Posted on 04/12/2009 11:00:01 AM PDT by bimboeruption
MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) - An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday in a U.S. Navy operation that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, a senior U.S. intelligence official said. One of the pirates was wounded and in custody after a swift firefight, the official said.
Capt. Richard Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was safely transported to a Navy warship nearby.
The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A government official and others in Somali with knowledge of the situation had reported hours earlier that negotiations for Phillips' release had broken down.
The district commissioner of the central Mudug region said talks went on all day Saturday, with clan elders from his area talking by satellite telephone and through a translator with Americans, but collapsed late Saturday night.
"The negotiations between the elders and American officials have broken down. The reason is American officials wanted to arrest the pirates in Puntland and elders refused the arrest of the pirates," said the commissioner, Abdi Aziz Aw Yusuf. He said he organized initial contacts between the elders and the Americans.
Two other Somalis, one involved in the negotiations and another in contact with the pirates, also said the talks collapsed because of the U.S. insistence that the pirates be arrested and brought to justice.
Phillips' crew of 19 American sailors reached safe harbor in Kenya's northeast port of Mombasa on Saturday night under guard of U.S. Navy Seals, exhilarated by their freedom but mourning the absence of Phillips.
Crew members said their ordeal had begun with the Somali pirates hauling themselves up from a small boat bobbing on the surface of the Indian Ocean far below.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Ah, okay then. Have it your way. They're not the most inflated dinghies in the water, are they?
If your Father is still alive, thank him for me. If not, he did a great service. Those original “frogmen” had one of the most dangerous jobs at the time with their primitive equipment. I salute him.
Absolutely right.
The key is to find out exactly which "American officials" were negotiating with the so-called "tribal leaders" of these savages, and who ordered those negotiations, and for what purpose.
Actually, if the one survivor lives, think of the intel we may get from him, providing we can still interrogate prisoners.
Amen. The free World tends to forget how much we protect them. Think nuke subs, not to mention all our other armed forces.
Its not about the high seas. Its about entering ports, and the liability of having armed crewmen.
Many of the countries these ships go to do not allow armed merchant ships. Therefore, they would have to drop off the armed guards miles out, and still be liable to pirate attacks.
AND, you really do not want untrained, armed merchant marines getting all trigger happy on anyone coming near their ship. The insurance companies know that you are less likely to be harmed by pirates if you do not resist, and go the ransom route. It is all in the insurance tables.
I know it sounds really wimpy, but thats the way this thing has evolved. And, believe it or not, injuries to crew members that have been cooperative have been minimal.
I am not saying I wouldn’t want a sidearm if I were these guys, but this is the way its been.
Probabaly not. The hijackers were alert and not tired then. This entire ops went as planned. Wait out the hijackers via lack of sleep so they make mistakes.
“Obama was doing NOTHING for a WEEK LONGER than anyone even KNEW!”
He was busy having a chef flown in to make the family pizza.
So much for the vaunted “analysts” quoted in the media, for example: http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/04/10/standoff-with-somali-pirates-shows-limits-of-naval-response/, which, along with the rest of the garbage (blaming everyone - except the pirates - for piracy), is a reminder why the MSM is dying.
Fox just started to read a statement from Obama - it expressed tepid joy at the Captain’s release, praise for the military, blah, blah, blah, and Fox just stopped reading it and went to their military analyst Cowan, as if Obama were immaterial. Cowan did say that the operation had to be authorized by the administration.
ABOUT FREEPIN’ TIME!!!!!
Hallelujah for God’s blessings on our military and praises for saving this American!!! :*) :*) :*)
Fantastic!
Over the past year I’ve spent some time working at the MMA. The people there are really top notch. The kids are great. They are smart, dedicated, and gung ho. The ship they work on is amazing.
I was down there last week and everyone was talking about all of the anti-pirate training-—and that was before this incident.
In talking with one of the staff this week, he said their unofficial slogan has become, “You don’t F*^& with a ‘Buc.” (Their mascot is the Buccaneer.)
Absolutely, Doug. But the biggest hero is civilian Captain Phillips who offered himself as a hostage to save his crew, and had the daring and fortitude to attempt escape TWICE!! That's more cojones than I think I have. The man is a genuine American hero, much like the Heros of Flight 93 on 9/11.
Americans are tired of taking crap from the scumbags of the world. Obami may want to schmooze with the bad guys, but this shows there are still brave decent Americans who will show their American STUFF.
As an earlier poster said:
EASTER SEALS!
God Bless the US NAvy Seals!!
Pentagon briefing coming up at 1:00 EST, and we should hear some more details about the operation by then.
Hussein had this all thought out. Kudos to our British Islamic chief.
He has risen, INDEED. A Toast to the living Christ! Blessed be the SEALs and the rest of our warriors who fight for freedom. Only two have ever willingly given their lives FOR you. Jesus Christ died for your soul and the American warrior for your freedom.
Now then, isn’t this what we’ve been telling zero to do for almost four days!
Asshats. Now the terrorists know they can screw around for, at least, three days before we do anything. Easy to put that in their plan of attack.
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