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Pirate ships converge on US hostage at sea
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090410/ap_on_re_af/piracy ^

Posted on 04/10/2009 5:41:46 AM PDT by chessplayer

NAIROBI, Kenya – Escalating a dramatic Indian Ocean standoff, more U.S. warships — as well as pirate reinforcements with an international gallery of hostages — rushed Friday toward the spot where four Somali bandits are holding a U.S. sea captain aboard a drifting lifeboat.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: duplicate; hostages; maritime; richardphillips; shipmovement; somalipirates; usnavy
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To: aviator

The converging ships are apparently filled with hostages to act as human shields.


41 posted on 04/10/2009 6:23:47 AM PDT by wita
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To: chessplayer

By ORDERING our people NOT to shoot Obama is showing how inept and naive he is. He needs to trust our military and let them handle the situation with 100% autonomy and no lawyers present.


42 posted on 04/10/2009 6:24:43 AM PDT by BuffaloJack (To stand up for Capitalism is to hope Teleprompter Boy fails.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Obama is too busy selling mortgages to deal with this.

Funny, I couldn’t find anything about securing mortgages in the Constitution. Did find this pesky thing that seems to apply to pirates ...

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;

But then, again, what do I know?


43 posted on 04/10/2009 6:25:04 AM PDT by JustSurrounded
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To: aviator

“Could 19th-Century plan stop piracy?

International efforts to thwart Somali piracy would appear to be floundering. Perhaps words from the 19th Century could offer a solution, writes the BBC News website’s world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds.

Palmerston did not hesitate to send in the gunboats
If the navies of the world need some advice on ways to stop piracy off Somalia, they could look to Lord Palmerston, British Foreign Secretary in 1841.

“Taking a wasps’ nest... is more effective than catching the wasps one by one,” he remarked.

(cut)

“With Somali piracy still threatening shipping, it sounds as if modern navies need a few Captain Joseph Denmans, or the like-minded American, Commodore Stephen Decatur.

Sent to attack the Barbary pirates off North Africa in 1815, Decatur simply captured the flagship of the Algerian Bey [ruler] and forced a capitulation.

When the Bey later tried to repudiate the agreement, the British and Dutch bombarded Algiers.” “

(cut)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7991512.stm


44 posted on 04/10/2009 6:28:03 AM PDT by shoutingandpointing
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To: BuffaloJack

Right now I’m thinking that regardless of whether or not the American captain comes out of this unscathed, Obama is very likely having the very same “Mogadishu moment” that derailed Bill Clinton in 1993.


45 posted on 04/10/2009 6:28:14 AM PDT by Alberta's Child (I'm out on the outskirts of nowhere . . . with ghosts on my trail, chasing me there.)
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To: chessplayer
Obamas fly in chef 860 miles... just to make pizza...I'm not surprised.

...Mr Somers was accompanied by this business parnter Ryan Mangilardo who will help prepare the dinner for 140 this evening.

It will feature his signature dishes - ten deep dish and ten thin crust creations.

He is also planning a pizza especially for the president - the Hyde Park topped with chicken and hot sauce. ...

46 posted on 04/10/2009 6:28:43 AM PDT by WVKayaker ( God said, 'Cancel Program GENESIS.' The universe ceased to exist. - Arthur C. Clarke short story)
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To: Joann37

Our guys are probably under orders to do nothing without consulting the White House. So they can’t do anything on the spur of the moment.


47 posted on 04/10/2009 6:29:10 AM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ( Ya can't pick up a turd by the clean end!)
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To: Alberta's Child

Yup, he has been Jimmy Cartered.


48 posted on 04/10/2009 6:30:58 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Beat a better path, and the world will build a mousetrap at your door.)
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To: Joann37

Want to bet some captain had to go up the chain of command to get permission to bomb the boat to bits.


49 posted on 04/10/2009 6:35:48 AM PDT by mware (F-R-E-E, that spells free. Free Republic.com baby.)
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To: chessplayer

It is pathetic that a bunch of idiots in a speed boat with a few AK-47s can hold off the US Navy. This is the consequence of trying to play nice and negotiate with bad guys. These pirates are no different that street thugs who get away with extortion because the cops are afraid to do anything. Why the heck isn’t there a shoot to kill policy for any speedboats approaching ships in that region. It is obvious that these boats are not innocent fishermen. Yet the world pussyfoots because there is no leadership and we end up with more hostages.


50 posted on 04/10/2009 6:38:47 AM PDT by The Great RJ (chain.)
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To: kabar
I seriously doubt the USN will allow these other pirate boats anywhere near the stranded boat.

Do they have to be nearby to make threats? Bring out a half dozen European hostages, shoot one of them and then threaten to shoot more if the boat with the ship captain's kidnappers isn't allowed to go to shore. That leaves Obama, who is loved by Euros, to either capitulate or to say that the life of one American is worth more than a stack of Europeans. I don't see Bowing Barack doing that.

51 posted on 04/10/2009 6:38:56 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (No free man bows to a foreign king.)
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To: chessplayer

This looks like a good “24” moment to exchange the Pres__ent for the Captain. We get something useful and they get something useless.


52 posted on 04/10/2009 6:48:16 AM PDT by depressed in 06 (The next Constitution is going have to restrict the vote to those who actually pay taxes.)
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To: The Great RJ

I just Emailed the Teleprompter-in-Chief with this...

“Dear Mr. Obama,

In watching the news these past few days, I am becoming more & more disturbed at your inaction concerning the recent pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden.

As Thomas Jefferson realized in the early 1800s, we must not allow these attacks to continue. They are a direct attack on the sovereignty of the United States, and her allies.

As of this morning (10 April 2009), news reports indicate that additional reinforcements for the pirates are entering the area. THIS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN!

I urge you to use the full force of the United States Navy to deter these attacks and rescue the Maersk Alabama’s Captain. To allow this brave man to be held by nothing more than a loosely organized group of THUGS would send a message to the world that we are at best incapable or at worst, UNWILLING to defend our own citizens and interests.

Thank You.

XXXXXXX


53 posted on 04/10/2009 6:53:22 AM PDT by LoneConservative (PEACE... Through SUPERIOR FIREPOWER!!!)
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To: ccruse456

They know who their friends are.


54 posted on 04/10/2009 6:54:53 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: chessplayer

This is turning into another Iran hostage situation. Let the pirate reinforcements arrive on the scene, then sink them. If we let this go on we will simply encourage more piracy.


55 posted on 04/10/2009 7:02:44 AM PDT by yazoo (was)
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To: yazoo

They waited too long and allowed the enemy to bring in reinforcements. The Seals could have hit them 24 hours ago.
Now they will have to hit multiple targets at the same time.
Zero failed at this one. It was simple yesterday and much much worse today.
I pray for the captain the Seals and others who will now be forced into a more difficult situation.


56 posted on 04/10/2009 7:12:48 AM PDT by Oldexpat
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To: NativeSon
What BO and rest of these @ss-clowns have done is signal to the world that we are your doormat. He goes around, kicking his country, belittling and accusing his predecessor begging to be accepted like a weak, turn coat dog.

Yep. We're all going to reap what hussein sows.
57 posted on 04/10/2009 7:12:57 AM PDT by Sig Sauer P220 (Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people ----- Thomas Jefferson)
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To: chessplayer
ATTENTION LIFEBOAT: - This is the Captain of the U.S. Navy warship USS Bainbrige. You have 30 minutes to let the hostage go or I will guarantee you, even if it means putting my career on the line - on this day the Marines will have a new verse for their Marine Hymn.
58 posted on 04/10/2009 7:13:32 AM PDT by NavyCanDo (Party like its 1773)
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To: ClearCase_guy

I suspect these guys are taking orders from someone far away, very likely Iran. If so, they would have to be using a device that could be tapped by the US. My guess is we know as much as they do about what they’re being told. Just a guess.


59 posted on 04/10/2009 7:17:14 AM PDT by jwparkerjr (God Bless America!)
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To: KarlInOhio
Do they have to be nearby to make threats? Bring out a half dozen European hostages, shoot one of them and then threaten to shoot more if the boat with the ship captain's kidnappers isn't allowed to go to shore. That leaves Obama, who is loved by Euros, to either capitulate or to say that the life of one American is worth more than a stack of Europeans. I don't see Bowing Barack doing that.

Maybe Barack won't do that, but that doesn't make it right. If they shoot one of the hostages, then there are no more negotiations. You respond with force. Otherwise you will encourage even more hostage taking because they are insurance against any action being taken against them. I guess AQ could capture an American or a European and demand that some or all of the prisoners in Gitmo be released or they will kill them.

We are heading down the same path that Carter did in Tehran only this time we are dealing with a non-state actor. It should actually be easier to use force against the pirates and especially a group of four in the middle of the ocean in a lifeboat without fuel and surrounded by USN warships.

The mistake we are making is treating it like a routine domestic criminal hostage situation when actually, it is an international incident involving piracy on the high seas, which are covered under international law. We have every right to blow these bastards out their boats without a trial or reading them their Miranda rights. I hope the Captain is released unharmed, but we are dealing with a much larger issue and his safety is not paramount.

60 posted on 04/10/2009 7:18:12 AM PDT by kabar
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