Letters of Marque and Reprisal

[Drunknsubmrnr]

So….apparently there’s talk the US may be issuing letters of Marque again.

How does one apply for this? Asking for a friend. And yes, the sloops name will be Antelope.

[jemhouston]

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/letter_of_marque

Privateering saw a decline in use in the mid-nineteenth century. The decline culminated in the Paris Declaration respecting Maritime Law of 1856 , which formally banned the practice. Although the United States is not a signatory to the agreement, it has declared it would respect the principals laid out in the treaty. The United States has not since issued letters of marque, although they retain the legal power to do so.

[Last updated in June of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

[Drunknsubmrnr]

There’s a thread by Sen. Lee on Twix about issuing Letters of Marque to fight the cartels.

https://x.com/basedmikelee/status/18839 ... f-8OFJWLmg

[Belushi TD]

There’s a thread by Sen. Lee on Twix about issuing Letters of Marque to fight the cartels.

https://x.com/basedmikelee/status/18839 ... f-8OFJWLmg

I strongly suspect that would end up being a TERRIBLE result for anyone who gets involved in that. The Letter of Marque is apublic document, correct? So if a cartel looses a ship(ment), they can easily find out who captured/sank it, who the owner(s) are and probably the crew as well. Since the cartels are not well known for the restraint when someone irritates them, I would anticipate that a large number of persons who did not, shall we say, undergo the full rigor of the immigration system, would show up at the doors of the people who caused the loss, and then do extremely unpleasant things to them, akin to the goblins who broke into a house in Connecticuit and effectively torturered raped and murdered the entire family back a decade or so ago.

Now... If you think you can get away with it, or have no potential hostages, good for you. Go for it.

If the US could/would offer intelligence, as well as making a concerted effort to simultaneously shut the cartels down, then those receiing the letters would have a much better long term chance of survival.

Belushi TD

[Pdf27]

There’s a thread by Sen. Lee on Twix about issuing Letters of Marque to fight the cartels.

The whole "we don't have to worry about International Law, we're the USA" attitude is interesting. What's he going to do when the first boatload of privateers are arrested by the Mexican government and thrown in jail for piracy, since Mexico is a state party to the Paris Declaration?

Or indeed shipping belonging to any other country, since they won't have access to decent intelligence and this sort of thing is likely to appeal to hotheads. Given that both the UK and Netherlands maintain guard ships in the Caribbean and are also state parties to the Paris Declaration, this is likely to be deeply embarrassing if ever tried.

Where it might work legally is within the borders of the US, but that's really going to upset the Police and Border Protection by treading all over their jurisdictions.

[Drunknsubmrnr]

There’s a thread by Sen. Lee on Twix about issuing Letters of Marque to fight the cartels.

The whole "we don't have to worry about International Law, we're the USA" attitude is interesting. What's he going to do when the first boatload of privateers are arrested by the Mexican government and thrown in jail for piracy, since Mexico is a state party to the Paris Declaration?

From the Halls of Montezuma……

[David Newton]

It's simple. The privateers will find themselves hunted down and boarded by a real warship. Or if they decide they don't want to be boarded they will be hunted down and destroyed by a real warship.

Either way their efforts will be short and end VERY badly for them.

[Drunknsubmrnr]

It's simple. The privateers will find themselves hunted down and boarded by a real warship. Or if they decide they don't want to be boarded they will be hunted down and destroyed by a real warship.

Either way their efforts will be short and end VERY badly for them.

I don’t think the Mexicans have any “real warships”.

[kdahm]

It's simple. The privateers will find themselves hunted down and boarded by a real warship. Or if they decide they don't want to be boarded they will be hunted down and destroyed by a real warship.

Either way their efforts will be short and end VERY badly for them.

I don’t think the Mexicans have any “real warships”.

More than you'd think. One frigate of the SIGMA class, with 7 more to follow. A few corvettes and a missile boat. A whole bunch of patrol vessels. Basically, enough to ruin your day. They also have a lot of experience overhauling drug runners and people smugglers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s ... xican_Navy

[Craiglxviii]

There’s a thread by Sen. Lee on Twix about issuing Letters of Marque to fight the cartels.

The whole "we don't have to worry about International Law, we're the USA" attitude is interesting. What's he going to do when the first boatload of privateers are arrested by the Mexican government and thrown in jail for piracy, since Mexico is a state party to the Paris Declaration?

Or indeed shipping belonging to any other country, since they won't have access to decent intelligence and this sort of thing is likely to appeal to hotheads. Given that both the UK and Netherlands maintain guard ships in the Caribbean and are also state parties to the Paris Declaration, this is likely to be deeply embarrassing if ever tried.

Where it might work legally is within the borders of the US, but that's really going to upset the Police and Border Protection by treading all over their jurisdictions.

Having seen the professionalism shown by various US law enforcement agencies… you say that like it would be a bad thing…

[Pdf27]

Having seen the professionalism shown by various US law enforcement agencies… you say that like it would be a bad thing…

Yeah, but there will be a bunch of unfortunate cleaners on minimum wage who have to wash the blood off the pavement afterwards.

[Craiglxviii]

Having seen the professionalism shown by various US law enforcement agencies… you say that like it would be a bad thing…

Yeah, but there will be a bunch of unfortunate cleaners on minimum wage who have to wash the blood off the pavement afterwards.

Work creation programme?

[Drunknsubmrnr]

It's simple. The privateers will find themselves hunted down and boarded by a real warship. Or if they decide they don't want to be boarded they will be hunted down and destroyed by a real warship.

Either way their efforts will be short and end VERY badly for them.

I don’t think the Mexicans have any “real warships”.

More than you'd think. One frigate of the SIGMA class, with 7 more to follow. A few corvettes and a missile boat. A whole bunch of patrol vessels. Basically, enough to ruin your day. They also have a lot of experience overhauling drug runners and people smugglers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s ... xican_Navy

I’m surprised they have even one, although if Wikipedia is correct they’re going to be surprised at their first gunnery trial.

That’s still not much to cover almost 6000 miles of coastline.