Last night I saw reports of Greenpeace activists in Australia who drove a tiny motorboat around a Australian navy frigate, cutting in front of it and driving along its side, at one point even attaching themselves to the side of the boat in order to unfurl a banner. One report described their actions: “They attached themselves to the bow and stern of the HMAS Sydney and circled the vessel, a guided missile frigate, in boats and even surfboards as it tried to leave Sydney harbour. Two Greenpeace activists attached themselves with ropes from the front and the rear of the vessel, while protestors in other boats cast a mooring rope across the path of the frigate, forcing it to return to its base in the middle of Sydney Harbor.”

The Australian PM called them “jokers,” but in post-USS Cole days, this is nothing to joke about. Any boat or person that approaches a naval ship should be warned to stay away, and then torpedoed.