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ManintheMiddle
Joined: 20 Oct 2008
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 Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 10:05 am Post subject: BEST OF ALL OUTCOMES: CAPTAIN FREED, SOMALI PIRATES KILLED |
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The discussion over what to do about the hostage standoff off the east coast of Africa has just been rendered moot. The details aren't in yet but the Captain of the Maersk Alabama was freed and three of the four pirates killed. The other pirate was wounded and taken into custody.
This is the best of all possible outcomes because:
1. A brave and honorable man's life was spared.
2. The American Navy showed itself to be resilient, as did the FBI.
3. It sends a strong message to other would-be pirates: don't mess with us.
4. Most of the scumbags are dead, so no need to waste time and money with them in court.
5. One survived and hopefully will talk, perhaps leading to other arrests on land later.
Now if we could only get the Obama Administration to show enough balls to find a way to flush out these pirates in their safe havens in Somalia, or at least attempt some sort of "net" since a blockade is out of the question. Short of that, establish a shoot-on-sight (re: strafing) zone in the waters off Somali ports of call and get down to the serious business of holding talks with these maritime agencies and shipping companies so that they realize it's more cost-effective for them to pay and arm crews with higher insurance premiums than to risk having them kidnapped and held for ransom. Then sit down with the governments who refuse to allow armed crews to dock in port and threaten to deny them supplies if they don't budge. Enough is enough: waiting for the U.N. to intervene (either in Somalia itself or at sea) is just courting disaster.
Here's the start of the breaking news:
| Quote: |
Official: US sea captain freed in swift firefight
By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY and LARA JAKES, AP
MOMBASA, Kenya � An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday in a U.S. Navy operation that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, a senior U.S. intelligence official said.
One of the pirates was wounded and in custody after a swift firefight, the official said.
Capt. Richard Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was safely transported to a Navy warship nearby.... |
Three cheers and a beer.
So what should be our (re: American) next move?
Last edited by ManintheMiddle on Sun Apr 12, 2009 10:20 am; edited 2 times in total |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 10:06 am Post subject: |
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| Good stuff. |
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ManintheMiddle
Joined: 20 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 10:24 am Post subject: |
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| Yeppers. Underhill, Vermont is about to have its biggest parade since the end of the American Revolution. One man can still make a stand in this wacked out world. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 10:38 am Post subject: |
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We call it a 'link.'
We like links.
Links are good. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Now THAT'S the way you do it! |
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Leslie Cheswyck
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: University of Western Chile
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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One in custody, eh? Let's hope he doesn't fall upstairs a few times.  |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Article wrote: |
Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding the Greek ship anchored in the Somali town of Gaan said: "Every country will be treated the way it treats us. In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying," he told The Associated Press. "We will retaliate (for) the killings of our men."
Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told The Associated Press from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl, that: "From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages)."
"Now they became our number one enemy," Habeb said of U.S. forces.
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I like how they think threatening the escallation of violence could possibly help their cause. It's like they get together with the North Korean government on weekends and have P.R. seminars. |
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ManintheMiddle
Joined: 20 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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Fox observed:
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| I like how they think threatening the escallation of violence could possibly help their cause. It's like they get together with the North Korean government on weekends and have P.R. seminars. |
One correction: the fourth pirate surrendered unharmed.
One update: Navy SEALS snipers took the others out--at night.
As they say at McDonald's, "I'm loving it." |
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Leslie Cheswyck
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: University of Western Chile
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 5:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| Article wrote: |
Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding the Greek ship anchored in the Somali town of Gaan said: "Every country will be treated the way it treats us. In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying," he told The Associated Press. "We will retaliate (for) the killings of our men."
Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told The Associated Press from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl, that: "From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages)."
"Now they became our number one enemy," Habeb said of U.S. forces.
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I like how they think threatening the escallation of violence could possibly help their cause. It's like they get together with the North Korean government on weekends and have P.R. seminars. |
Those pirates look so waifish. Can't wait for the musical. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exGJsv6ZNlo |
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3MB
Joined: 26 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Isnt it time to just bomb the crap out of these guys' homes? Destroy their property and boats. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| Article wrote: |
Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding the Greek ship anchored in the Somali town of Gaan said: "Every country will be treated the way it treats us. In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying," he told The Associated Press. "We will retaliate (for) the killings of our men."
Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told The Associated Press from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl, that: "From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages)."
"Now they became our number one enemy," Habeb said of U.S. forces.
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I like how they think threatening the escallation of violence could possibly help their cause. It's like they get together with the North Korean government on weekends and have P.R. seminars. |
This is unfair of the pirates. The French have re-taken three ships by force and the pirates didn't get in a snit about it.
Anyway, it's pretty stupid. Who's going to hand over millions of dollars for dead hostages? It's as stupid an idea as the poster's who said to bomb 'em. |
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3MB
Joined: 26 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| Article wrote: |
Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding the Greek ship anchored in the Somali town of Gaan said: "Every country will be treated the way it treats us. In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying," he told The Associated Press. "We will retaliate (for) the killings of our men."
Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told The Associated Press from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl, that: "From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages)."
"Now they became our number one enemy," Habeb said of U.S. forces.
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I like how they think threatening the escallation of violence could possibly help their cause. It's like they get together with the North Korean government on weekends and have P.R. seminars. |
This is unfair of the pirates. The French have re-taken three ships by force and the pirates didn't get in a snit about it.
Anyway, it's pretty stupid. Who's going to hand over millions of dollars for dead hostages? It's as stupid an idea as the poster's who said to bomb 'em. |
Why is it stupid to bomb them? What will stop them from doing this? Either a)you give them a bus load of cash to stop, which is stupid or b) you you take the fight to them. Take out their homes and their boats. Leave them without shelter and without a way to make money. They dont deserve to be treated in any other way. |
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RufusW
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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| 3MB wrote: |
Why is it stupid to bomb them? What will stop them from doing this? Either a)you give them a bus load of cash to stop, which is stupid or b) you you take the fight to them. Take out their homes and their boats. Leave them without shelter and without a way to make money. They dont deserve to be treated in any other way. |
Yah, bomb their homes, and if they rebuild them do it again! F*ck 'em.
Or for a different perspective on why there are people acting like this...
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-you-are-being-lied-to-about-pirates-1225817.html
| Quote: |
More than $300m-worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are being stolen every year by illegal trawlers. The local fishermen are now starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: "If nothing is done, there soon won't be much fish left in our coastal waters."
This is the context in which the "pirates" have emerged. Somalian fishermen took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least levy a "tax" on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia � and ordinary Somalis agree. The independent Somalian news site WardheerNews found 70 per cent "strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence". |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 10:50 pm Post subject: |
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| RufusW wrote: |
| 3MB wrote: |
Why is it stupid to bomb them? What will stop them from doing this? Either a)you give them a bus load of cash to stop, which is stupid or b) you you take the fight to them. Take out their homes and their boats. Leave them without shelter and without a way to make money. They dont deserve to be treated in any other way. |
Yah, bomb their homes, and if they rebuild them do it again! F*ck 'em.
Or for a different perspective on why there are people acting like this...
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-you-are-being-lied-to-about-pirates-1225817.html
| Quote: |
More than $300m-worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are being stolen every year by illegal trawlers. The local fishermen are now starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: "If nothing is done, there soon won't be much fish left in our coastal waters."
This is the context in which the "pirates" have emerged. Somalian fishermen took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least levy a "tax" on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia � and ordinary Somalis agree. The independent Somalian news site WardheerNews found 70 per cent "strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence". |
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Except Mr. Hari offers no proof for his claims that nuclear waste is being dumped and fish are being stolen by Western countries. Mr Hari also writes for the SanFrancisco BayView (another lefty rag) which suggested that killing four police officers was a victory for "the people." This was in the course of defending a criminal who shot and killed four police officers before being killed himself.
When you have any proof, get back to us. |
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RufusW
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/10/2008109174223218644.html
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Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy for Somalia confirmed to Al Jazeera the world body has "reliable information" that European and Asian companies are dumping toxic waste, including nuclear waste, off the Somali coastline.
"I must stress however, that no government has endorsed this act, and that private companies and individuals acting alone are responsible," he said
....
But evidence of such practices literally appeared on the beaches of northern Somalia when the tsunami of 2004 hit the country.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reported the tsunami had washed up rusting containers of toxic waste on the shores of Puntland.
Nick Nuttall, a UNEP spokesman, told Al Jazeera that when the barrels were smashed open by the force of the waves, the containers exposed a "frightening activity" that has been going on for more than decade. |
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