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.
Four more or is this the same four as the other thread in breaking news.
We need to bring all these pirates back to the U.S., give them a fair trial and set them on fire.
killed two pirates and captured 13 othersImamObambam will send money to the families of the 2 dead and will higher the 13 others to union organizing positions in states with Republican governors.
Personally, I think a burial at sea is sufficient for the pirates. I find it hard to believe we don’t know where they launch from and that place should incur significant damage as well.
It’s sad that 4 American citizens being murdered will get less coverage than if we absolutely demolished any pirate boat that was found in the open sea or at port.
The same four.
killed two pirates and captured 13 othersImamObambam will send money to the families of the 2 dead and will
(I wish I would learn to proof-read before I post!)
Teddy Roosevelt would know exactly what to do.
So would Vladimir Putin.
18 U.S. Code § 1651. Piracy under law of nations
“Whoever, on the high seas, commits the crime of piracy as defined by the law of nations, and is afterwards brought into or found in the United States, shall be imprisoned for life.”
They need to stop waiting and trying to negotiate with these crazies, just attack.
If I was on that boat, I wouldn’t want them to wait.
These people were spreading the gospel and they had bibles on board. This was more than the pirates could stand.
I need to know more, but they appear to be modern Christian martyrs.
Why waste the money and time, just obliterate Somalia and turn it into a parking lot!
NPR,this am, attempted to minimize the loss of American lives because the leader was a Christian distributing bibles around the world.
I agree with burial at sea. Live burial at sea. With lots of floating chunks of bloody meat in the water with them to keep them from going hungry as they float there on the waves waiting for local wildlife to swim by and check them out.
I wonder what kind of rules of engagement orders that level of massive Naval firepower was operating under ?
Against 19 pirates.
Seems like I remember the Russians turning some loose in a small boat, no water, no motor and then something happened like the boat sank. All pirates died at sea (shark bait?).
Ivan is good at some things, returned brutality is one.
13 pirates should be listed as KIA.
Show trials and examples made. No mercy for pirates.
“During the boarding, the Somali pirates fired on the U.S. forces, who killed two pirates and captured 13 others.”
Kill the rest of them, send their boat to the bottom and then bomb their ports on the coast.
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