proportion of incidents reported in 2008. However, there has been a significant increase in the number of incidents which reported losses of cash and properties in 2008 compared to 2005-2007 (ReCAAP).
***
4. UN/GULF OF ADEN: An anti-piracy group held its first meeting on 14 Jan 08 at the United Nations to discuss best management practices for ships plying the Gulf of Aden and waters near the Horn of Africa if they are attacked or seized by Somali pirates. The one-day meeting at UN headquarters in New York was organized by the Contact Group on Somali Piracy, which was chaired by US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Mark T. Kimmitt. Practices suggested to ships, tankers, or passengers in pirate- infested waters call on ship masters and crews to 'offer no resistance' when boarded by pirates because it could lead to unnecessary violence and harm to the crew. The document offers steps to deal with action taken by military personnel to fight the pirates. It calls on the hostage crew to place their hands above their heads and not make sudden movement. The hands must be visible and not holding anything. 'It is expected that these best management practices will be periodically updated based upon operational experience and lessons learned,' the document said. The contact group is mandated by the UN Security Council, which has imposed sanctions, including travel bans and freeze of assets, on some individuals or groups in Somalia. The group called on states and organizations to use the practices in dealing with piracy. An initial 24 countries and five international organizations took part in the discussion in New York. Those countries include the US, Djibouti, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, Japan, India, and Russia. The African Union, the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, the International Maritime Bureau, the Joint War Committee, and the Baltic and International Maritime Council took part in the debate. The contact group said over one-third of attempted seizures of ships in the Gulf of Aden had succeeded, but it said measures adopted by ships to repel the pirates have been positive (DOS, AllAfrica.com).
***
3. NIGERIA: Loading vessel (LAMNALCO WAXBILL), tanker (FRONT CHIEF), tug
boat attacked 18 Jan 09, early morning at a crude loading platform in the Bonny oil terminal, owned by Shell and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. According to sources, Nigerian militants attempted to board the tanker (FRONT CHIEF) but were unable to do so, then turned their attention to the (LAMNALCO WAXBILL) as it was loading crude oil. The militants abducted eight Nigerians from a nearby tugboat, killing another, and wounding the captain. The militant group MEND later claimed its affiliates were behind the attack (AFP, Reuters, LL).
.
4. NIGERIA: Tanker (MEREDITH) attacked 21 Jan 09, early morning while underway in the Bonny Fairway Buoy in the Niger Delta. Heavily armed assailants riding in four speedboats hit the tanker with dynamite at around dawn as it was in transit to Port Harcourt with approximately 4,000 tons of diesel fuel. A Romanian crewmember was taken hostage but later released according to Nigerian military officials. An official said the unidentified gunmen inflicted “massive” damage on the tanker’s engine and superstructure. The militant group MEND later claimed its affiliates had carried out the attack (UPI, Reuters, AP).

Highlights from the ICC CCS Report:

* 14.01.2009: 1245 UTC: Posn: 13:02.18nN- 046:41.06E, Gulf of Aden. Eight pirates armed with guns in two boats attempted to attack a tanker underway. Master raised alarm, sent distress message, contacted coalition warships and took evasive manoeuvres. A coalition warship responded and was ready to dispatch a helicopter. Pirate boats slowed down and aborted the attempt upon noticing the British security team at the bridge wings armed with axes.

* 13.01.2009: 0810 UTC: Posn: 12:24.5N – 044:57.7E, Gulf of Aden. One boat with six pirates armed with guns / RPG chased a container ship underway. Pirates open fire with RPG. Two warships in the vicinity provided assistance to the vessel. After half an hour the attack was abandoned. The Russian warship chased the pirate boat but was instructed by Aden control not to interfere.

UPDATE: NATO Shipping Center Report as of 21 Jan 09:

(Unclass) The lull in piracy continues with no new incidents confirmed in the past week. The last recorded piracy incident was the approach of MT DAYLAM on 14 Jan.
It is believed that a combination of inclement weather conditions and recent successes by the substantial coalition and international naval forces have resulted in the present inactivity.
Negotiations are believed to be well advanced for BISCAGLIA and she may be released soon. 10 vessels remain hijacked
Japan and South Korea have agreed in principle to send naval anti piracy forces to the region in the near future.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

UPDATE2: You can download the ReCAAP 2008 Report here.

Weekend Reading

CDR Salamander's Fullbore Friday with a tale of a nearly forgotten warship.

Fred Fry's Maritime Monday 145 with pictures, links and a weekend of interesting reading to get you ready for next Monday, when I hope my schedule slacks enough to link to Fred on - oh, say - Monday...

Steeljaw Scribe has a look at a modern missile race that probably doesn't bode well . . .

Some pirate analysis which is quite good linked to by Galrahn here.

Remotely controlled Underwater Vessels from Iran? Galrahn links here, Patrick Lasswell and others have good comments. ASW trawlers? An idea whose time has come?

Daniel Sekulich, author and journalist, picks up on a the Somali-Canadian leader of the Puntland Coast Guard here from an article that appeared in Maclean's.

Rep Jack Murtha (D, PA) offers up his racist, red necked inhabitated congressional district to house the Gitmo prisoners after the Gitmo detention facility closes. I hope he offered up the land next to his house, though I wonder why this offer is not considered cruel and unusual punishment. . . Betsy Newmark updates the successes of the detainee release program.

Heh.

UPDATE: Speaking of "heh":

“The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money” –Margaret Thatcher.

Which comes from a comment here about the unraveling British economy. I say it time for a huge tax cut (or a tax holiday in the U.S.) to put money into the pockets of the citizens instead of those selected by the politicians for special favors. That way, if I spend money on renovating my office, it's no one's concern but mine . . .

Somali Pirates: Legal Pact for Trials Near?

One of several international legal stumbling blocks in thwarting Somali pirates has been a lack of an agreed place to hold trials and to imprison captured pirates. Now, it may be that an agreement to end that impasse is near, according to this:

Captured Somali pirates could soon face trials and serve jail sentences outside their homeland under a pact being negotiated between American officials and regional allies, the head of a new U.S. anti-piracy task force said Friday.

The lack of an international framework to bring pirates to justice is among the many frustrations for naval forces struggling to curb rising attacks on merchant vessels off lawless Somalia, where pirates launched more than 100 assaults on ships last year and took away millions of dollars in ransom.

Rear Adm. Terence McKnight told The Associated Press an accord could be reached within weeks to clear the way for piracy trials and imprisonment in countries "in the region." He declined, however, to name the nations possibly willing to hold the trials.

"We're working with a couple of countries that have helped ... out before," McKnight said in a telephone interview from the USS San Antonio, which began anti-piracy patrols last week along with another U.S. warship.

It is a step in the right direction.

Somali Pirates: China Rewards Fighting Merchant Crew

Remember the dramatic photos of the crew of a Chinese merchant crew preparing "Molotov cocktails" to greet armed Somali pirates who boarded their ship? See here. Their shipping company now has provided the crew with bonuses for preventing the capture of the ship, as set out here:

A Shanghai shipping company has rewarded 30 of its seamen with 10,000 U.S. dollars each after they successfully fought off a pirate attack off Somalia in the Gulf of Aden.

Each crew member of the cargo ship, Zhenhua 4, was being rewarded for their bravery and courage, said Guan Tongxian, president of Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co.

The crew received the reward in a commendation ceremony at Changxing Island Port, after their vessel returned to Shanghai on Thursday morning to be welcomed by crowds of people.

Nine pirates armed with rocket launchers and heavy machine guns boarded the ship on Dec. 17. The crew locked themselves in cabins, using fire hoses and self-made firebombs to keep the attackers at bay for six hours.

China's "Maritime Chess"

Some analysis of what China is up to in deciding to join in the anti-Somali pirate effort found at China plays maritime chess | The Japan Times Online:

Today, taking on pirates under the placard of internationalism offers China a welcome opportunity to add force to its global power ambitions. The antipiracy plank earlier made it handy for Beijing to agree to joint patrols with Pakistan in the Arabian Sea and extend cooperation to ASEAN. Another Chinese objective is to chip away at India's maritime dominance in the Indian Ocean — a theater critical to fashioning a Sino-centric Asia. If China can assert naval power in the Indian Ocean to expand its influence over the regional waterways and states, it will emerge as the preeminent Asian power.

The geopolitical importance of the Indian Ocean today is beginning to rival that of the Pacific. Much of the global oil-export supply passes through the Indian Ocean rim region, particularly through two constricted passageways — the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman, and the piracy-plagued Strait of Malacca.

In addition, the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the nuclear standoff with Iran undergird the critical importance of the Indian Ocean region. Asserting naval presence in the Indian Ocean and expanding maritime power in the Pacific are part of the high-stakes game of maritime chess China is now ready to play. Its buildup of naval forces directly challenges Japan and India and impinges on U.S. interests.
***
There is a clear strategic shift under way in China on force planning. Historically a major land power, China is now putting the accent on building long-range maritime power to help underpin geopolitical interests, including winning new allies and safeguarding its energy and economic investments in distant lands. China has been in the lead in avariciously acquiring energy and mineral assets in Sudan, Nigeria, Iran, Venezuela, Burma, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and other states that have a record of showing scant respect for international contracts. Through naval power-projection force capability, Beijing intends to dissuade such states from reasserting control over Chinese-held assets.
***
India, with its enormous strategic depth in the Indian Ocean, is in a position to pursue a sea-denial strategy, if it were to adopt a more forward-thinking naval policy designed to forestall the emergence of a Beijing-oriented Asia. It has to start exerting naval power at critical chokepoints, in concert with the Japanese, U.S. and other friendly navies. In essence, that entails guarding the various "gates" to the Indian Ocean. More broadly, Japanese-Indian naval cooperation and collaboration have become inescapable.

Sea lines of communication require naval forces to secure, defend and deny. Will a 300 ship U.S. Navy do the job?

UN Office on Drugs and Crime Offers Up "Ship Riders" Concept to Aid in Pirate Fight

The UN has a lot of agencies and I have been critical of many of them. However, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has an excellent idea as set out in "Ship riders": Tackling Somali pirates at sea:

As a result of the growing piracy threat, UNODC has proposed a number of measures to deter, arrest and prosecute pirates in the Horn of Africa to the United Nations Security Council in December 2008. The most immediate of these is to put forward international agreements allowing law enforcement agents from the Horn of Africa region to join warships as a 'ship riders' - as these are known - to circumvent legal impediments to arresting pirates on shared waters.

Traditionally used to combat drug trafficking and illegal fishing, shiprider agreements are designed to remove policing barriers in international maritime boundaries, and to stop smugglers and other criminals from taking advantage of shared territorial waters for illegal activities. The practice has been employed successfully in the Caribbean to fight drug traffickers.
***

"Ideally, suspects should be tried in the country where they came from, or in the country that owns the seized ship", says UNODC's Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa, "but the Somali criminal justice system has collapsed, and countries like Liberia, Panama and the Marshall Islands - where many of the ships are registered - do not want to deal with crimes committed thousands of miles away".

Shiprider agreements would make use of existing functional criminal justice systems in the region to be able to arrest and try pirates. "We must engage neighbouring States - where legal instruments deriving from current international agreements on piracy and transnational organized crime are in place and functioning - if pirates are to be brought to justice." Subject to a special agreement, a shiprider arrangement would allow a law enforcement officer from, from example, Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania or Yemen, to join a warship off the Somali coast, arrest the pirate in the name of their country and have them sent to their national court for trial.

UPDATE: StrategyPage reports USS San Antonio (LPD-17) is the flagship for CTF-151, the anti-pirate task force. Though tagged as a "hard luck" ship due to construction issues, the choice makes sense.
UPDATE2: An interview with a "pirate king" here:

"I have employees doing the business for me now. I am a financier. I get my money and I don't have to leave Eyl. I have not gone to sea to hijack in recent months.

"My group go to sea and I manage their finances. I buy speedboats and weapons, whatever they need.

"Usually, no disagreements come between us. Once, though, we disagreed. When we were holding two French nationals in Habo, some demanded to take them to Eyl while others disagreed.

"It's difficult to stay being a pirate but we have changed our previous strategies. We have transformed our operations in the Indian Ocean with new types of attacks, using modern equipment, including GPS, to show where warships are.

"At the moment we have a new, active young generation who want to take part in piracy. They mostly like money.

"If the UN gives approval to fight pirates on land, that will lead to the death of innocent Somalis because they cannot differentiate us from ordinary Somalis, as we dress alike.

"Piracy will not stop unless we get a government," said Dheere.

Spain, S. Korea and Japan to add to Gulf of Aden Piracy Patrols

Reported here:

Spanish parliamentary has agreed on Wednesday anti piracy decision, where they will send troops to chase Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, as part of EU anti piracy mission.

The parliament has reached the decision which will deploy 395 troops in the Gulf of Aden. Spain has been operating off Somali waters since last year. It already has a P-3 maritime surveillance plane with 70 troops at a French air base in Djibouti, just north of Somalia, and those assets will now go toward the EU task force against piracy, involving various EU nations.

Spanish Defense Minister Carme Chacon told parliament before the vote that the fight against piracy "is of vital importance for the defense of the geostrategic and economic interests of Spain, and will provide security to our fishing fleet," according to a defense ministry statement.
***
The Japanese government has planned to send ships of the Maritime Self-defense to fight piracy on the dangerous coasts of Somalia, the Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.
***
Also South Korea?s cabinet has approved on Tuesday to join the Seoul administration anti piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden, while the government will send a warship and 310 troops to combat piracy off Somalia, South Korea media reported.

Cabinet officials ratified the plan to dispatch a Navy destroyer -- the Ganggamchan -- and about 310 troops to the waters off the Gulf of Aden, ministry officials said.

Hail to the Chief

Good luck, Mr. President!

Our prayers are with you.

Gulf of Aden Wind Chart (19 Jan 09)

From Marine weather: Gulf of Aden | Wind Charts. Winds still in 10-15 knot range -mostly 15 in key parts of Gulf of Aden.

Sunday Ship History: On Ice

It’s World War II and Great Britain is again under attack by the Germans. Dependent on supplies from North America, the British are trying to find ways to defeat the submarine menace that is interdicting ships carrying food and material from the United States and Canada. There are insufficient numbers of escort ships for convoys and none of the current aircraft have the range to provide air coverage on the entire length of the convoy routes. The British, as discussed in an earlier Sunday Ship History post, developed merchant ship “carriers” in which certain types of ships were fitted with flight deck or catapults and carried planes to defend the merchant convoys. In their desperate hours, the collective British imagination was applied to find a way to close the air gap and provide protection for the vital shipping. Out of the fevered mind of a odd gentleman named Pyke came a stunning proposal for a huge, unsinkable floating airfield to be constructed largely out of – ice. Not just ordinary ice – the genius of Pyke’s plan was a new invention – “Pykrete” – a mixture of ice and wood pulp that made the ice stronger and better insulated. Pykrete was not the invention of Pyke, but rather seems to have been developed by scientists working with him. Pyke was able to get an powerful sponsor for his ice air station idea – Lord Louis Montbatten. Montbatten took the idea to Prime Minister Churchill (allegedly while Churchill was bathing) and then allegedly made a dramatic presentation to Admiral King, head of the U.S. Navy during which Montbatten shot at a brick of regular ice and at a brick of Pykrete. Supposedly, a bullet shattered the ice, but another bounced off the Pykrete and then grazed King who was thus convinced to throw American support behind the concept of an aircraft carrier made of Pykrete. These stories, like much information about Pykrete and the ice aircraft carrier may be exaggerated. On the other hand, there was enough interest in such a “ship” that plans were drawn up for a 2000 foot long, 2,000,000 ton displacement floating air base capable of carrying up to 150 aircraft and thousands of men. The project was named “Habbakuk.” The named is derived from the biblical prophet by that name who proclaimed, “Behold ye among the heathen, and regard and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told to you.” The plans called for the ice vessel to have limited mobility (really, it was really not meant to be an escort ship, but rather a semi-permanent presence out in the middle of the North Atlantic somewhat like an island airfield except the island could be placed where needed). A “proof of concept” top secret construction project was carried out on Lake Patricia in Alberta. A group of conscientious objectors was gathered to build a 1/50 scale model disguised as a boat house (the COs were not told what the purpose of the project was). By the time the test was completed, the war had move beyond the need for such an idea:

In the end, the Habbakuk was never built anyway. Land-based aircraft were attaining longer ranges, U-boats were being hunted down faster than they could be built, and the US was gaining numerous island footholds in the Pacific — all contributing to a reduced need for a vast, floating airfield. And deep within the newly built Pentagon was the knowledge that America already had a secret weapon in development to be used against Japan — an end to the war that would be brought about not by ice but by fire.

It was a wild idea and would have been wildly expensive to complete, but it had potential. Service on such a vessel would have provided interesting tales for your grandchildren. As it is, the concept still provides some good conversation on a cold winter’s night around the fireplace. < Good diving videos of the remnants of the test project in Lake Patricia near Jasper, Alberta at Shipwreck Central.com. See also here.

Fast Acting Ferry Crews and the Ditched US Air Flight

One of the remarkable aspects of the ditching of the US Air flight from NY to Charlotte is how quickly the first ferry made it to the plane (plane appears at 2 minutes, first ferry enroute within 90 seconds and alongside within 3 minutes, 3 ferries on scene within 7 minutes) - surely, in addition to the pilot's skill at ditching his aircraft, this fast response saved lives. Well done, ferrymen!

Somalia: Peacekeeping Force Proposed

UN Security Council adopts a Somalia peacekeeping "in principle" resolution as set out here:

The US and AU have been pushing for a UN presence but finding troops to participate has been difficult because of the dangers in Somalia.
***
Last month UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said few countries were willing to send troops to Somalia, as there was no peace to keep.

UN document can be found here.

Rep. Rangel to reintroduce military draft measure?

According to the The Hill.com, U.S. Charles Rangel (D, NY) is again going to introduce his military draft measure as set out here:

Republicans are likely to seize on the reintroduction of Rangel’s unpopular military draft bill. When they controlled the House in 2004, Republicans scheduled a vote on the Rangel measure, which was defeated 402-2. Reps. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and Pete Stark (D-Calif.) supported it, while Rangel voted against his own bill, claiming the GOP was playing political games.
***
A decorated Korean War veteran and a member of the Out of Iraq Caucus, Rangel argues that the burden of fighting wars falls disproportionately on low-income people and that cost should be borne more broadly.

If a draft had been in place in 2002 when members were making the decision on whether to support the war in Iraq, Rangel has said, Congress never would have approved the war resolution, because the pressure from constituents would have been too great.

With the Iraq war off the front page and the economic crisis taking center stage, nerves are not as raw on the topic of strain on the military as they were a few years ago, so Rangel’s legislation may not make as many waves this time around.

But some Democrats — even one who supported Rangel’s efforts in the past — are a little perplexed about his plans to reintroduce the legislation, especially now that President-elect Obama is poised to take over the White House.

“That was really a political statement at the beginning of the war that we continued,” said Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), one of only two co-sponsors of Rangel’s draft bill. “I’m not sure we’re going to do that this time.”

Whatever their motives, which seem mostly to have been to harass outgoing President Bush, Rep Rangel and his cronies prove once again that facts don't matter much to them.

A recent Heritage study confirms that, contrary to Mr. Rangel's assertions that "the burden of fighting wars falls disproportionately on low-income people," the current U.S. military is not composed of the losers in life's lottery as Mr. Rangel apparently posits. Instead:

1. U.S. military service disproportionately attracts enlisted personnel and officers who do not come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Previous Her­itage Foundation research demonstrated that the quality of enlisted troops has increased since the start of the Iraq war. This report demon­strates that the same is true of the officer corps.
2. Members of the all-volunteer military are sig­nificantly more likely to come from high-income neighborhoods than from low-income neighborhoods. Only 11 percent of enlisted recruits in 2007 came from the poorest one-fifth (quintile) of neighborhoods, while 25 per­cent came from the wealthiest quintile. These trends are even more pronounced in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) pro­gram, in which 40 percent of enrollees come from the wealthiest neighborhoods—a number that has increased substantially over the past four years.
3. American soldiers are more educated than their peers. A little more than 1 percent of enlisted per­sonnel lack a high school degree, compared to 21 percent of men 18–24 years old, and 95 percent of officer accessions have at least a bachelor’s degree.
4. Contrary to conventional wisdom, minorities are not overrepresented in military service. Enlisted troops are somewhat more likely to be white or black than their non-military peers. Whites are proportionately represented in the officer corps, and blacks are overrepresented, but their rate of overrepresentation has declined each year from 2004 to 2007. New recruits are also disproportionately likely to come from the South, which is in line with the history of South­ern military tradition.

The facts do not support the belief that many American soldiers volunteer because society offers them few other opportunities. The average enlisted person or officer could have had lucrative career opportunities in the private sector. Those who argue that American soldiers risk their lives because they have no other opportunities belittle the personal sacrifices of those who serve out of love for their country.

Of course, the insistence on the part of the military that at least 90% of recruits have high school diplomas may have an "adverse impact" on the ability of the lowest economic levels of our society to join the services since that it is much more likely that high school dropouts will end up in the lower income levels. See the chart here in which it appears that completing high school adds about $10,000 a years in income compared to high school dropouts.

Perhaps Mr. Rangel should be less worried about who carries the burden of serving in the military (especially since he is completely wrong in his analysis) and worry more about how to encourage the lower economic levels of our society to finish high school so that they can be full participants in our society. Perhaps they even will be able to correctly file their own income tax forms . . . except that they mostly don't pay income taxes.

UPDATE: Where do recruits come from?

Latest ONI Worldwide Threat to Shipping Report (to 16 Jan 09)

The Latest ONI Worldwide Threat to Shipping Report (to 16 Jan 09) can be found here, Highlights:

2.  UN/GULF OF ADEN:  An anti-piracy group held its first meeting on 14 Jan 08 at the
United Nations to discuss best management practices for ships plying the Gulf of Aden and
waters near the Horn of Africa if they are attacked or seized by Somali pirates. The one-day
meeting at UN headquarters in New York was organized by the Contact Group on Somali Piracy,
which was chaired by US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Mark T.
Kimmitt. Practices suggested to ships, tankers, or passengers in pirate- infested waters call on
ship masters and crews to 'offer no resistance' when boarded by pirates because it could lead to
unnecessary violence and harm to the crew. The document offers steps to deal with action taken
by military personnel to fight the pirates. It calls on the hostage crew to place their hands above
their heads and not make sudden movement. The hands must be visible and not holding
anything. 'It is expected that these best management practices will be periodically updated based
upon operational experience and lessons learned,' the document said. The contact group is
mandated by the UN Security Council, which has imposed sanctions, including travel bans and
freeze of assets, on some individuals or groups in Somalia. The group called on states and
organizations to use the practices in dealing with piracy. An initial 24 countries and five
international organizations took part in the discussion in New York. Those countries include the
US, Djibouti, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, Japan, India, and Russia. The African Union, the
International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, the International Maritime Bureau, the
Joint War Committee, and the Baltic and International Maritime Council took part in the debate.
The contact group said over one-third of attempted seizures of ships in the Gulf of Aden had
succeeded, but it said measures adopted by ships to repel the pirates have been positive (DOS,
AllAfrica.com).
.
  3.  GULF OF ADEN:  The Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) has established Combined
Task Force 151 (CTF-151) specifically for counter-piracy operations, 8 Jan 09.  Naval ships and
assets from more than 20 nations comprise the Combined Maritime Forces. U.S. Navy Rear
Admiral Terence "Terry" McKnight has been named the commander of the new task force which
will be fully operational by the middle of January.  The CMF created the Maritime Security
Patrol Area (MSPA) in the Gulf of Aden in August of 2008 to support international efforts to
combat piracy.  Coalition efforts included CTF-150 assets patrolling the area with ships and
aircraft. However, the charter for CTF-150, established at the outset of Operation Enduring
Freedom, was for the conduct of Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the Gulf of Aden, the
Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean.  Operations included the
deterrence of destabilizing activities, such as drug smuggling and weapons trafficking. The
establishment of CTF-151 will allow CTF-150 assets to remain focused on those activities,
giving CTF-151 the ability to focus solely on the counter-piracy mission.  "Some navies in our
coalition did not have the authority to conduct counter-piracy missions," said Vice Adm, Bill
Gortney, CMF Commander. "The establishment of CTF-151 will allow those nations to operate
under the auspices of CTF-150, while allowing other nations to join CTF-151 to support our goal
of deterring, disrupting and eventually bringing to justice the maritime criminals involved in
piracy events."  Vice Adm. Gortney highlighted the reduction in piracies in the region due to
merchant mariners' proactive measures. He also continued to caution that the efforts of Coalition
and international navies won't solve the problem of piracy.  CTF 151 is a multinational task force
that conducts counter-piracy operations in and around the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian
Ocean and the Red Sea and was established to create a lawful maritime order and develop
security in the maritime environment (NAVCENT, CMF).
***
 1.  NIGERIA:  Cable ship (VIKING FORCADOS) fired upon 13 Jan 09 while underway in
the Niger Delta.  Gunmen reached the ship on two or three swift boats and managed to climb
aboard its deck but were unable to get inside. Crew members barricaded themselves in the
superstructure.  The gunmen shot at the craft before disappearing after approximately two hours.
None of the 52 crewmembers were injured, and ship suffered material damage (AFP, LM:
Norway Post).
***
  1.  GULF OF ADEN:  Container ship (NEDLLOYD BARENTSZ) fired upon 13 Jan 09 at
0810 UTC while underway in position 12:24N – 044:57E.  A small boat with 6 men onboard
fired two RPGs at the vessel.  The master increased speed and conducted evasive maneuvers.
The boat followed for approximately 30 minutes with no further attacks reported.  The Russian
frigate (ADMIRAL VINOGRADOV) was in the vicinity and sent a helicopter to render
assistance.  The helicopter opened fire on the pirates’ boat, wounding three, who were later
captured and turned over to Yemeni authorities (Operator, IMB, LL).
.
  2.  GULF OF ADEN:  Tanker reported suspicious approach 14 Jan 09 at 1645 local time
while underway in position 13:02N – 046:41E.  One fishing boat was detected on starboard bow
towing a small skiff with a speed of 7 kts.  The fishing boat reduced speed and the duty officer
noticed a number of men in the fishing boat transferring to the skiff.  Both boats then increased
speed to about 15-20 kts and approached the tanker forward of the starboard beam.  At
approximately 150 meters away, the master could see six men in the skiff, two of them armed,
and two more men in the fishing boat.  The master conducted evasive maneuvering, a distress
call was sent out on VHF, and a security alert was issued onboard.  A warship in the vicinity
established contact on VHF, preparing to send a helicopter for assistance.  A British security
team was embarked on the tanker and took position on the bridge, using fire axes, pretending to
be fire arms.  Seeing this, the two suspicious boats slowed down and abandoned their pursuit.
The distress call was cancelled and the warship informed that further assistance was not required
(Operator, IMB).
***
  1.  GULF OF ADEN:  Container ship (NEDLLOYD BARENTSZ) fired upon 13 Jan 09 at
0810 UTC while underway in position 12:24N – 044:57E.  A small boat with 6 men onboard
fired two RPGs at the vessel.  The master increased speed and conducted evasive maneuvers.
The boat followed for approximately 30 minutes with no further attacks reported.  The Russian
frigate (ADMIRAL VINOGRADOV) was in the vicinity and sent a helicopter to render
assistance.  The helicopter opened fire on the pirates’ boat, wounding three, who were later
captured and turned over to Yemeni authorities (Operator, IMB, LL).
.
  2.  GULF OF ADEN:  Tanker reported suspicious approach 14 Jan 09 at 1645 local time
while underway in position 13:02N – 046:41E.  One fishing boat was detected on starboard bow
towing a small skiff with a speed of 7 kts.  The fishing boat reduced speed and the duty officer
noticed a number of men in the fishing boat transferring to the skiff.  Both boats then increased
speed to about 15-20 kts and approached the tanker forward of the starboard beam.  At
approximately 150 meters away, the master could see six men in the skiff, two of them armed,
and two more men in the fishing boat.  The master conducted evasive maneuvering, a distress
call was sent out on VHF, and a security alert was issued onboard.  A warship in the vicinity
established contact on VHF, preparing to send a helicopter for assistance.  A British security
team was embarked on the tanker and took position on the bridge, using fire axes, pretending to
be fire arms.  Seeing this, the two suspicious boats slowed down and abandoned their pursuit.
The distress call was cancelled and the warship informed that further assistance was not required
(Operator, IMB).

Somali Pirates: Decline? Not so fast . . .

Been a little busy lately but I have noticed that there are reports that the 20+ ships of world navies may have reduced piracy - only four "captures" by Somali pirates in recent days.

In keeping with an earlier U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence analysis, I wonder if the 15 - 20 knot winds in the Gulf of Aden are slowing the pirates down? See Marine weather: Gulf of Aden | Wind Charts. ONI October 08 analysis:

All but one hijacking occurred during daylight hours. The single exception took place at 0430 local time during a period of 94% lunar illumination. The average service speed of the 10 vessels that were fired upon but not boarded was 15 knots. The average service speed of the 11 vessels that were successfully boarded by pirates was 14 knots.

Attacks over the study period occurred in clusters east of longitude 046 degrees 38 minutes east and west of longitude 050 degrees 32 minutes east. Attack activity within these boundaries is likely due to a combination of factors that impact small boat operations such as currents, prevailing winds, sea state, and distance from pirate staging areas. (emphasis added)

I could be wrong, but the way I read that chart above is that the sea winds in the Gulf of Aden are running 10 -25 knots - a little steep, I would think, for the small boats operated by the pirates. I don't think I'll be drinking any champagne over the success of the counter pirate operations just yet . . .

Explanation of "wind barbs" here.

Outgoing President Issues Arctic Policy Directive

The National and Homeland Security Directive pertaining to the Arctic can be found here:

III. POLICY

A. It is the policy of the United States to:

1. Meet national security and homeland security needs relevant to the Arctic region;
2. Protect the Arctic environment and conserve its biological resources;
3. Ensure that natural resource management and economic development in the region are environmentally sustainable;
4. Strengthen institutions for cooperation among the eight Arctic nations (the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, and Sweden);
5. Involve the Arctic's indigenous communities in decisions that affect them; and
6. Enhance scientific monitoring and research into local, regional, and global environmental issues.

B. National Security and Homeland Security Interests in the Arctic

1. The United States has broad and fundamental national security interests in the Arctic region and is prepared to operate either independently or in conjunction with other states to safeguard these interests. These interests include such matters as missile defense and early warning; deployment of sea and air systems for strategic sealift, strategic deterrence, maritime presence, and maritime security operations; and ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight.
2. The United States also has fundamental homeland security interests in preventing terrorist attacks and mitigating those criminal or hostile acts that could increase the United States vulnerability to terrorism in the Arctic region.
3. The Arctic region is primarily a maritime domain; as such, existing policies and authorities relating to maritime areas continue to apply, including those relating to law enforcement.[1] Human activity in the Arctic region is increasing and is projected to increase further in coming years. This requires the United States to assert a more active and influential national presence to protect its Arctic interests and to project sea power throughout the region.
4. The United States exercises authority in accordance with lawful claims of United States sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the Arctic region, including sovereignty within the territorial sea, sovereign rights and jurisdiction within the United States exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf, and appropriate control in the United States contiguous zone.
5. Freedom of the seas is a top national priority. The Northwest Passage is a strait used for international navigation, and the Northern Sea Route includes straits used for international navigation; the regime of transit passage applies to passage through those straits. Preserving the rights and duties relating to navigation and overflight in the Arctic region supports our ability to exercise these rights throughout the world, including through strategic straits.
6. Implementation: In carrying out this policy as it relates to national security and homeland security interests in the Arctic, the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Homeland Security, in coordination with heads of other relevant executive departments and agencies, shall:
1. Develop greater capabilities and capacity, as necessary, to protect United States air, land, and sea borders in the Arctic region;
2. Increase Arctic maritime domain awareness in order to protect maritime commerce, critical infrastructure, and key resources;
3. Preserve the global mobility of United States military and civilian vessels and aircraft throughout the Arctic region;
4. Project a sovereign United States maritime presence in the Arctic in support of essential United States interests; and
5. Encourage the peaceful resolution of disputes in the Arctic region.
***
D. Extended Continental Shelf and Boundary Issues

1. Defining with certainty the area of the Arctic seabed and subsoil in which the United States may exercise its sovereign rights over natural resources such as oil, natural gas, methane hydrates, minerals, and living marine species is critical to our national interests in energy security, resource management, and environmental protection. The most effective way to achieve international recognition and legal certainty for our extended continental shelf is through the procedure available to States Parties to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
2. The United States and Canada have an unresolved boundary in the Beaufort Sea. United States policy recognizes a boundary in this area based on equidistance. The United States recognizes that the boundary area may contain oil, natural gas, and other resources.
3. The United States and Russia are abiding by the terms of a maritime boundary treaty concluded in 1990, pending its entry into force. The United States is prepared to enter the agreement into force once ratified by the Russian Federation.

UPDATE: More news from Government Executive:

In her confirmation hearing Tuesday, Secretary of State designate Hillary Clinton said, "I believe that the issues of the Arctic are one of those long-term matters that will dramatically affect our commercial, our environmental, and our energy futures," according to an account by KTUU television, the CBS affiliate in Anchorage.

Clinton told Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, that resolving boundary disputes with other nations was critical. "We've got to figure out where our boundaries are if people start drilling in areas that are ice-free most of the year, and we don't know where they can and can't drill, and whether we can," Clinton said, according to the KTUU account.

The implications of the new policy are especially great for the Coast Guard, which is responsible for safeguarding U.S. waters. In an interview at the National Press Club early last year, Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen declined to discuss his views about climate change, but said, "All I know is there's water where it didn't use to be, and it's my responsibility to deal with that."

The Coast Guard's aging fleet of icebreaking ships has long been a concern for the service. It has two 30-year-old icebreakers, one of which has been out of service for most of the last year. It also has one ship devoted to scientific research that has some ice-breaking capability.

China's Motives for Being Off Somalia -"Localized Strategic Combat"

One view of why China decided to play in the anti-piracy effort off Somalis found here:

In the same vein, China's posture in the Horn of Africa since the 1970s demonstrates a longstanding appreciation of the aforementioned fusion of Horn of Africa-Gulf area geopolitical dynamics. Middle Eastern and Arab Gulf countries have consistently armed and supported the Islamist cause in the Horn by supplying Eritrean separatists, helping Somalia back Ogaden nationalists in Ethiopia and providing diplomatic leverage to Sudanese hardliners whenever the latter have had to confront growing Western and local "bourgeois" pressure, not even to mention the Mombasa/Zanzibar sort of Arab engagement with Africa's evolving inter-religious mosaic. Not once did China waver in its commitment to be relevant.

Declassified files of the US diplomatic/espionage outpost in Asmara, Eritrea, depict a fascinating level of Chinese activity during the 1970s, especially around the period when political and inter-ethnic strife succeeded in ripping Eritrea from Ethiopia. In the decade that followed, China eventually displaced both the Soviet Union and the US in another high-activity zone in the region, Somalia.

During the last years of the regime of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, Beijing was virtually the strongman's only trusted geopolitical handler. Even then China had perfected the formula of arms for natural resources. In exchange for the right to trawl in Somalia's seas, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) set about the task of crafting an air force for the increasingly beleaguered Barre, who was ousted in 1991.
***
Norinco for instance has grown adept at using its more innocuous operations to mask its core interest in arms commerce by initiating civil joint ventures in Ethiopia, Kenya and even, as the above incident illustrates, in the highest-risk environments where Chinese interests require the direct reshaping of local realities.

Indeed, only in this latter sense does China's persistence in considering investments in Puntland, Somaliland and elsewhere in Greater Somalia make sense - that is it involves a willingness, if need be, to engage in "localized strategic combat".

The phrase, "localized strategic combat" is inherently related to "global concentricity of risk". By "strategic combat", the reference is to a concept of great power competition in which persistent escalation of the stakes of conflict occurs in tandem with an indefinite postponement of actual armed conflict.

The battle defines the war in a long drawn-out process in which the great powers, in this case China and the US, contend for the spoils of war without concluding the battle. Rather than a series of skirmishes with alternating victors, strategic combat consists in continuous, increasingly harmonized contention with every resource, interest and position at play: any hint of "victory" for one side at any point has implications too severe to be contemplated.

Any localized variant of this kind of battle formation has integrity only in relation to the structure of the strategic theater. Readers skeptical about the connection of this worldview with the Horn of Africa situation may be well advised to pay close attention to the testimony of David Shinn, former US ambassador to Ethiopia, to the US Congress in the summer of 2005.

Ambassador Shinn's remarks can be found here:

What does China want for all of its effort in Africa? It wants access to natural resources, especially oil but also gas, copper, iron, fish, timber, etc. It wants to sell goods and services in a market that totals more than 870 million people and is growing rapidly. It wants legitimacy, support for its one China policy, understanding for its approach to human rights, and votes in organizations like the UN and its specialized agencies, IMF and WTO. It wants to be a major player on the world stage on its own, not Western, terms. One way to achieve this is to develop geopolitical clout among Africa's fifty-three nations.

Somalia Pirates: Russians Stop Pirate Attack

Reported as Russian navy thwarts attack by Somali pirates on Dutch vessel in Gulf of Aden:

A Russian warship helped foil an attack on a Dutch container ship by suspected Somali pirates in the dangerous Gulf of Aden, a maritime watchdog and the Russian navy said Wednesday.

Six pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades Tuesday at the ship, which took evasive maneuvers while calling for help, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia.

The pirates chased the vessel for about 30 minutes but aborted their attempt to board the ship after a Russian warship and helicopter arrived at the scene, Choong said.
***
Russian navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said a Ka-27 helicopter was sent from the Admiral Vinogradov warship on patrol off Somalia's coast and fired at three suspected pirate speedboats that were trying to attack the Dutch ship.

He said three pirates were wounded.