From the AP,
Pirates recapture US hostage after escape attempt
..............."Mohamed Samaw, a resident of the pirate stronghold in Eyl, Somalia, who claims to have a "share" in a British-owned ship hijacked Monday, said
four foreign ships held by pirates are heading toward the lifeboat. A total of 54 hostages are on two of the ships — citizens of China, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines, Tuvalu, Indonesia and Taiwan.
"The pirates have summoned assistance — skiffs and mother ships are heading towards the area from the coast," said a Nairobi-based diplomat, who spoke on condition on anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media. "We knew they were gathering yesterday."
Samaw said two ships left Eyl on Wednesday. A third sailed from Haradhere, another pirate base in Somalia, and the fourth one was a Taiwanese fishing vessel seized Monday that was already only 30 miles from the lifeboat.
He said
the ships include the German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger, seized earlier this month. The ship's crew of 24 is made up of five Germans, three Russians, two Ukrainians, two Filipinos and 12 from Tuvalu.
Another man identified as a pirate by three different residents of Haradhere also said the captured German ship had been sent.
"They had asked us for reinforcement, and we have already sent a good number of well-equipped colleagues, who were holding a German cargo ship," said the pirate who asked that only his first name, Badow, be used to protect him from reprisals.".............
Let me get this straight. Captain Richard Phillips jumps out of the boat and begins swimming away leaving only terrorist pirates in the boat, yet the USS Bainbridge did not have the clearance to blow the pirate-filled boat out of the water? Unfrigginbelievable. This is actually worse than Jimmy Carter.
Carter's biggest fault in these situations was being a micromanager. Obama simply hasn't bothered to show any management. The best he could do would be to turn the entire operation over to the US Navy. Instead, he is turning it over to Eric Holder.