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Pirates seize French cruise ship
Associated Press ^ | 04/04/08

Posted on 04/04/2008 10:10:42 AM PDT by presidio9

Pirates seized control of a French cruise ship Friday off the coast of Somalia, France's Foreign Ministry said.

A ministry official said details about the attack were scarce, and it was not clear how many crew members were on board the ship or if there were any passengers.

The ship is in the high seas in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean.

The official declined to identify the vessel or its owner.

The ministry has set up a crisis center to deal with the situation, said the official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Pirates seized more than two dozen ships off the Somali coast last year.

The U.S. Navy has led international patrols to try to combat piracy in the region. Last year, the guided missile destroyer USS Porter opened fire to destroy pirate skiffs tied to a Japanese tanker.

Wracked by more than a decade of violence and anarchy, Somalia does not have its own navy and

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: arrrrrrrr; cruiseship; hostages; leponant; maritime; piracy; pirates; somalia; surrendermonkeys; usn
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To: 1rudeboy

Thanks for the info. I didn’t know that. Good for the Frenchies. My comment was a riff about the incident some time ago when they had to tow the thing, for some reason or other..


81 posted on 04/04/2008 3:32:07 PM PDT by ken5050
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To: Tallguy

Well, frogs are waterborne. ;-)


82 posted on 04/04/2008 3:52:16 PM PDT by Stonewall Jackson (Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory. - George Patton)
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To: Romulus

The Frogs were poorly led. They had more and better tanks, good aircraft, and plenty of decent troops. They just lacked the doctrine the Germans had developed to use them together.
Of course, everybody but the Germans lacked that doctrine... and paid in blood to learn it.

If the French had good leadership they fought well, for example, Bir Hachiem, where they fought the Afrika Corps to a standstill, then, surrounded, broke out and escaped.


83 posted on 04/04/2008 4:01:08 PM PDT by Little Ray (I'm a Conservative. But I can vote for John McCain. If I have to. I guess.)
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To: CodeToad
BS. That’s what liberals say about firearms in our homes. It doesn’t take a Marine to use a firearm. That’s just you putting them on a pedestal.

Gee, let's see here. Lessons learned and procedures developed over close to a hundred years, or what Rambo writes on an internet forum. Tough call.

84 posted on 04/04/2008 4:18:59 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: 1rudeboy; CodeToad
While Marines are nice, I don't think they're necessary either.

On your average cruise, you've got a bunch of old geezers who are WWII and Korea and 'Nam vets (o.k., us 'Nam era folks aren't geezers QUITE yet). Not to mention those of us who while not veterans are well versed in the use of small arms.

My dad was an Engineer in WWII and was quite capable as late as the 70s of putting two well-placed shots in a burglar on a dark rainy night with his father's double barrel Parker (when you care enough to send the very best.)

I've fired a bunch of oddball stuff including a water-cooled Vickers MG, and it's not rocket science. If the cruise ship told off the veterans to man the heavy stuff and let the rest of us handle the rifles, it would probably work sufficiently well to scare off pirates looking for easy pickings.

Besides, better to die on your feet etc. etc.

85 posted on 04/04/2008 4:51:47 PM PDT by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
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To: 1rudeboy

Gee, those prodcedures worked great on 9/11/2001. And they worked great on the Achille Lauro, too.
They work great for pizza delivery guys and clerks at convience stores.

Not.


86 posted on 04/04/2008 4:54:59 PM PDT by Little Ray (I'm a Conservative. But I can vote for John McCain. If I have to. I guess.)
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To: El Gato
Don't you know the pirates would be alarmed?

John Paul Jones or Lord Nelson could take 'em.

87 posted on 04/04/2008 4:57:38 PM PDT by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
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To: Publius6961

The article doesn’t say if the pirates used strong language or Super Soakers.


88 posted on 04/04/2008 5:18:18 PM PDT by sig226 (Real power is not the ability to destroy an enemy. It is the willingness to do it.)
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To: farmer18th
I think those cruises should allow all guests to bring along whatever firearms they own and you could have a rag-head skeet shoot outfitter's vacation.

Hell, they could market the cruises that way. I'll bet a lot of guys would like a chance to take a pop at some Islamofascists.

89 posted on 04/04/2008 5:41:26 PM PDT by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: archy

We carried a couple of those my last deployment but didn’t have them out very much. The gunner’s mates said they were far more susceptible to corrosion in the salt air than the old standby twin .50 cals we also carried.


90 posted on 04/04/2008 6:29:28 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY (Your parents will all receive phone calls instructing them to love you less now.)
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To: Little Ray
Take a long look at the picture of the ship in #21. The only way to defend it against pirates is to mount floodlights along with your guns. The floodlights must shine 360 degrees out to at least 100 yards. All night. You must have security guards that are alert and facing in all directions.

Sure, daytime is easy. Fail to meet any of those conditions at night and the pirates are on board. If something goes wrong and the pirates decide they don't want witnesses (such as they shoot and kill someone during the gun battle), you've simply guaranteed that everyone else gets shot and tossed overboard. Probably with your bullets.

It's counter-intuitive, I know--but that is the historical perspective. Everyone wants to be a hero. They can't be here. The pirates are after your goods and maybe the ship. They don't want to kill you. But they will. And they'll have little problem doing so unless you turn your ship into an armed fortress. Concertina wire a plus . . . it'll leave cute rust marks.

So go ahead. Name your pretty little ship the Khe Sanh. Let's see how many tickets you sell.

91 posted on 04/04/2008 6:57:23 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: El Gato

OLD IRONSIDES BUMP!!! I love that ship and all she stands for.


92 posted on 04/04/2008 7:38:05 PM PDT by The Spirit Of Allegiance (Public Employees: Honor Your Oaths! Defend the Constitution from Enemies--Foreign and Domestic!)
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To: 1rudeboy

“Lessons learned and procedures developed over close to a hundred years”

Lol. What lessons learned over 100 years??? The only people who say not to use a firearm are liberals and cops looking to protect their own interests, which one are you?

Between me and you, I bet I’m the only one who has returned fire, so I’ll take my own personal experiences whereby returning fire was a lifesaver versus your distorted opinion that only Marine types are capable for self-defense.

P.S. Bullies usually run when punched in the nose. Works on the high seas, too.


93 posted on 04/04/2008 9:39:38 PM PDT by CodeToad
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To: CodeToad
Listen, I understand your desire to prove to everyone here that you are a real man. It's ok. If you think you can apply your knowledge to the challenges maritime security experts face, perhaps you should become one.

I wish we had one here . . . it would be interesting to see his reaction to your cultural theories. I wonder how long it would take before he became impatient.

94 posted on 04/05/2008 4:53:35 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: Owl558
Perhaps, but I sense the French are once again transforming themselves into a great power. Their science and manufacturing are world class. Can their military be far behind?
95 posted on 04/05/2008 6:23:40 AM PDT by jpsb
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To: Owl558
The French Generalship of WW1 and leading up to WW2 was terrible, the worst. Unfortunately for the French German generalship (Prussian) was always very very good
96 posted on 04/05/2008 6:27:22 AM PDT by jpsb
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To: 1rudeboy

“Listen, I understand your desire to prove to everyone here that you are a real man.”

Well, you’re the one trying to lay claim to understanding security expertise, yet, you have no expertise from which to understand such things. Again, only stupid liberals and cops with an agenda ever try to say a person should never use a firearm in defense. You have no expertise from which to speak so we’ll just chalk you up as just another liberal who wants us all to be sheep because you think the experts say so. OH, and, uh, only liberals like to say anyone who stands their ground with a firearm is just showing bravado.


97 posted on 04/05/2008 7:19:23 AM PDT by CodeToad
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To: CodeToad
ROTFLMAO

Let me know when you get your international concealed-carry permit, cowboy.

98 posted on 04/05/2008 7:21:31 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: AnAmericanMother

EXACTLY. My first thought. It is criminal - unless it is a trap.


99 posted on 04/05/2008 7:21:54 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (John McCain - The Manchurian Candidate? http://www.usvetdsp.com/manchuan.htm)
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To: 1rudeboy
Floods not needed. It would be better to have night vision and surprise the pirates with a few hundred rounds from a Dillion Aero mount.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYvEFATaRMY

100 posted on 04/05/2008 7:34:30 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (John McCain - The Manchurian Candidate? http://www.usvetdsp.com/manchuan.htm)
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