REPORTS OF BOAT HIJACKED FROM HAITI: intercepted offshore Florida by Coast Guard... Developing...

Drudge ^ | Feb. 25, 2004

[FairOpinion]

REPORTS OF BOAT HIJACKED FROM HAITI: intercepted offshore Florida by Coast Guard... Developing...

[FairOpinion]

Yes, this may not be, hopefully, but terrorist hijackings are a serious concern.

Piracy and kidnapping soar on the high seas
Jan. 28, 2004

http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4223490

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said the number of reported ship attacks jumped to 445 in 2003, 20 percent higher than the previous year and the second highest level since it began compiling statistics in 1991.

Some Western intelligence agencies and maritime security experts have linked al Qaeda, or militant groups associated with it, to Indonesian piracy. Experts say al Qaeda showed its seaborne attack capability by bombing the Limburg oil tanker off Yemen in 2002 and U.S. warship USS Cole in 2000.

"In 23 percent of the attacks, tankers were the targets," Mukundan said. "The fact that these ships carrying dangerous cargoes may be temporarily under the control of unauthorised individuals remains a matter of concern.

"We have also seen, for the first time, ships being attacked simultaneously by a number of small pirate boats, firing weapons at the bridge of the vessel," he said.

[george wythe]

How about letting Kofi and the UN handle it?

Without the US doing the heavy lifting, the UN is powerless and rudderless.

It's always up to the US to act like the adults, but the UN will take the credit if it goes right.

[Dixie Pirate]

Say *what*?

We call them the "Fish Nazis".

[_Jim]

Every single agency wants a SWAT team nowadays, as well as little municipalities.

Gee ... could this be coupled with a desire by some law enforcement people to be able to come HOME at night in one piece and greet their wife and sons and daughters with *both* arms?

Of course ...

[cmsgop]

Plot a Solution XO..........

[Calvin Locke]

but it only took five per plane to crash into the WTC and Pentagon.

Only took one to crash into Staten Island. And he had a ship as well.

[george wythe]

could this be coupled with a desire by some law enforcement people to be able to come HOME at night in one piece and greet their wife and sons and daughters with *both* arms?

I don't buy the hidden premises of your argument... such as SWAT teams have increased the safety of law enforcement officers, but since this thread is about Haitian refugees, I will let it slide.

Have a nice evening.

[Dixie Pirate]

I'm not buying the line about SWAT teams and safety, either. That comes under a heading of "whack and stack".

[Calvin Locke]

How about letting Kofi and the UN handle it?

Do you hate the Haitians that much?

Besides, Haiti can't be fixed. It's a former French colony.

[homemom]

***Or since France is upset we are not intervening and suggesting 'strongly' that we do...let France do it ALONE! Or call Germany!***

But they can 't do it 'unilaterally' -- they have to get a huge coalition together--and "unilateral" is anything less than 30 countries. Right?

[homemom]

I do not completely understand the whole situation in Haiti and what the ramifications are for the US, but I sure wish we could just get everyone from that embassy out, and any other Americans, and just step back and let someone else -- the UN--handle it.

President Bush could just parrot back all they said to us and sit back and let it happen. Whatever happens. I know that is not fair to the people over there, and will not happen, but don't you wish we could?

[homemom]

I don't hate the Haitians at all! I can't say I know enough about the country to make any judgement, but from what I've seen there are many innocent people there who have nothing to do with what's going on!

My point is that when the US tries to help in these situations, they get criticized. Let's let the UN try to handle one of these complicated situations without our help and money and troops. And especially if it's a formerly French, let THEM try to help.

[ctonious]

Ohhh, so the Congressional Black Caucus wants to get involved now. Can they spell Zimbabwe? Or have they now, never-ever heard of the place?

The disgustingly evil thing about sanctimonious liberal meddlers is - their callous indifference to the horrendous carnage they leave in their wake.

[george wythe]

know that is not fair to the people over there, and will not happen, but don't you wish we could?

I wish we could, but we can't ignore Haiti's problems because of the potential for a refugee crisis. Floridians will rebel against President Bush if he allows another Haitian boatlift to reach Florida.

Besides there are historical ties between Haiti and the US; it is very likely that one third or more of Haitians live in the US.

[_Jim]

I don't buy the hidden premises of your argument.

blah blah blah.

I'd like to see you standing down 'the bad guys' wearing only a black 't' sometime.

Oh wait, you won't actually have to do that - your local PD will ...

[george wythe]

I'd like to see you standing down 'the bad guys' wearing only a black 't' sometime.

I have.

I used to live near a convenience store that was an epicenter for drug dealing. I called the cops many times, and their response was, "Bring us a video tape of the transactions, and we'll do something about it."

Several neighbors and I took the matter in our hands. Every Friday night and Saturday night, we will go to the convenience store and picket the parking lot with signs reading "The Drug Store is Closed."

The drugs dealers yelled obscenities to us, and threatened us several times by showing their guns inside their cars. The cops did nothing about it.

Eventually, the drug dealers moved to another area, and now the neighborhood near the convenience store has gentrified to the point that I sold my house at a huge profit.

The little guys wearing only t-shirts won.

[_Jim]

Nice try, but, someting was lost in the translation between my last 'penning' and your subsequent reading of same.

Picture, intstead, the 'actors' the cops faced at the bank shootout in West Hollywood - or one of the not-too-uncommon anymore 'armed and barricaded' situations that arise.

[george wythe]

Nice try, but, someting was lost in the translation between my last 'penning' and your subsequent reading of same.

Not really. You have your mind made up, so you don't care about the facts.

I'd like to see you standing down 'the bad guys' wearing only a black 't' sometime.

I have, and I won, with the support a other T-shirt wearing neighbors.

The cops were Missing In Action.

[Flipyaforreal]

"Do you know who they say is on that boat? Kaiser Soze! "

LOL!

[_Jim]

have, and I won, with the support a other T-shirt wearing neighbors.

STILL missing ... no, insisting on missing the point. That's your prerogative, irrational, but your prerogative ...