Posted on 04/11/2009 8:35:25 AM PDT by BarnacleCenturion
Somali pirates have hijacked a US-owned tugboat in the Gulf of Aden with 16 crew on board, reports say.
Maritime industry sources say the tug, which sails under an Italian flag, was towing two barges at the time of the attack, at 1100 local time (0800 GMT).
The crew are said to be unharmed. The US and Italian governments have not confirmed the hijacking.
Meanwhile pirates holding a US captain hostage have warned that using force to rescue him could result in "disaster".
The pirates said they hoped to transfer Capt Richard Phillips from a lifeboat to a bigger vessel, as US and other naval ships made their way to the area.
He is being held by four pirates hundreds of kilometres off Somalia.
In other developments:
- Sailors on a Panama-flagged bulk carrier repulsed a pirate attack with water hoses. Nato officials on a nearby Portuguese warship said an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade landed in the commanding officer's cabin
- On Friday, one Frenchman and two pirates were killed in a rescue operation by French troops on another vessel captured off Somalia. Four others, including a child, were freed from the yacht
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Banner in Piglatin.
Note to all FReepers: Foreigners may learn English, but they ain’t gonna know piglatin. So learn it or re-learn it if you have to... There may come a time when we all have to talk to each other in code. (Wolverines!!)
“You heard right about dead Coyotes on fenceposts... and it is still done today”
In 2006, I drove out to Oklahoma to visit my Grandpa, who lives in Stuart. Saw 5 coyotes hanging in a row. Looks like they slit the throats and stuck them on the posts. I had to back up to make sure I saw what I thought I saw, LOL.
Didn’t know why they did that. Grandpa said they do it to protect their livestock from being attacked by the coyotes.
I'm assuming you knew I was quoting Reagan when he was caught joking on tape for a sound check. I thought I was being rather witty....guess I failed :(
I don't think the current administration is looking to Reagan for guidance. Perhaps this is their inspiration:
The Gilligan anti defamation society will get you for that!
Yeah, he may be waving a white flag, but he’s walking on water!
???? I have been gone most of the day. Catching up now. Hope to God by the time I get to the end of the thread, we will have learned it was a rumor.
Have seen coyotes hanging from fencepost within a mile of my house in semi-rural Oklahoma City. The “good-ole-boys” tell me the idea is each critter has his own stink when decomposing, and that is what keeps dead coyotes friends and family from hanging around.
The shaming of America continues under Obama.
>> I have seen some videos of those ragtag Somali ragheaded “pirates” and they could be plunked off easily by a far superior Western team <<
Amen! Where’s Frederick Forsythe when we need him?
Agreed... What has Somali done constructively for the world? What, if anything at all?
It’s time we stop fighting “politically-correct” wars and use our power full-strength.
As the saying goes: “It’s sometimes better to be feared than respected...”
We have in Obama two things:
1. The ineptitude of Carter
2. The slickness of Slick Willie, but even more so.
His presidency will crash & burn.
How about this...
Tell the cowardly pirates:
“No deal. You release the hostage now. If you kill the American hostage and we bomb the schiese out of their hometown where their relatives live (an eye for an eye).”
There has to be some higher bargaining chip we can use.
You don’t negotiate with terrorists or hostage takers. You tell them and the world what is going to happen, step by step you will remove whatever comforts they may have. And then you do it. Step by step. You state they will all cease to exist if the hostage is killed and if he/she is you deliver.
It takes once to send the message. For the sake of many...
“Nero fiddled.”
In ancient Rome,apparently the Senate could nominate a temporary dictator to deal with emergency situations. Zero is proving so abysmally incompetent, we might consider updating that practice to deal with pirates;) BTW, how fast would Zero move against music or DVD pirates?/s I can almost understand not “wantin’ to put da’ hurt on the brotha’ man”, but this is beyond ridiculous!
oops wrong thread! LOL
US owned and US flagged are very different. This was the first US flagged incident in roughly 200 years.
The Khemer Rouge were not pirates they were a part of the Cambodian government. This incident was actually an act of war, not piracy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.