So what if they were "17-19"? (By which it seems at least one of them was an adult even by the legal US definition, which is not the same as the legal definition in other parts of the world.) They violently boarded a ship and were holding a hostage with AK-47's. They made their beds.
It's sad when anybody dies, but you know, it's not any sadder that they were 17-19 than it would have been if they were 20 or 30 or 40. And they brought it on themselves.
Where is the article that will explain to me how stoned impoverished teen agers get control of these gigantic first world country tankers? Like do they throw a rope and climb up and just....take over??
Um, is no one else thinking Batman 2 when Danny Devito's disgusting penguin man (most vile thing I've ever seen in a superhero movie) affixed missiles onto the backs of littler penguins? Yeah, I'm thinking those cute little dolphin dudes were packing heat. It's all part of the military's new Operation: Sonar Command.
Of course they were teenagers and by most crime family/organization standards I think they are old. I don't know the laws in Somalia but if they are minors they can't be tried. Look at the Camorra. Plus, you get to brainwash them early. I'm shocked that others are shocked. This is new?
@CaptainFantastic: point taken, ur right, which just fortifies my contention that they were already OLD by crime standards. I mean even suicide bombers start young.
Are dolphins communists? Flipper quotes Chair Mao? [squeak, squeeek, squeeak?] As they are holding a Mike Nichols retropsective at MoMA everyone can go see "Day of the Dolphin."
It's sad that they were teens. On the other hand, we as a country have deemed 17 to be the age at which one can enlist in the military, and 18 as the minimum age to be sent off to a combat zone. Plenty of 18 year-olds have died in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a globe, we seem to have set 18 as the standard at which someone can make an informed decision to participate in combat. If you're 18 and have a hostage at gunpoint, I'd say it's fair to assume you could be held accountable for your actions, which includes the possibility of a violent hostage rescue.
@Adah: Except our system when it comes to age and crime is a fucking joke. We often hold 13 year-olds to a higher standard than adults, they sometimes pull longer sentences than actual adults being charged with the same crime in the same jurisdiction. So where 18 should be a good starting-off point (I'd personally like to see 22 as the age of full responsibility), we don't actually follow that. We lock up kids for stupid shit but let law-breaking prosecutors go free.
Also, I'm going to go ahead and take into account that these 17-year-old impoverished pirate children have circumstances none of us understand and their reality is so different that their age is the least of the reasons why this is sad all around to me.
04/15/09
04/14/09
It's sad when anybody dies, but you know, it's not any sadder that they were 17-19 than it would have been if they were 20 or 30 or 40. And they brought it on themselves.
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
04/14/09
Also, I'm going to go ahead and take into account that these 17-year-old impoverished pirate children have circumstances none of us understand and their reality is so different that their age is the least of the reasons why this is sad all around to me.