Somali Pirates vow to fight US Navy
 

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali pirates holding an American hostage on a drifting lifeboat vowed on Friday to fight any attack by U.S. naval forces stalking them at high sea.

"We are not afraid of the Americans," one of the pirates told Reuters by satellite phone on behalf of the gang holding ship captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean.

"We will defend ourselves if attacked."

Despite their defiant talk, maritime groups tracking the saga -- the first time Somali pirates have captured an American -- say a more likely outcome is a negotiated solution, possibly involving safe passage in exchange for their captive.

Four pirates have been holding Phillips, a former Boston taxi driver, since Wednesday after a foiled bid to hijack the 17,000-tonne Maersk Alabama several hundred miles off Somalia.

The ship's lifeboat has run out of fuel, other pirates are too nervous to help them due to the presence of foreign naval ships, and the USS Bainbridge destroyer is up close.


link

How exactly do they plan to fight the US Navy with four people in a lifeboat? Apparently they're so bold because they're dumb!

I'm not sure if it's the gusy on the lifeboat that we are concerned about...I was wondering why can't a group of SEALs justs imply go out there do what they do and call it a day, but I suspect this is something bigger....or...just hot air.

If we do arrest these guys, I hope Panetta reconsiders his new policy not to allow third parties to 'interrogate' prisoners.

I just read about that this morning

The lifeboat is closed off - it's more like an "actual" boat than a life raft - so it's not like they can just shoot the four of them and grab the guy a la Jack Bauer. If they "storm" it, they'll just kill the captain.

Also, the "fighting the Navy" part is that the Somalis are sending in reinforcements - it's not the four guys on the lifeboat that are the issue, it's the other commandeered ships that have armed dudes on them (and a bunhc of hostages being used as human shields) that have been dispatched to the area, along with the pirate motherships. They have anti-tank rockets and possibly some SAMs according to reports, although there's little indication they could take down a destroyer - still, it's dicey, and really way beyond where it should be.

The Navy is, correctly, taking this very seriously. Also, there is a SEAL team on the original vessel heading for Nigeria, and likely others in the area or on the way. The pirates, however, are successfully leveraging innocents to put the Navy in a tough spot.

Thanks,

I was also reading an update where it indicated that the captain tried to escape but failed and 2 more US ships are coming to the area.

Anybody have any idea why this activity has increased or has it always been this bad and only now just really being publicized?

Yeah - the report I read said he jumped off the boat and tried to swim for it, but was quickly recaptured. That's ballsy as hell- big props.

It hasn't increased per se - it's just moved. The US and other nations have ships patrolling the Gulf of Aden, so the pirates have simply moved further away from the Gulf. The original US vessel was captured like 300 miles off the coast of Somalia. The area the pirates infest is something like 1,000,000 square miles, making patrol pretty much impossible.

Right....

because there were a lot of reports of pirate activity last year in that area and other parts of coastal Africa

A friend of mine was suggesting a trip to Seychelles (which I believe isn't too far from that same area) to me and some friends of mine for getaway, homeymoon etc...BUT THEN that next week, there was a report of a hijacked boat right off the coast. Heh....

Not going!! HEHE!!!

Sticking to my original plan and going to Cairo.

well, they could go all out McGuyver with a paper clip and a rubber band!http://www.siyclone.com/forum//style...ault/dead3.gif



But seriously, I pray for the safe return of the American captain.

It IS increasing, because the pirates have been successful in holding ships/tankers for ransom for tens of millions of dollars. They're buying more boats and weapons with that money.

It is getting to the point where I can see the Navy eventually just bombing all of the ships, despite the human shields on board. The harm that could come from these fools continuing to hijak international trade vessels - at an increasing price - might be to great to allow this to continue.

Seriously, this guy is amaing for being in this situation and keeping it together.

Side question for you (or KSigKid): he's a former Boston cab river, as I've never ridden in a Boston cab, are they known for not taking crap and dealing with out of control situations on the regular?

Sure thing Somalis....we'll be right there.

http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/wp...08/11/610x.jpg


http://www.milnet.com/pentagon/elliot02.jpg

http://www.militarypictures.info/d/989-3/delta3.jpg

http://www.naval-technology.com/proj...gaulle1110.jpg

http://www.btinternet.com/%7Ewarship/Today/t422.JPG

These pirates are all hopped up on amphetamines which is why they act so erratic. There has to be some way that we could take out the four of them without harming the captain...

Okay, I want to know how in the hell these pirates on their little dingys are able to take over the boats of these sizes. Someone want to explain that to me?

I agree, time to forget political correctness, and let the Navy SEALS do what they are trained to do to rescue the Captain.

They have guns and the crewmen don't. Most shipping companies won't allow their crewmen to carry guns because the last thing they want is for their crews to get in a shootout with pirates who almost always have heavy weaponry such as automatic weapons and RPGs.

Thanks for answering my question PhiGam. This looks like an idea for someone like Blackwater to offer. Security for these ships going through dangerous channels.

Not a good idea, last thing you wanna do is escalate the situation into an all out blood bath everytime there is a piracy. There is a way to cut down on piracy, settle the somalia problem. Get a working government there with a strong law and order mandate. You'll see piracy cut down in no time. It work in the Malacca Strait. Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia just got tired of the pirates and started naval patrol in the area. It also helped that GAM is no longer active since they signed a peace treaty and transformed themselve into a political party.

Pirates lose.

Maybe they should go back to taking French vessels

FINALLY the Captain is free.

Too bad the fourth sniper missed his man. Four bullets, four dead pirates had such a nice ring. Three out of four is just fine with me, however.

Somali Pirates vow revenge: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,514822,00.html

They're going to kill foreign nationals because we rescued our citizen? I didn't realize how organized these scumbags are... something needs to be done. *cough*Blackwater*cough*

Obama twice OK'd rescue plan: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...minent-danger/

Very nice... and surprising. This is one of the few things that he's done as president that don't make me feel like he's trying to turn us into a European country. Well done Mr. President.

He's only following the lead of the French.

yeah I heard about that

I guess France decided it was time to kick ass, I guess to make up for the 20th century.

But when the French tried to rescue their hostage, the hostage was killed. WE did better.

I'm hoping that one terrorist we captured will give enough information so as we'll know where to send the cruise missiles.

Every time I read this story, this is the song playing in my mind:

http://www.funfreepages.com/flash/america_fuck_yeah.php

Link NSFW.

Of course we did. They still need pratice. But the story on it I heard, they only lost one hostage out of four, I think was the number. Or they killed four pirates. I remember the number four.

I am of no use.

Somalis shot mortars at a US Congressman at the Mogadishu airport today.

Anxious to see what Obama's Teleprompter has to say about this. Could get interesting.....

This isn't exactly how it happened. The fourth pirate was with the US folks negotiating a release. When they killed the three pirates who were with the captain, they kept the fourth one for further questioning and potential charges.

-- a pretty good blog post

Somali pirates: another side of the story April 10th, 2009· posted by by Alan Bock, Register editorial writer

There’s no justification for the attempted takeover of the Maersk Alabama or for holding the captain hostage. And while I expect the current hostage situation, which has the pirates asking for a $2 million ransom, is most likely to end with the pirates getting safe passage, I wouldn’t mind seeing them blown to kingdom-come and punitive raids — I imagine some Seals could pull it off — on the shore-based sanctuaries.


However, as execrable as the current situation is, there are aspects to the whole Somali sea-raiding phenomenon that haven’t received as much attention as might be warranted. According to Johann Hari, a left-leaning but not entirely fact-averse British journalist in a piece earlier this year, the Somalis didn’t start raiding ships until after a bunch of foreign fishing ships came in and fished out their coastal waters, depriving local fishermen of their livelihood and local Somalis of a source of food. Then, it is alleged, foreign vessels started dumping waste, including nuclear waste, off the Somali coast, and the vaunted international community did nothing about it. There are reports of radiation sickness among Somalis, and a number of barrels of foul stuff washed up during the 2005 tsunami.


Thus some Somalis see the piracy as a way of getting compensation for these indignities. There are problems with this, of course. By seizing commercial vessels they are demanding “compensation” from companies that are different from those that caused the problems in the first place. And what may have been conceived as a way to “get our own back” from nasty furriners has escalated into serious criminality, drawing in ever more ruthless and greedy scum, as successful criminality almost always does.


I’m not sure if all these allegations are accurate, and even if so they don’t justify piracy. And I’m not sure how to resolve the situation. But check out the links and see what you think. The story may be more complex than we have been told to date.

Sounds like some global agency or advocacy group needs to go to 'the source' as it were, and find out what they can do, if at all possible to provide an income for these people to cut down the acts of piracy that's going on.

On the flipside of that, the Somalis and whomever else in on this may find this more lucrative (altho more hazardous) than working legit.

I mean there are at least 12 confirmed other ships and their crews out there where they are just waiting for a payday...sounds like Mexico kidnappings all over again.

You mean Xe? ;)

lol lol

anytime you have coastal or fishing based communities living in abject poverty, piracy seems inevitable. their fishing resources are being depleted. Rayaale's weak transitional government fuels continued civil strife. it probably sucks to be Somalian. it has sucked to be Somali for some time.

there are other resources in Somalia: largely unexploited reserves of iron ore and probably oil, as well as other minerals. but those won't help much if they can't resolve transnational and civil issues. plus, the weather is shitty. oh, and everybody is hungry as hell.

I'm watching the news, and they're saying three of the pirates popped their heads out of the boat and Navy SEALS took all three of them out with three quick shots. lol

Flash game featuring pirates popping their heads out of holes in 3...2...1....

lol lol

On Chicago 5 news last night they were reporting on the captain being released and the Somalis being killed and it was the most hilarious thing.

It looked like a flash game. Two construction paper "floating" boats, dark "Somali" shady figures, and a picture (square, no less) of the captain popping in and out of the smaller boat. The story is not lolworthy, but they way they reported it had me dying.

I heard on the radio that the cargo this particular ship was carrying was food aid for Somalia and a couple other countries in the region.

Another problem is the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia 3 years ago. That caused more damaged then good, rendering Somalia in a bigger mess.


Here's a wiki article on that invasion:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_...2%80%93present)