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 ...
The converging ships are apparently filled with hostages to act as human shields.
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.
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?
“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
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.
...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. ...
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.
Yup, he has been Jimmy Cartered.
Want to bet some captain had to go up the chain of command to get permission to bomb the boat to bits.
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.
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.
This looks like a good “24” moment to exchange the Pres__ent for the Captain. We get something useful and they get something useless.
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
They know who their friends are.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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