Posted on 04/09/2009 4:46:01 PM PDT by topfile
MOGADISHU/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy negotiated on Thursday with Somali pirates who held an American ship captain hostage in a lifeboat in the Indian Ocean, their first such seizure of a U.S. citizen.
The gunmen briefly hijacked the 17,000-tonne Maersk Alabama freighter Wednesday, but the 20 American crew retook control after a confrontation far out at sea where pirates have captured five other vessels in a week.
Four gang members were holding the captain, Richard Phillips, on the ship's lifeboat after he apparently volunteered to be a hostage for the sake of his crew.
The Bainbridge, a U.S. warship, arrived on the scene before dawn and U.S. soldiers boarded the Maersk Alabama.
Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, top U.S. naval commander in the region, told CNN talks with the pirates had begun, while other military officials said more force was on the way to the area.
"We have USS Bainbridge on station currently negotiating with the pirates to get our American citizen back," Gortney said from his base in Bahrain, adding that the assault on the Maersk Alabama could mark a new phase in the international struggle against piracy in the region.
"We've always thought that one of the potential game changers out there is a U.S. flag vessel with U.S. citizens on board and we're there ... and that's where we are right now."
Vice President Joe Biden said the U.S. government was working "around the clock" on the crisis, but top officials indicated they were ready to wait out the delicate negotiations.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I think diverting 3 carrier task forces would really impress both the pirates.
WWRD?
(What would Reagan do?)
Or just toss four caskets in water next to them.
Negotiate!
It’s Carter all over again.
When a US naval ship shows up it doesn’t negotiate - it dictates.
These Obama buffoons are so in over their heads that I don’t think we can last four years.
Excellent idea. ;-)
Offer them a decent burial in return for the captain’s. The alternative, to be tossed in a pig’s feed tray.
Let’s see, these guys are sitting in the middle of the ocean in a lifeboat without any gas. I would say their negotiating position is very weak. We just say that if you do not hand over the captain now, we will kill you.
If I was kin to the hostage, I’d want them to negotiate his release. But I’m not. To me, it makes more sense to take direct action to annihilate the pirates, definitely, and rescue the hostage, maybe.
I should think the negotiations would consist of, “Hand over the captain or you’re dead.”
You are right—too bad the new president doesn’t want to offend any of his muslim brothers.
If we had someone in the White House with any balls this would already be over.
There would be some pirates floating in the sea and the captain would be back on his ship.
Well, keeping the hostage alive does make the situation a little dicey. The only way to use force would be to somehow separate the hostage from the bad guys. Hopefully somebody's got something up their sleeve.
I suspect he'd tell the commanding officer of the destroyer to ask the pirates whether they knew how to swim, and then explain to them that they had fifteen minutes to figure out whether they wanted to try to swim back to Somalia or hand over their captive.
Actually it could just as easily be “What Would Jefferson Do” WWJD. He fought the First Barbary Pirate War, starting in 1801.
Baltodog’s prediction: Blackwater.
No muss.
No fuss.
Get ‘er done.
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