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MONTPELIER, Vt. - The cargo ship captain who spent five days as a hostage of Somali pirates says in a new book it was a high-seas double-cross that led to his brutal ordeal in a sweltering lifeboat. Richard Phillips says that one of the AK-47-wielding pirates was grabbed by the crew of the Maersk Alabama last year, but the crew agreed to release him if the pirates released their captive, Phillips. Bad idea, he says now. The crew gave up the pirate, but the other pirates reneged on the swap and kept Phillips. "Don't make deals with pirates," Phillips writes...

A US sea captain whose dramatic rescue from pirates made headlines across the globe earlier this year is to be the subject of a new Hollywood film. Richard Phillips, a 53-year-old father of two who secured the safety of his cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama, by offering himself as a hostage to Somali pirates, has sold his story to Columbia Pictures. Phillips was held for five days off the coast of Somalia last month before US navy snipers shot dead three of the four men who had imprisoned him on a lifeboat, an action authorised by president Obama. The fourth...

President Barack Obama met Saturday with a US cargo ship captain who was held hostage by Somali pirates last month before a dramatic high-seas rescue by US Navy snipers. Obama hosted Maersk Alabama Captain Richard Phillips and his wife, Andrea, in the Oval Office for a visit that had not been publicly announced by the White House. Phillips was also due to attend Saturday's White House Correspondents Association dinner, an annual meet of Washington's press corps elite, politicians and celebrities. Obama is set to host the event.

The U.S. cargo ship captain and a crew member who were taken hostage by Somali pirates have been honored at New York's City Hall by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The mayor presented keys to the city to crew member William Rios and Capt. Richard Phillips and joked about Friday's baseball game at the New York Mets' Citi Field. The mayor says he was going to give the men tickets to the game but decided against it because the Mets are playing the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama says, 'And I don't mean a security guard. I don't mean a mall cop. I mean someone who's sufficiently trained.' His boss disagrees.Reporting from Washington -- The freed captain of a merchant ship attacked by pirates near Somalia last month called Thursday for military protection and armed crew members to thwart attacks in dangerous waters. Capt. Richard Phillips, skipper of the Maersk Alabama, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that it was the "responsibility of the U.S. government" to protect any ship flying an American flag, through military escorts or onboard squads of...

Stung by the widely circulated “SEAL pals” account of what really happened in Somalia (discussed here last Friday), the Obama administration had National Security Advisor James L. Jones and a number of anonymous Pentagon sources give their side two days ago in a Washington Times exclusive. Their mission, according to reporter Bill Gertz, was: ... to dispel Internet reports that the military was delayed from taking action by indecision inside the White House. Clintonesque parsing of words is evident throughout the Jones-Pentagon account, amounting on more than one occasion to outright dishonesty. Yet the actual information they provide (as opposed...

Montpelier, Vt. (AP) -- A person familiar with the plans says a homecoming party is planned this weekend in Vermont for the ship captain who was taken hostage by pirates. The person was not authorized to release the information and spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity.

Hey, I was just wondering: Did the Captain get invited to the Whitehouse for dinner or lunch? You know to meet his rescuer.

SEAL team deployment stalled 36 hours, hampered by limited rules of engagement. WASHINGTON – While Barack Obama is basking in praise for his "decisive" handling of the Somali pirate attack on a merchant ship in the India Ocean, reliable military sources close to the scene are painting a much different picture of the incident – accusing the president of employing restrictive rules of engagement that actually hampered the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips and extended the drama at sea for days.

Richard Phillips, who was freed from his ordeal with Somali pirates on Easter Sunday, landed in Burlington, Vt., late Friday afternoon on a small blue Maersk chartered jet. (SEE THE VIDEO)

Richard Phillips, captain of the US container ship the Maersk Alabama that was attacked by pirates off the Somali coast, has arrived back in the US. His home town of Underhill, Vermont, is preparing to give him a hero's welcome. After being reunited with his family, Capt Phillips thanked the military for rescuing him, saying there were the real heroes. During the attack, he offered himself as a prisoner to the pirates in return for them letting his crew go free. He was rescued after US snipers shot dead three of the pirates that were holding him captive on a...

Having spoken to some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday and asking why this thing dragged out for 4 days, I got the following: 1. BHO wouldn't authorize the DEVGRU/NSWC SEAL teams to the scene for 36 hours going against OSC (on scene commander) recommendation. 2. Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions on their ROE that they couldn't do anything unless the hostage's life was in "imminent" danger 3. The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the raggies all sighted in, but could not fire due to ROE restriction 4. When the navy RIB came under fire...

Jama’ Si’ad, a member of the Somali pirates in the coast of Somalia has vowed on Tuesday that they will kill and revenge from any of the American and French forces they capture in the Somali coast. “We are very sorry for what happened to our friends who were shot and killed by the French and American marines. But we will pay a quick reaction of that killing. If we capture any of the American or French citizens, we will kill them with guns, swords and any kind of weapons we can,” said Jama’ The Somali pirates said that they...

I have been a semi faithful student of Rush's EIB Institue since the early nineties, or earlier. I value Rush as the magna cum laude proxy leader of the Republican Party, because there ain't anybody else around qualified to do it. However, Rush's OOCD Obsessive Obama Compulsive Disorder is getting a little boooooring, even as I admit Obama is quite Obsessive - about himself. Were Obama's kids required to name their new dog "BO?"Aren't those BO's initials? I do not approve of President Obama, and I do not say we must "respect the office of the President," no matter who...

The breathless Associated Press report describes Obama as the hero - and not just once, but twice over: WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama twice authorized the military to rescue a U.S. captain held by Somali pirates and whose life appeared to be at risk. Officials say Obama gave the OK on Friday and Saturday to rescue Capt. Richard Phillips from a lifeboat off the Somali coast. Officials say both times the Pentagon believed Phillips' life was at risk. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Of course, anonymity gives political officials free-reign to lie...

How out of touch with reality do you have to be to believe this? The pirates' modus operandi is that they hold the crew, ship, and cargo harmlessly until a lot of money is paid to them. Phillips "heroic" actions put his crew and himself at risk. If he'd done nothing except acquiesce to the pirates' demands, there would have been no risk, just possible discomfort until the extortion money was paid. Instead he put himself and the Seals at grave risk. I applaud the crew, the Seals, and the military chain of command for their actions. I think Phillips...

After four days of floating at sea on a raft shared with four Somali gunmen, Richard Phillips took matters into his own hands for a second time. With the small inflatable lifeboat in which he was being held captive being towed by the American missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, and Navy Special Warfare (NSWC) snipers on the fantail in position to take their shots at his captors as soon as the command was given, the captive captain of the M.V. Maersk-Alabama took his second leap in three days into the shark-infested waters of the Indian Ocean. This diversion gave the Navy...

The operation to rescue Capt. Richard Phillips involved dozens of Navy SEALs, who parachuted from an aircraft into the scene near dark Saturday, landing in the ocean. The SEALs were part of a group of Special Operations forces involved in the effort, according to military officials. The SEALs set up operations on the USS Bainbridge, which had been communicating with the four pirates via radio and had used smaller boats to make deliveries of food and water to their lifeboat. Yet the pirates were growing increasingly agitated, the officials said. At one point Saturday, the pirates opened fire on one...

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somalia's fledgling government applauded on Sunday the release of an American hostage whose five-day capture by pirates in the Indian Ocean highlighted lawlessness both in and off the Horn of Africa nation. "We are very happy at this action and the outcome," Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar told Reuters by telephone from Djibouti. "It shows that the world will not accept criminality." Asked what he knew about the operation to free ship captain Richard Phillips, Omaar said details needed to be kept confidential. "I am not surprised, nor will anyone be surprised, at the actions of the...

I just finished listening to the press conference w/ ADM Gortney about the rescue of Captain Phillips. At the time it happened the USS Bainbridge was towing the lifeboat to calmer waters as the sea state was deteriorating. One of the pirates was on board the Bainbridge as the talks about obtaining Phillip's release continued. The lifeboat was approx. 25 m behind the Bainbridge when snipers on the fantail observed one of the pirates in the pilot house of the lifeboat pointing an AK-47 at the back of a tied up Phillips and the other two pirates on board were...