The podcast with security consultant and founder of The Combat Operator Jake Allen is ready for download below.
Some key points Jake made:
- A lot of the pirates are part-timers — fishermen not making enough money who see easy prey with bog slow ships.
- There need to be severe consequences for this ilk — sinking pirate speedboats and potentially killing marauding bands will serve as a major deterrent.
- Piracy in the Gulf of Aden isn’t a huge financial problem — but it is one if you’re a seafarer captured by pirates.
- Shipping companies should strongly consider trained, armed or unarmed security contractors to protect vessels transiting through the area — though this is not an inexpensive proposition.
- Raiding pirate bastions with Marines or SEALs would yield tactical success but create huge strategic problems for the United States — a bad idea.
On the change from “Blackwater” to “Xe”:
- Changing the name is not enough — the company needs to change its business model and concentrate on new, more positive ventures.
- The company needs to be more decentralized — allow different businesses within Xe to act on their own…enough of just Erik Prince and Gary Jackson speaking for the enterprise.
- The global economic downturn has begun to dry up business for PMCs.
- XE needs to take a hard look at all their business entities and keep ones that can really further a more positive brand.
Listen to the entire interview for more details…
– Christian
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for the highlights summary of the podcast.
Many people read at work, where listening to a podcast is not appropriate, and can better judge whether it is worth going back later for a listen if there is a brief summary of the contents.
Alas, many podcasts are not very good and it is hard to sort out those worth a listen from those that are not without some summarizing text.
Just carpet-bomb the pirate bases with B-52s.
NO ONE WILL MISS THEM!