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WASHINGTON, April 12, 2009 – The captain of the Maersk-Alabama cargo ship held hostage by pirates off the coast of Somalia was in “imminent danger” when U.S. military snipers shot and killed his three pirate captors, a U.S. Navy commander said today. Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, provided preliminary details of the rescue mission that freed Capt. Richard Phillips today during a news conference. Off the Somali coast, U.S. special operations snipers held positions at the rear of the USS Bainbridge, which was towing an 18-foot lifeboat that held Phillips and three...

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...

Floppingaces has been reporting on the problem of Somali Piracy for well over a year now. Most of those reports have originated from Bill Roggio’s The Long War Journal. Finally, the mainstream media can no longer ignore the problem, and it’s “suddenly” in the news…well, it ain’t news to our readers. They’ve seen this problem go unaddressed for a long time.They’ve seen Somali pirates seize ships carrying hazardous materials-materials so toxic that entire villages were wiped out and the UN suspected WMD! Our readers have read about ships carrying a dozen Soviet-built main battle tanks seized by Somali pirates. They’ve...

Sorry libs. Obama did not give the direct order to kill the Somali pirates. You'll have to wait another day for the cut-and-runner to earn his hero badge. Blackfive has the real story: 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 Justice Department could bring charges against a Somali pirate captured in a hostage standoff in the high seas... A spokesman said that prosecutors are reviewing "evidence and things" according to the Associated Press. By law, prosecutors do have authority to bring charges when a crime is committed against a U.S. citizen or vessel. President Obama said that "we must continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks, be prepared to interdict acts of piracy and ensure that those who committ acts of piracy are held accountable for their crimes."

OK, conservatives, here's a plan. Big deal, we lost the election. (Twice -- once for the GOP nomination, and once for the presidency). The solution? Coopt the Obamunistas. How? We've got the biggest ally in the world, called Reality. It's a place conservatives know well, because we live there. What's scary about Obamunismo is that its followers talk as if they don't live in Reality. Sometimes they even act that way. But nobody can act against Reality for long without getting a lot of bloody noses. With the rescue of Captain Phillips, Barack Obama met Reality.  The US Navy shot...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090412/D97H5GRG0.html

I just watched the news conference from the Navy right now. The US Navy had convinced the pirates to let the Bainbridge take the life boat in tow! They were using the enflatable vessel to ferry food and water to the prirates so they were used to using it at that point. They also convinced one of the pirates to board the Bainbridge and act as a go between in the negotiations. That is the one who lived. While towing the lifeboat, apparently two of the pirates we leaning head and shoulders out of the windows, and the thrid was...

Somali pirates obtained fuel for their hijacked lifeboat and were moving within 35 kilometres of Somalia's shore late Saturday with Phillips on board, ABC news and CNN reported.

U.S. warships and helicopters stalked a lifeboat holding an American sea captain and his four Somali captors Sunday as a Somali official and others reported negotiations for his release have broken down.

U.S. ship captain held by pirates off Somalia, has been freed, senior U.S. official says. Three of four pirates killed.

The opening stanza of the Marine Corps hymn is: "From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, we fight our country's battles in the air, on land and sea." The "Halls of Montezuma" refers to the assault on Chapultepec Castle during the Mexican War, which was led by the small Marine contingent in Gen. Winfield Scott's army. Ninety percent of the officers and NCOs who led the assault were killed. The red stripe on the dress uniform trousers of Marine officers is in commemoration of the blood their predecessors shed that day. (For those who love historical coincidences,...

* Lifeboat holding captain drifts toward Somalia * Helicopters fly over pirate lair * Hijacked Italian tugboat reaches shore MOGADISHU, April 12 (Reuters) - Military helicopters flew over Somali pirate lairs and battleships stalked a boat on Sunday in which gunmen were holding an American hostage in a five-day high seas standoff. Armed with assault rifles and a grenade launcher, four pirates and their captive, 53-year-old U.S. ship captain Richard Phillips, were drifting towards land on a lifeboat out of fuel. Three U.S. warships were watching the situation. "The captain must be tied to the lifeboat because he tried to...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The shipping company whose captain is being held hostage by Somali pirates said the US Navy saw him alive Sunday, as a top senator said the United States is "not going to give in to blackmail." Maersk Line, operators of the Maersk Alabama which was briefly hijacked by armed pirates this week before its captain was taken captive, said the navy told them they "had sight contact of Captain Richard Phillips" Sunday. Intense negotiations are ongoing off the coast of Somalia where the small band of pirates have held Phillips in a lifeboat since Wednesday, closely shadowed...

Negotiations Break Down in Standoff With Pirates By THE NEW YORK TIMES Published: April 11, 2009 Negotiations over the American captain taken hostage by Somali pirates broke down on Saturday, according to Somali officials, after American officials insisted that the pirates be arrested and a group of elders representing the pirates refused. Somali officials said the American captain, Richard Phillips, and the four heavily armed pirates holding him hostage remained in a covered lifeboat floating in the Indian Ocean about 30 miles off Gara’ad, a notorious pirate den in northeastern Somalia. The negotiations broke down hours after the pirates fired...

In admission that will cast fresh doubts over the controversial decision to free Florent Lemacon and four other hostages by force, defence minister Herve Morin said he could not rule out the possibility that he had been hit by a French commando's bullet. "There will be a judicial inquiry and therefore an autopsy," he told French radio. "One cannot exclude that during the exchange of fire between the pirates and commandos the shot was French," Mr Morin spoke out as the piracy crisis on the Indian Ocean escalated yet further, with yet more vessels attacked and no sign of an...

With a hijacked yacht drifting closer to the Somali shore and all ransom offers rejected, French naval officers relayed a last-minute offer to the pirates -- trade our lives for those of a mother and her 3-year-old child being held on board the vessel. The pirates answer: Come near us and we'll blow up the boat. With that, French President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered a daring raid to recapture the yacht of Chloe Lemacon, her son, Colin, and her husband, Florent, a 28-year-old computer programmer who had taken them and two friends on an ill-fated journey through pirate-infested waters because he...

Somali elders on Sunday renewed efforts to free an American held hostage for days on a lifeboat after his pirate captors fired on a US navy vessel and defied attempts to have them arrested. Even as negotiations resumed to free the American captain, pirates manoeuvred an Italian vessel and its 16-strong crew toward the Somali coastline

Canadian warship thwarts pirates again For the second time in a week, a Canadian warship has helped fend off a potential attack from pirates off the coast of Somalia. The HMCS Winnipeg — which is taking part in the NATO-led counter-piracy mission known as Operation Allied Protector — and a Spanish ship responded Friday night after a civilian vessel sent out a distress call following an apparent pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden.

WASHINGTON — FBI agents planned to interview the crew of a U.S. cargo ship Saturday as the bureau began building a criminal case against Somali pirates who attacked the ship and took the captain hostage. The Maersk Alabama arrived safely in Yemen on Saturday, three days after Somali pirates stormed the ship, failed to hijack it, and fled in a lifeboat with the captain. "The FBI has informed us that this ship is a crime scene," John Rhinehart, president of Maersk Shipping Line said Saturday, explaining why crew members cannot immediately leave the ship.