Why not disguise all warships as commercial vessels?

Somali pirates came unstuck last Wednesday when they made the strategic error of taking on the might of the French navy.

The 18,000 tonne flagship La Somme evidently looked similar enough to the myriad commercial vessels that traverse the Gulf of Aden every day and the pirates consequently deemed it fruitful to launch an offensive with their two fibreglass skiffs.

According to a French navy spokesman, the La Somme’s crew “easily saw off the brazen night-time assault by lightly armed fighters on two lightweight skiffs and captured five pirates”.

You would have thought they would have learned their lesson by now.

On 3 May 2009 pirates, again using two assault boats, made a run at the French warship Nivose, but were promptly dissuaded from pursuing that course of action any further when a helicopter gunship started raining down warning shots.

What conclusion we can draw from this is that pirates tend to stand very little chance when they attack a NATO warship.

So it begs the question: why not disguise all warships as commercial vessels? It evidently would not take much to make a convincing transition. Perhaps merely writing 'oil' on the bow would be enough. Or 'we are not the navy, please let us past'. You get the idea.

Protesting against the protesters

Two rival protests filled Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens on Saturday as the English Defence League was met by various anti-fascist groups including Unite Against Fascism.

Ten people were injured and 44 arrested as protesters clashed with the police and each other.

The police employed the containment tactics that proved effective during the G20 demonstrations in London earlier this year.

They successfully prevented the streets from descending into violence, maintaining a strong police line backed up by horses and dogs.

The police forced the protestors into two halves of Piccadilly Gardens.

Tensions were high as both sides traded insults and antagonistic chants.

The EDL, who oppose "Islamic fundamentalism", sang patriotic songs, made Nazi salutes and held placards reading "no more mosques".

The anti-fascist protestors accuse the EDL of being a front for the racist BNP. They chanted "smash the Nazi BNP" and "Nazi scum, off our streets!".

Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said: “I would like to thank all those people who came to Manchester today and protested peacefully for their patience and understanding.

“I’d also like to commend the vast majority for demonstrating in a peaceful manner.

“However, the history of protest has been marred, by those who came intent on violent confrontation.

“GMP has ensured that despite the significant size of the protest, life in the city went on as normal.”

UAF spokesman Mike Gilligan said: “It was a tremendously successful day for the anti-racist movement.

“The EDL were run out of town, they were not very powerful, they completely failed.

“Our protesters reflected the energy, particularly of young people, who showed their disgust at the racists trying to group together in Manchester city centre.

“It was a vibrant celebration of multi-cultural Manchester.”