Posted on 04/11/2009 9:11:19 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
NAIROBI, Kenya — U.S. warships are trying to stop Somali pirates from sending reinforcements to a lifeboat where an American captain is being held hostage as the high-seas standoff off Africa's eastern coast entered a fourth day Saturday.
Underscoring the high stakes involved, France's navy on Friday freed a sailboat seized off Somalia last week by other pirates, but one of the hostages was killed.
A Nairobi-based diplomat, who spoke on condition on anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to reporters, said the pirates have summoned assistance but at least two American ships and U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft are deterring pirate ships and skiffs from contact with the lifeboat.
The pirates have threatened to kill their American hostage, Capt. Richard Phillips, if the U.S. attacks them, according to a Somali who has been in contact with the pirates.
The Somali said the pirates had called in four commandeered ships with hostages from a variety of nations including the Philippines, Russia and Germany.
The vice president of the Philippines, the nation with the largest number of sailors held captive by Somali pirates, appealed Saturday for the safety of hostages to be ensured in the standoff.
How Past Hijackings Have Been Resolved
"We hope that before launching any tactical action against the pirates, the welfare of every hostage is guaranteed and ensured," said Vice President Noli de Castro. "Moreover, any military action is best done in consultation with the United Nations to gain the support and cooperation of other countries."
U.S. rules of engagement prevent the Americans using their vastly superior fighting power to engage the pirates if there is any danger to civilians.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Great, tying our own hands.
Trying???
This feels like the late 1970s with Jimmy Carter again...
The more things change...
I say, let the pirates gather.
Then suddenly sink every pirate ship that doesn’t have hostages. Inform the other ships that they cannot leave the area or they will be sunk. The only way they can escape is to surrender their hostages and their vessels.
the town of eyl, somalia which is pirate central
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=7.9634081,49.84758&z=16&t=h&hl=en
as always, the imagery is a tad better in google earth
We live in an alternate America from the one I was born into.
The US Navy has a fundamentally unfair advantage over the Somalian anti-Capitalist freedom fighters.
We cannot allow such a lopsided fight take place, therefore the US Navy must disengage, the ransom must be paid, and an apology issued by our President.
Pirates only take hostages because the US dumps toxic waste off Somalian shores. /DU
It took 3 years for the Iranian hostage crisis to display the true Jimmy Carter. It only took 3 months for the true Barack Obama to come out. The media is going to need a bigger shovel to bury this one.
Riiiiiight...
My initial reaction to!
“U.S. rules of engagement prevent the Americans using their vastly superior fighting power to engage the pirates if there is any danger to civilians.”
In situations threatening civilization, firm action should be taken to protect civilians not yet involved in said situation.
Since the hostage isn’t an ivy league lawyer - he is cannon fodder. This is the way the clintonistas ran things - we are all expendable chaff in the eyes of the leftists.
re-enforcements? blow them out of the water.
they have hostages (human shields)? get some hooks on the boats and strip their props. leave them dead in the water
i would also put a couple of seals under the lifeboat with the capt. i would then signal the captain using a light... telling him the plan. i would have him acknowledge by brushing his hair or something. then, at the appropriate time, he will jump overboard and dive straight down beneath the boat. the seals would be waiting with air and underwater scooters.
once out of the way... commence target practice.
I’m worried all this is a diversion (or will be used as one) for something much worse. I hope we don’t put too much of our resources in one place.
WTF IS GOING ON HERE? WHY CAN’T WE JUST BLOW THESE POS OFF THE MAP? God I hate this administration! I HATE IT!
Since we have this lifeboast that the pirates are on blocked from receiving aid, I wonder what the chances would be of some kind of underwater rescue operation?
Basically what they are saying is that there is no answer to the problem. They need to tell people that if they sail into this area, there’s a chance that pirates will take them hostage and we cannot guarantee their safety.
Of course, Nairobi isn't exactly a beauty spot, except as compared to Eyl.
Blocking? ... and not blowing them into flotsam and jetsam?
Carter diplomacy does NOT work.
If the pirates get to shore with the American hostage - he fails.
If a ransom is paid to secure the hostage - he fails.
If the hostage is killed - he fails.
If pirates fire on our Navy vessels and escape death - he fails.
If any pirates achieve prisoner status - he fails.
If he refuses to authorize killing every pirate is sight - He fails.
The ONLY way the Dalai Bama comes out of this with a passing grade - is after the hostages are all safely recovered and every freaking pirate on the sea is dead and their home ports are reduced to a single layer of smoldering rubble.
This is the outcome and the solution to the problem the world is waiting for....
Anything less is failure.
There is a huge chance Obama WILL fail this test - as Biden predicted, and our Republic will be hastened on it's journey to banana republic status.
I don't have a military background and am sitting here in my comfy fabric chair; but; this doesn't seem that difficult of a problem to solve.
I’m sure he did think there were Seals waiting under the boat when he jumped off the first time. What a shame they weren’t there.
Reference post #22.
Then sink all their boats, bomb their homes, kill their relatives, destroy their home ports, kill the people they traded with, kill those they lent money to. End of pirate problem.
If President Bush was sill in office this matter would have ended the first day..We see now we have no chance with King Obama in office along with his court jesters..People of America vote these Turds out of office.
Why stop there? /sarc
“U.S. warships are trying to stop Somali pirates from sending reinforcements to a lifeboat...”
What’s the difficulty? Just aim your big guns at them, and let loose.
Obama Team Mulls Aims Of Somali Extremists: Seeing Potential Terror Threat
**********************EXCERPT INTRO************************
Senior Obama administration officials are debating how to address a potential terrorist threat to U.S. interests from a Somali extremist group, with some in the military advocating strikes against its training camps. But many officials maintain that uncertainty about the intentions of the al-Shabab organization dictates a more patient, nonmilitary approach.
Al-Shabab, whose fighters have battled Ethiopian occupiers and the tenuous Somali government, poses a dilemma for the administration, according to several senior national security officials who outlined the debate only on the condition of anonymity.
************************************
They are waffling BIG TIME!!!
Carter at least had some plausible excuse. More hostages, more of a diplomatic struggle, and a more vital region. I ain't excusing Carter-he was a disgrace. But this ass clown????????-Words fail me. I mean we are talking about a bunch of skinnies with AK 47s in a lifeboat with only one hostage. WTH?
Don't SEALS train for this?
Why sink their boats? Take the boats. They likely belonged to someone and were stolen. So take them and let the rightful owners know so they can claim them if they want.
No, I hadn’t seen that. Thank for the heads up!
See link at post #31.
All of the pirates' "reinforcements" are ships with hostages from other countries on them -- which explains the hand-wringing of the Philipine VP.
You didn't think the cowards would venture out without human shields, did you?
John Huang nails the obamination.
U.S. rules of engagement prevent the Americans using their vastly superior fighting power to engage the pirates if there is any danger to civilians.
More politically correct stupidity. So their civilians are more important than ours.
Boats coming to the pirates’ rescue would be my dream senario. Get them together in one place, then blow them up.
It’s no different than our strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let them congregate together, get feeling comfortable, then blow them up.
I think somewhere around 48% voted for McCain-Palin in 2008. We knew our country would have no chance of surviving obama and his evil comrades.
As to voting these evil doers out..........they were just voted in.
Elections have consequences.
No matter what we do in this pirate situation and even if we kill the pirates or bomb Somalia it is way too late to change the perception that our enemies have about our current situation. They realize that Obama is the weakest President ever and because of this they are going to cause us and the world incredible damage.
If the pirates get to shore with the American hostage - America fails.
If a ransom is paid to secure the hostage -America fails.
If the hostage is killed - America fails.
If pirates fire on our Navy vessels and escape death - America fails.
If any pirates achieve prisoner status - America fails.
If he refuses to authorize killing every pirate in sight - America fails.
All the tyrants in the world are now ratcheting up their plans...seeing that Zero is a pussy.
Man made incident not an act of terror...lol
add - kill their goats.
Oh, I think that "closet" adjective was surrendered last week. No need to guess any more.
What ever we do now is too late to change the perception that our other more dangerous enemies have about us. Even if we end up killing the pirates and go on to bomb Somalia the Al Qaeda terrorists, the Taliban terrorists, the Iranian terrorist regime, the North Korean communist regime, etc... know that Obama is the weakest President ever and they are going to take full advantage of this and cause us a lot of harm.
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