Posted on 02/22/2011 7:33:13 AM PST by Allthegoodusernamesaregone
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2011 – Somali pirates killed all four Americans they had held hostage aboard a sailing vessel in the Indian Ocean this morning, U.S. Central Command officials announced.
U.S. officials were negotiating with the pirates for the safe return of the captured Americans when the murders took place, officials said.
Centcom officials said that in the midst of negotiations, U.S. forces responded to gunfire aboard the S/V Quest. When the forces reached the boat, officials said, they discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors. Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds.
During the boarding, the Somali pirates fired on the U.S. forces, who killed two pirates and captured 13 others. U.S. forces already had captured two other pirates, and the servicemembers boarding the Quest found the remains of two other pirates.
“In total, it is believed 19 pirates were involved in the hijacking of the S/V Quest,” Centcom officials said.
“We express our deepest condolences for the innocent lives callously lost aboard the Quest,” said Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, Centcom’s commander.
The pirates seized the boat Feb. 18 off the coast of Oman. Somali pirates -– often operating from mother ships far out to sea -- have captured scores of ships and generally have held the ships and crews for ransom. News reports indicate Somali pirates currently hold 29 ships with more than 660 hostages.
Piracy in the region occurred originally off of Somalia’s east coast for several years. In August 2009, the pirates extended their attacks to the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia’s north coast. The pirates since have ranged farther out to sea -– up to 600 miles –- and now affect more than a million square miles in the Gulf of Aden, the west Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.
The United States has worked closely with regional and international partners to attack the problem. In this case, American forces closely monitored and tailed the Quest. Four U.S. Navy warships made up a response force dedicated to recovering the S/V Quest: the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf, the guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett and USS Bulkeley.
Piracy is an internationally recognized crime against humanity. It means every country on earth has jurisdiction, and can use deadly force in response.
Why we aren’t turning the mother ships into reefs is an open question.
I have watched all of the LameStreamMedia nightly newscasts and it appears they have their talking points all in order. The Americans were in waters “ known to be dangerous”, and they were hijacked “just off the coast of Somalia”. So, I guess it’s all their fault and we can continue to just ignore that whole pirate thing!
Not one single mention of asking the White House or the State Department for a comment about the fact that four AMERICAN CITIZENS were murdered and a US warship was attacked by an RPG!
They’re just going to paint this as an isolated incident, not worthy of bothering Obama about (he’s busy co-ordinating the Wisconsin protests, don’t cha know?!) And the pirates will be brought to the US, given tax-payer funded defense attorneys and the full rights and protections of the American justice system!
When will enough be enough?!
All these comments are missing a few points:
!) What has Obama said so far about these events instead of his comments on Libya nad the loss of Muslim life there?
2) The US Navy is no longer a military unit. It has become: a policeman, an ambassador of good will, a joke if you view their latest advertisements. The new mission of the US Navy is to have good relationships around the world, not showing the flag and not protecting the interests of citizens as well as stopping harm to America in general. They have been put on a course of negotiation rather than protection.
3) With all our might as well as “spy” satellites, why can we not find where these pirates are coming from and at the same time trace which boats are on the water and intercept them with all means necessary or is the technology we think we have just a sham? Why should we even ask questions in this part of the world.If we can’t find and defend our own people, then we should put the Navy back into port and save the fuel!
4) Why are our 5th and 6th Fleets just sitting on the sidelines with the flaming of the Middle East going on now? Both seas are empty of an American fighting surface force and why? Who is there to protect our interests, oil, etc from these Islamists? More to follow but it will rest on deaf ears.
Obama is Chicken shit to Kill his brothers, most of those people overpopulate our prisons.Kill the pirates at sea.It will reduce our budget, instead of increasing it. You kill at sea and you die at sea.
You are absolutely right.
May I add it is also sad indictement of our total lack of real leadership, something we do not have any of in the critical in the areas needed for the survival of our country.
No trustworthy leaders in the White House, Congress, Judicial,the corporate world,the financial world [wall street]media,military [because their civil leaders in the government].
Excepting the troops, all the others are corrupt bought and paid for, grabbing all the dollars they can beg, steal,borrow,scare,dupe out of the, dumbed down government educated American people, for themselves and their rich elite sponsors and owners.
They are trying to get all they can before the bubble bursts and people realize that we have been under God's judgment for quite a number of years and that we are not going broke but already are.
I kinda like your solution. A bit flash and noisy, but, hey, it's not like we didn't warn anybody by refusing to fight two wars over this crap.
My own preference:
That, or a raid by Big Ugly Fat Feller all the way from CONUS, just to demonstrate the capability for those not paying attention lately. What's the Somali word for "arclight"?
Shades of the old days, when stuff like this usually caused a Royal Navy cruiser division to show up and administer rough justice from about 10,000 yards out, followed by landings and general hangings.
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2011/s11020147.htm
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
“Somali Pirates Shoot Retired Couple Sailing the World Delivering Bibles.”
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
SOMALIA
#
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/februaryweb-only/somalipirates.html
“Somali Pirates Kill Bible Distributors
Scott Adam, a graduate of Fuller Seminary, was killed with three others after they were taken hostage.”
by Sarah Pulliam Bailey | posted 2/22/2011 11:39AM
SNIPPET: “The pirates in northern Somalia are not hard-line Islamists and a yacht carrying Bibles is not likely to be a problem, the AP reports.”
#
http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2011/02/somali_pirates_kill_four_us_ci.php
“Somali pirates kill 4 US citizens”
By BILL ROGGIO
February 22, 2011 10:38 PM
SNIPPET: “Earlier today, Somali pirates murdered four US citizens who were being held hostage as negotiations for their release were underway. Vice Admiral Mark Fox, the commander of Central Command’s naval forces, briefed the media on what is currently known about the murders.
The Somali pirates executed the four US civilians after opening fire on a nearby US warship with a rocket-propelled grenade. The naval task force then dispatched special operations teams using small boats (the special operators were without a doubt SEALs). Once aboard, the special operations forces discovered that the four Americans had been shot dead; they also found two dead pirates. Two other pirates were killed as the team cleared the yacht; one of the pirates was killed in a close-quarters knife fight. Thirteen pirates on the yacht surrendered as the special operations team boarded the yacht. Two other pirates, who were aboard a US warship to negotiate the Americans’ release, are also in custody.”
#
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=62885
“Somali Pirates Kill 4 Americans on Hijacked Ship”
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2011 –
SNIPPET: “Somali pirates killed all four Americans they had held hostage aboard a sailing vessel in the Indian Ocean this morning, U.S. Central Command officials announced.
U.S. officials were negotiating with the pirates for the safe return of the captured Americans when the murders took place, officials said.
Centcom officials said that in the midst of negotiations, U.S. forces responded to gunfire aboard the S/V Quest. When the forces reached the boat, officials said, they discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors.
Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds.”
SNIPPET: “The pirates seized the boat Feb. 18 off the coast of Oman. Somali pirates -– often operating from mother ships far out to sea — have captured scores of ships and generally have held the ships and crews for ransom. News reports indicate Somali pirates currently hold 29 ships with more than 660 hostages.”
#
http://www.centcom.mil/press-releases/u-s-forces-respond-to-gunfire-aboard-the-s-v-quest
“U.S. forces respond to gunfire aboard the S/V Quest”
CENTCOM Public Affairs
TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 22, 2011) —
SNIPPET: “US Forces have been closely monitoring the S/V Quest for approximately 3 days, once it became known to be pirated. Four U.S. Navy warships comprised the response force dedicated to recovering the S/V Quest: the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65), the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), the guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett (DDG 104) and USS Bulkeley (DDG 84). The ships are deployed to the region to conduct maritime security operations and to provide support to operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn.”
#
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2011/s11020130.htm
Saturday, February 19, 2011
“U.S. considers military action after pirates ‘seize’ a yacht belonging to a Southern California Christian couple
They were on a worldwide voyage distributing Bibles”
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
SOMALIA
###
###
stepping back in time to a separate incident:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=31458
“The Somali Pirates Are Jihadists”
by Robert Spencer
04/15/2009
###
###
Keywords of Interest:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/christianpersecution/index?tab=articles
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/killingchristians/index?tab=articles
I apologize to you, sickoflibs, for perhaps coming off to harsh to you. I did not mean that, and I was very upset with how things worked out for our fellow four Americans abroad. The damnably pat attitude of that answerer on Y!A is a major part of the reason.
In the US of the last thirty years there’s a million reasonable excuses for NOT doing what has to be done with such pirates. For not doing what is the MORAL and GOOD thing to do.
Kidnap for ransom is a crime against humanity, one that is not less a crime than serial murder. When it becomes a cultural or regional practice it is of far greater consequence than serial murder to a society.
In the Muslim-Arabic cultures it is a permitted practice. It has to stop, even if that means wiping out those cultures. That is what is moral. Toleration of such activity is immoral.
It seems like a modern Muslim Deadwood type situation where the outlaws run free causing havoc and the law biding cant compete with weapons because of the different town laws (countries) and rules, plus the outlaws are well armed and ready to die, and where only the Calvary (military forces) are ready to handle them, but they cant be there all the time.
I didnt see a practical fool-proof solution on this thread. There was an interesting exchange of ideas which I was looking for, but pitfalls kept coming up too. If the ship owners dont want their crews to have guns, what to do?
Has this become worse under Obama? Are their more problems?
That’s exactly right. I have wondered ever since these started years ago why the ships weren’t armed. You can rest assured that if I were on one of those ships it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for the scum pirates.
IS ANYONE OUTRAGED THAT WE HAVE YET TO RETALIATE FOR THE MURDERS OF 4 AMERICANS!
Outraged? Yes. Surprised? No. We have become a paper tiger. We aren’t feared or respected anymore by anyone including what allies we might still have.
“...it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for the scum pirates...”
Roger that, brother.
They’re bold because basically they’re cowards - they KNOW that these ships’ crews aren’t going to hose their asses off the face of the Earth, so they hit them at will. I doubt they’d be so inclined if they knew that they’d have their skinny asses blown out of the water if they even dared to approach a ship.
Personally - and I don’t know if there’s any legal way to do this - but if ship owners won’t arm their crews, they should be held legally and financially responsible for the welfare and safety of the crewmembers, and directly prosecutable by families should harm come to their loved ones as a result of negligence/failure to provide adequatae security in the face of KNOWN dangers.
One could, I suppose, say that the crew aren’t forced to take the job in the first place though...but if people are forcibly disarmed by the company, doesn’t the onus to protect said crew fall on the company???
Any lawyers out here that could answer that???
Just to be the fly in the ointment again, because I was thinking the same thing myself: I bet they sign waivers to work, or work for foreign companies. Just speculating. I was also guessing the ship owners care about getting the ship and cargo back first, and the crew last(unemployment is high) , so that's why they dont allow arms.
Are you proposing new work regulations?? Maybe a union?? :) Just teasing.
“...Are you proposing new work regulations?? Maybe a union??...”
What da hell do you think I am, a low-life “community organizer” or sumpin’??? Hahah!
Because people respect his AU-THOR-IT-AH!
Actually hadn't thought of that, but sounds like a plan. Could we enlist the Wisconsin teachers and their Commurat Senators?
I was thinking that there were just a few White-Black/conservative-liberal/good-evil battles since Obama that really rang my bell:
The Stimulus
Obama-care
Arizona Illegal immigration
This WI public union sickout battle
ADDING to post no. 187:
http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4774
“Presenter: Vice Adm. Mark Fox, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. Navy 5th Fleet, and Combined Maritime Forces February 22, 2011
DOD News Briefing with Vice Adm. Fox via Telephone from Bahrain on Somali Piracy Aboard the S/V Quest”
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