A Hero Tribute
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 ...
God bless our military! Way to go, Navy Seals!!!!!
Has Zero tried to take credit for this yet?
Is the UN going to float a Navy to enforce their dogcrap dictates?
Every ship should arm up. imho
Now, just skin those three, tan the hides and glue them to the hull of that ship.
Post of the day.
Thank You Lord, for sending our navy to pluck this captain from his captors, and allowing them to send a message not to mess with America, even though our President was evidently unconcerned.
Exactly! And I like how the reporter even clarified his question so that Vice Admiral Gortney could make the distinction between Obama actually being on the phone giving a decisive “end this now” order vs. the military receiving a standing order from above. I give Obama credit for at least approving that much. But I can’t imagine any CiC not, given the circumstances.
Looks like the Elders selected DEATH for their Associates in TERROR! instead of ARREST? Sounds like a good trade! If ZERO and Holder got the Pirates they would have been promoted to Senior Administration Officials probably given their known talents:-)
That means it was.
The BOXER had a team aboard.
Is there a place it can be listened to? I didn’t catch it and don’t know where you saw/heard it at.
” No such thing as “war” in Obama’s mind”
“No such thing as war with Muslims in Obama’s mind, but there certainly IS War with Christians, Capitalism, American Morals and Constitution, ad infinitum!”
That's disgusting, but about what I expected. He'd better not express regret over the pirates who were killed, nor allow the captured one to be tried as a criminal. That pirate should be imprisoned in an unknown location and persuaded to give up everything he knows about his fellow pirates.
In the meantime, BRAVO ZULU to the Navy Seals!
Only if we pay for it and promise to enlist only homos.
That cancer has to go. It's just another socialist/communist ploy to control good nations like the U.S., Britain, Austrailia, some Western European and most Eastern European countries, etc.
Get the U.S. out of the U.N. and the U.N. out of the U.S. We are tired of their stench.
AHEM. Of course they were flown IN!
No really, I am full of SHITE. The seals WERE flown in!
Rumor has it that the USS Bainbridge doesn’t have room to transport the arrested pirate all the way to Gitmo, so he will have to swim alongside...
It could be worse.
If I were in charge, I'd keelhaul his skinny butt all the way there.
That cancer has to go. It's just another socialist/communist ploy to control good nations like the U.S., Britain, Austrailia, some Western European and most Eastern European countries, etc.
Get the U.S. out of the U.N. and the U.N. out of the U.S. We are tired of their stench.
I agree, but it won't happen anytime soon -- especially with Barry in charge.
If i were not an old Marine, i would VERY MUCH like to be a Navy Frogman .
Go Navy,
THANK YOU .
Obama did not let the elders have their way, but on the other hand, he turned his back on his own principles and ideology. It was military might that finally ended the crisis, not negotiations. Apparently even Obama can see that negotiations weren’t the solution in this situation. I wonder if he’ll be so pragmatic though with the Iranians and N. Koreans.
In any event, I don’t think he is really entitled to pat himself on the back, unless he wants to admit that military force worked when negotiations did not.
Sounds like the remaining pirate is a young kid....Wonder which university he will attend? Any major school with a pirate mascot?
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