Corsairs in the Crosshairs: A Strategic Plan To Eliminate Modern Day Piracy, By Alexandra Schwartz
Monday, November 8, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Letter Of Marque: Is It Legal To Kill Osama Bin Laden?
I wanted to enter this into the record for LoM related stuff. This is interesting that there seems to be more discussion going on about Article 1, Section 8, and finally we might get some serious critique on the matter. For an idea to be strong, it needs to be forged in the furnace of debate and criticism. So I like hearing the concepts being thrown around.
One of the things I have been researching with the LoM lately is the reasoning why it still exists in the Constitution. With that, I had to go back to the Civil War during the 1860’s and see what the factors were during the signing of the Declaration of Paris in 1857. I thought this was some very intriguing history and it indicated how crucial the LoM was to wartime strategy for the US in it’s early wars–politically and militarily. It is also interesting how the Confederate Privateer’s wikipedia only presents part of the story about why the US did not sign the Declaration of Paris in 1857, and they make no mention of the Union paying blockaders (or basically private naval forces) to enforce the blockades necessary to stop the Confederate privateers. Ha! But there is certainly enough info about it all if someone cared to make the connections.(like me, hee hee)
Nor do they make any mention in this Confederate Privateer wiki of the Marcy Amendment or how the US thought privateering was necessary for a country who did not have a navy as strong as the European navies. Back in 1857, the US was all about privateering, and 4 years later, they were still all about privateering. I think Lincoln only publicly protested the concept because his enemy was using privateers and issuing LoMs to Americans and anyone in the world that qualified and wanted one.
Well, back to the article below. It is important to get the history and record straight as to what the real deal is about the Letter of Marque and why the US did not remove it from the US constitution. Because if there ever was an effort to bring back the LoM as a tool of warfare, this history will be crucial to the intellectual and legal discussion about such things. Interesting stuff. (all Civil War/Declaration of Paris information is at the end of this post) –Matt
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Is It Legal to Kill Osama bin Laden?
Not really. But if you act alone, you’re probably in the clear.
BY JOSHUA E. KEATING
JUNE 22, 2010
Gary Faulkner, the American man detained in Pakistan while trying to kill Osama bin Laden, will be released this week without charges, according to his family. The 52-year-old Colorado construction worker was arrested last week in northwest Pakistan for carrying weapons — including a pistol and 40-inch sword — without a permit. Questions of practicality (and sanity) aside, had Faulkner succeeded, could he have been charged with murder?
Probably not. Faulkner probably couldn’t be charged with murder if he killed bin Laden and then returned to the United States, since the murder would have happened abroad where U.S. courts have no say. “Universal jurisdiction” for crimes against humanity is an increasingly popular notion in human rights law, and one that’s been gaining some traction in the United States — a U.S. citizen was convicted of committing torture abroad for the first time last year — but a simple murder, particularly when the victim is the world’s most infamous terrorist, probably wouldn’t qualify.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Strategy: The Five Elements of the Letter of Marque and Reprisal
This is unique. This is the first website that I have found, that actually listed various LoMs from all over the world and from different time periods, and has reduced the LoM to these five basic elements. So if anyone is interested, follow the link below, and you can check out what the various countries set up. It lists France, Holland, Britain, America, and Spain as just a few.
Now if I could get a hold of the LoM that we issued to the Airship Resolute during World War Two, then that would be really cool. I imagine it is in some congressional archives deal, and maybe that will be a future post.
The Resolute was a Goodyear ship as well, and did advertisements after the war. If there are any documentarians out there, this would be a very unique subject to work on and present. There is nothing out there that talks about it, to include any serious wikipedia stuff, and I think it would be a fascinating subject if tied into a modern day usage of the LoM. –Matt
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The Five Elements of the Letter of Marque and Reprisal
Letters of marque and reprisal are commissions or warrants issued to someone to commit what would otherwise be acts of piracy. They will normally contain the following first three elements, unless they imply or refer to a declaration of war to define the enemies, and may optionally contain the remainder:
1. Names person, authorizes him to pass beyond borders with forces under his command.
2. Specifies nationality of targets for action.
3. Authorizes seizure or destruction of assets or personnel of target nationality.
4. Describes offense for which commission is issued as reprisal.
5. Restriction on time, manner, place, or amount of reprisal.
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American Letter of Marque, 1812
The Letter below is an example of an American letter of marque of an actual privateering commission issued by the government of the United States to the schooner Patapsco during the War of 1812.
JAMES MADISON, President of the United States of America.
TO ALL WHO SHALL THESE PRESENTS, GREETING:BE IT KNOWN, That in pursuance of an Act of Congress passed on the eighteenth day of June one thousand eight hundred and twelve, I have commissioned, and by these presents do commission, the private armed Schooner called the Patapsco of the burthen of 159 tons, or thereabouts, owned by Andrew Clopper, Levi Hollingsworth, Amos A. Williams and Henry Fulford of the City of Baltimore mounting 6 carriage guns, and navigated by 40 men, hereby authorizing James M. Mortimer Captain,
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Maritime Security: Congressman’s Plan to Fend Off Pirates
“a free-market solution to make the high seas safer for cargo ships.”
This should be the theme of Feral Jundi, although I would rework it to apply to the big three–piracy, drugs, and terrorism. I really like this idea, and it is an ‘out of the box/building snowmobiles’ solution that has actually been implemented in the past with great success. Applying a free market solution to not just make the seas safer, but the world safer, is the kind of concept that could be a game changer in these endless wars we are fighting.
The other point I wanted to make, is nothing else seems to be working that great in the war on drugs, terror, or piracy. Why not try it out, and really give it a go? Wars are extremely expensive, and the Letter of Marque might be the solution to actually save some money. Things to think about, as these wars drag on. –Matt
Edit: Watch Ron Paul’s Youtube Talk about the Subject Here
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Ron Paul’s plan to fend off pirates
By: Erika Lovley
April 15, 2009 04:16 AM EST
A little-known congressional power could help the federal government keep the Somali pirates in check — and possibly do it for a discount price.
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and a growing number of national security experts are calling on Congress to consider using letters of marque and reprisal, a power written into the Constitution that allows the United States to hire private citizens to keep international waters safe.
Used heavily during the Revolution and the War of 1812, letters of marque serve as official warrants from the government, allowing privateers to seize or destroy enemies, their loot and their vessels in exchange for bounty money.
The letters also require would-be thrill seekers to post a bond promising to abide by international rules of war.
In a YouTube video earlier this week, Paul suggested lawmakers consider issuing letters, which could relieve American naval ships from being the nation’s primary pirate responders — a free-market solution to make the high seas safer for cargo ships.
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