Posted on 04/12/2009 6:56:56 AM PDT by tobyhill
U.S. talks with pirates holding American ship captain Richard Phillips broke down this weekend, with Somali officials blaming a U.S. insistence that the pirates must be arrested, The New York Times reported.
Talks began Thursday with the captain of the USS Bainbridge talking to the pirates under instruction from FBI hostage negotiators on board the U.S. destroyer. A Pentagon spokesman said Saturday that negotiations to free Phillips were continuing.
Phillips was still held hostage in an enclosed lifeboat Sunday by four pirates being closely watched by the Navy and a helicopter in an increasingly tense standoff. The lifeboat is out of fuel and drifting.
Officials also say talke broke down after pirates fired on a small U.S. Navy vessel that had tried to approach the lifeboat.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Obama is such a loser.
If the seas are calm they could row to shore in a few hours. I think this lifeboat is equipt with oars.
APPEASEMENT, REALLY GETS THE JOB DONE! So here we go now following these homeless guys with guns on to land when this could have been taken care of with navy seals from day one. I can only hope this turns out to be a turning point.
Well, Great Leader Obama, the ball is in your court now...
Soon this will be a land based hostage situation while the Navy watches it happen.
MEMO TO THE ONE (PISS BE UPON HIM):
IT’S 0300.
THE PHONE IS RINGING.
WHERE ARE YOU?
LOL!!!!!!
May the Captain receive a miracle from God
All this could have been avoided if the captain had been allowed to arm the ship.
All this could have been stopped on day one if it weren’t for Hussein appeasing his fellow Muslims. I’m going out on a limb, but I suspect it’s a very sturdy limb in assuming the captain is an infidel.
Mr. niteowl77
Continuing prayers for the brave captain who gave up his own safety to save his crew. Lord keep this man in your loving care, safe from harm, and get him home to his family. Rain justice down upon the terrorists who have taken him hostage. Amen.
Nobama the pushover, Nobama the weak, Nobama the powerless. "Yeah but he sure can read from a teleprompter."
We should start calling Nobama "Sir Robin"... and he ran away and he ran away,,, Sir Robin.
Can not the bulk of a much larger ship, or a combination of a larger ship and several smaller vessels, manage to keep a small lifeboat of limited range forced away from the shore?
I know this possibly increasing the risk for Captain Phillips, but these people holding him hostage are unstable anyway. It may not be possible to make them even more nuts than they already are.
The last thing anyone but the pirates themselves would want is that they make it ashore. Keep them at sea until a) they run out of food and water; b) they run out of means of propulsion for the lifeboat; or c) they run out of patience and/or good judgment and execute Captain Phillips, at which time they have declared the negotiations at an end. Or d) they could simply give up and release Captain Phillips.
But of course, they always had option d).
Thanks for posting the article.
(It was the first such approach since the standoff began, and the VESSEL retreated to the Bainbridge without returning fire because the American BOAT “did not want to escalate the situation,” a U.S. official told The New York Times.)
Sounds like we should have sent an SUV. They are pretty effective at killing people, and are not nearly as considerate as that BOAT.
Sadly everyone knows the answer to this question:
What do you get when you cross a waffle with a teleprompter?
IT?S 0300.
THE PHONE IS RINGING.
WHERE ARE YOU?
Random guesses: Out for Pizza. In Georgetown for dinner. Conferring with William Ayers on how to make the US look weaker. etc. etc.
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