Huh? What just happen???
Posted on 04/11/2009 1:16:29 PM PDT by BarnacleCenturion
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pirates off the eastern coast of Africa fired on U.S. sailors Saturday as they tried to reach the lifeboat where an American captain is being held, a U.S. official familiar with the situation told CNN.
The gunfire forced the sailors, who did not return fire, to turn back, the official said.
The incident took place some 12 hours ago as the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge sent a small team toward the lifeboat, said the official.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
Thanks much.
Captain rescued. Would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that operation! Guess we have to wait for the book/movie. ;-)
Huh? What just happen???
That's probably part of the cargo of the Alabama (the containers that were bound for Somalia)....like Obama himself, the somali pirates were typical 'dog bites hand that feeds it' stupid!
Suck it, CNN. We got him!!
Not sure if you noticed yet but they went in and got him.
Well they did it, praise G_d. My comments were based upon the photo that I saw, which showed an open or at least partially open boat. Thank G_d for out military they preserved lady liberty’s honor once again.
Thanks for the update! Great news and a loud message was sent to the Somali pirates.
uhmm... last I heard 3 Pirates welcomed 3 Sniper bullets into themselves.
is CNN trying to turn this into some kind of inappropriate action by our Forces?
I had not seen, thanks for the ping on it.
I did notice that they have taken another ship though.
They are acting with impunity now.
>>Do we now allow terrorists to fire on the U.S. military with no return fire?<<
Obama doesn’t want to spark any hostilities by return fire you know.
I know you posted this yesterday when hope was slim to none we would get Phillips out of the jam....and I spend time on boats and agree with you on the extreme difficulty....
...but evidently we got some Seal Dudes that can do that!!
Great Job Seal Team!!! Oooooh-rah.
What do you think these pirates are doing with the money, tc45a?
Of course they are terrorists!
People were talking 1,000 meters, and that would have been nearly impossible, but 35 meters (~110 feet) I can totally believe from a large ship. It is still probably a significant shot in that the lifeboat was bobbing. A kill is a kill.
With the pitch and roll of the ship & likewise the target boat and the unanticipated movement of the targets themselves 3 separate head shots from 35 feet would be amazing!!
I see it similar to hunting Pheasant or Quail. Also, at 35 feet the bullet hits in about 1/100th of a second. Things don’t move that much in that amount of time.
>> “Do we now allow terrorists to fire on the U.S. military with no return fire?”
ANALYSIS: Consider 3 apparently anomalous facts:
1. When Phillips jumped in the water, AFAIK, the Navy ship did not fire on the pirates — even though it would have rescued Phillips, and finished the pirates.
2. When the Navy sent the RHIB, they did so openly. The Pirates heard/saw it coming, and fired on it, with no response from the Navy.
3. It was said that their orders were not to fire unless Phillips was in “imminent danger,” although he was constantly in “imminent danger.”
Now, consider the nature of the Pres__ent: does it not seem likely that he ORDERED the Navy not to fire unless fired upon? That would explain not intervening in Phillips escape attempt. It would also explain the “botched” RHIB probe. No one (with any sense) could criticize a warship returning fire, after it had been “attacked” on the high seas. All they did was “return fire” at a later time, when Phillips was in “imminent danger.” (Actually, when all available pirates showed themselves.)
IOW, all these anomalies were the POTUS covering his sorry backside. AND, if anything had gone wrong, it would be blamed on the local commander.
DG
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