Posted on 04/15/2009 2:42:41 AM PDT by Jonny foreigner
Pirates have used rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons to attack another US merchant ship off the coast of Somalia.
The pirates damaged the Liberty Sun, which was carrying a cargo of food aid, but were not able to board it.
The ship asked for assistance from the American warship involved in the rescue of a US captain seized last week.
Pirates have vowed to avenge the deaths of those killed in recent rescue operations by US and French forces.
The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says the latest attack shows the danger posed by pirates off the Somali coast.
Despite renewed US calls to quell piracy, four more vessels have been successfully seized over the past two days.
Details of attack
Owners of the Liberty Sun and the US military confirmed reports of the latest, failed attack, which took place on Tuesday at midday local time.
Some details were revealed in an e-mail from one of the crewmen to his mother at her home in Illinois, AP news agency reported.
Crew member Tom Urbik's parents speak of their concern "We are under attack by pirates, we are being hit by rockets, also bullets," Thomas Urbik, 26, told his mother, Katy.
"We are barricaded in the engine room and so far no-one is hurt. (A) rocket penetrated the bulkhead but the hole is small. Small fire, too, but put out."
The Liberty Sun had been en route to Mombasa from Houston, Texas, when the attack took place.
After coming under fire, the ship immediately requested assistance from the USS Bainbridge, said owners Liberty Maritime Corp in a statement.
The navy destroyer arrived some hours later, by which time the pirates had gone...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
OK Obama heres your chance to shine and take the conflict to them.....Yea right!!!
From the graphic at the link, most of the attacks seem to be closer to Yemen than Somalia.
And from the link:
“The area we patrol is more than one million square miles and the simple fact of the matter is we just can’t be everywhere at once to prevent every attack of piracy,”
Pretty hard to keep track of all the “fishing boats in that huge an expanse!
I miss the cowboy who knen what to do and when to do it obama sucks.
I don’t understand why we just don’t tow out ships we wanna sink, rig them with explosives and when the priates board, blow them up. That will teach those Somali Shiiteheads.
w
Some Un treaty against it probably, same as arming private security operatives on the boats.
From the graphic at the link, most of the attacks seem to be closer to Yemen than Somalia.
And from the link:
The area we patrol is more than one million square miles and the simple fact of the matter is we just cant be everywhere at once to prevent every attack of piracy,
Pretty hard to keep track of all the fishing boats in that huge an expanse!
The Liberty Sun had been en route to Mombasa from Houston..
ups. Mombasa is in kenya :-)
oh i´m such an ignorant european knowing nothing about african geography ;-)
The pirates are a pretty small percentage of the people of Somalia. Many of the rest are starving.
We need to give them many more reasons for “vengeance.” The idea that the pirates would actually seek vengeance against a major power who stops a raid or two is a strong indication that their motivation is a lot more than mere piratical gain. These fellows are Moslem and part of the Jihad or rapidly becoming so. The Barbary pirates were also and explicitly engaged in Jihad.
true that most of them (or maybe all of them) have muslim faith. but i would not consider this guys terrorists. they are criminals yes but i don´t think they are political motivated. all they seem to care is the money, (they attack all kind of ships including ships owned by muslim countries).
They are Moslem criminals acting internationally. Jihad must be part of their makeup. Attacking other Moslems is NOT a disqualification. The Moslems on those ships are not engaged in Jihad and are thus fair game for those that are. Gain is, indeed, the reason for the piracy but Holy War becomes justification and then the drive.
Hope! Change!
Punk gangstas who happen to be Muslim. They know the odds are they can get by with it. Next time, when the Navy arrives “a few hours later”, they might find dead sailors and then what?
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