Posted on 02/22/2011 7:33:13 AM PST by Allthegoodusernamesaregone
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2011 – Somali pirates killed all four Americans they had held hostage aboard a sailing vessel in the Indian Ocean this morning, U.S. Central Command officials announced.
U.S. officials were negotiating with the pirates for the safe return of the captured Americans when the murders took place, officials said.
Centcom officials said that in the midst of negotiations, U.S. forces responded to gunfire aboard the S/V Quest. When the forces reached the boat, officials said, they discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors. Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds.
During the boarding, the Somali pirates fired on the U.S. forces, who killed two pirates and captured 13 others. U.S. forces already had captured two other pirates, and the servicemembers boarding the Quest found the remains of two other pirates.
“In total, it is believed 19 pirates were involved in the hijacking of the S/V Quest,” Centcom officials said.
“We express our deepest condolences for the innocent lives callously lost aboard the Quest,” said Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, Centcom’s commander.
The pirates seized the boat Feb. 18 off the coast of Oman. Somali pirates -– often operating from mother ships far out to sea -- have captured scores of ships and generally have held the ships and crews for ransom. News reports indicate Somali pirates currently hold 29 ships with more than 660 hostages.
Piracy in the region occurred originally off of Somalia’s east coast for several years. In August 2009, the pirates extended their attacks to the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia’s north coast. The pirates since have ranged farther out to sea -– up to 600 miles –- and now affect more than a million square miles in the Gulf of Aden, the west Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.
The United States has worked closely with regional and international partners to attack the problem. In this case, American forces closely monitored and tailed the Quest. Four U.S. Navy warships made up a response force dedicated to recovering the S/V Quest: the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf, the guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett and USS Bulkeley.
Our King communists black Muslim occupier of the White HouseYou probably typed fast which is why you got the terminology wrong. The correct title is:
King Kenyan Communist Black Muslim Occupier
You are forgiven. :)
Are you trying to say that no Americans should be allowed to go to sea, because it’s their fault if they were attacked by pirates?
They were at least 500 miles from Somalia when they were attacked.
There have been pirate attacks in the Carribean, too. Does that mean no Americans can sail there?
Freedom of the high seas is a basic principle, which we certainly cannot give up. The Navy should have sunk the pirate vessel with the crew on board. But then I suppose Obama would have had them all courtmartialed, like the Haditha Marines. (And that started under Bush!)
This is so wrong on multiple levels
Hopefully, someone in our new Republican controlled House can introduce legislation to straighten out this travesty of Justice.
44 posts before we get then usual FR “no sympathy” post from a bunker somewhere
on the Logan threads it was immediate
you guys and gals are too funny...anything happens to anyone tragic anywhere and first observation from tough boys and some cat ladies here is it must have been their fault...they had it coming...it’s just not right to blame crazy stoked primitve pirates for their actions..it’s the yachts fault for being there
methinks that on this thread unlike the Logan spectacle you’ll get less high fives for being so hardcore bro..lol
you get a pancake...with maple syrup
then you can puke...
I need to know more, but they appear to be modern Christian martyrs.
They seem to be more like modern stupidos to me. What on earth are they doing near the African East coast. Why should we spend one dollar or risk one soldier on people who think they can go anywhere they want in the world? The world is a dangerous place and any person of any nationality who thinks that they should be able to travel unmolested or even killed is living in fantasy-land.
If Obama does not authorize the Navy to summarilly execute those dirty Muslim pirates, it will show the world he is a WEAKLING...and probably an Islamic sympathizer.
The guys over on arfcom were talking about what a good bachelor party event the pirate problem could be turned into.I've read this suggestion before.
Heavily Armed Reality Cruises.
Expensive? You bet.
Fun? You bet!
Obama is weak. The world knows it.
Thank you.
Thanks! I just have a feeling many people are missing the issue here.
Freedom of the high seas is a basic principle, which we certainly cannot give up.
“...It’s sad that 4 American citizens being murdered will get less coverage ...”
What’s even sadder is that those Americans were prevented by LAW from arming themselves and having a fighting chance to kill the scumbag animals BEFORE they got killed themselves.
What’s even sadder is that those Americans were prevented by law FROM HAVING THE MEANS to repel these f*cking savages while they were boarding - and instead had to wait until help arrives - just in time to draw chalk lines around their bodies. Gee...wonderful help there... A couple of 500.00 dollar used surplus AK47s or AK74s in the hands of an armed, determined crew would have RIDDLED the animals while they were climbing aboard, or shortly thereafter.
That’s what’s really sad. There was a time when Americans went armed pretty much everywhere. And made no bones about it.
What we’ve been brainwashed into letting ourselves become is pathetic...
Holder will find a way to reduce the charges and get them off.
Now that they have killed our citizens why not just load all the pirates on the yacht and use it for target practice? No survivors.
Send more meat indeed-!!
They were called ‘Q’ ships during WWII.
A surcharge that will have to be added to shipped goods and commodities to compensate for raids where the pirates collect as much as $9,000,000 in ransom per ship and are now estimated to have killed numerous crews and collected some $300,000,000 in ransom of people and cargos. They have also started capturing oil tankers and now apparently are considering reselling the oil to other terrorist states.
Before you start blaming the victim, think about the total picture.
And it is heartbreaking. We don’t need any “no-go” places in this day and age, but unfortunately the US and other countries didn’t step in to stop this when it got started and now it’s only extending itself further every day.
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We already pay a surcharge and it is called our taxes. I am tired of paying for the protection of multinationals who have left our country to put jobs in the hands of other peoples. And then want us to pay the premium of taxes so they can make monies anywhere. Let them pay for their own d.....d protection!
We have always had NO-GO places, like innercities of many American cities, and many highways and byways throughout the world. The world is and always has been a dangerous place.
It is their waters let them deal as they want. Lawless areas get poorer and poorer.
You bring up a good point, NFHale. It is INTERNATIONAL LAW, that our collective pussy government in Washington signed on to, that prevents private individuals and companies from defending themselves at sea.
So those who want to moan and complain about “taxpayer funded rescues” should address themselves to that law. If we abrogate treaties that deny Americans their god-given constitutional rights, then maybe we wouldn’t even need the US Navy to intervene.
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