Only a matter of time

[black francis]

Before people started bitching about the sailors retaking their ship from the pirates. I'm sure an official US apology will be coming soon.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndu ... 6320090409

I will never fault someone for relying on themselves rather than the decency of Pirate human nature.



John Wick, managing director of corporate risk management firm International Security Solutions Ltd, said the crew was very lucky. "It's all very gung ho and it's like watching a good movie," he said. "But what the crew did was potentially very dangerous and could have gone very wrong."

"And in fact, with the captain still held by the hijackers, it did go wrong," Wick said.

Wick said in general Somali pirates have treated captives well and a system is in place for ransoming captured crews.

"My advice is to run like hell," Wick said. "If you're taken, let the system kick in and take care of you."

Tell that to the 200 sailors still in captivity

[black francis]

Comment from a London reader of The Times Online:

"I wonder when Bono and Chris Martin will hold a benefit show in aid of the plight of the poor Somali pirates. They are only doing it because of the evil western world you know!"

[withahip]

I don't know why she starts laughing.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii_c3B5AasI[/youtube]

[withahip]

Somali pirates have hijacked a US-owned tugboat in the Gulf of Aden with 16 crew members on board - 10 of them Italians, reports say.

Maritime industry sources say the tug was towing two barges at the time of the attack at 0800 GMT. The crew are said to be unharmed.

Meanwhile pirates holding a US captain hostage have warned that using force to rescue him could result in "disaster".

The pirates said they hoped to put Capt Richard Phillips on a larger vessel.

US and other naval ships are making their way to the area.

He is being held by four pirates in a lifeboat hundreds of kilometres off Somalia.

[Dr Evil]

Piracy is a survival mechanism in a failed state. But if they keep this up they may find their coastline blockaded or even occupied.

[withahip]

So now they want revenge for countries protecting themselves. Add to that the number of refugees from that country in my community and I have no sympathy for those "pirates."

[black francis]

Obama reaches out to moderate pirates

Or as Rush calls them: “merchant marine organizers”

http://exurbanleague.com/2009/04/09/oba ... ttack.aspx

Pretty funny even though it appears Obama did alright with the situation.

[JackT]

Yes the President did just fine. I had assumed you could not use snipers at sea because of the relative motions of the vessels, but I guess I was mistaken. Perhaps because I know absolutely nothing about the subject.

[JackT]

Holy Crap apparently the French have been rescuing hostages from these pirates left and right. Ok so these aren't the best pirates in the world.

[withahip]

Obama reaches out to moderate pirates

Or as Rush calls them: “merchant marine organizers”

http://exurbanleague.com/2009/04/09/oba ... ttack.aspx

Stay angry!

[tonywojo]

Stay angry!

Solidarnosc

[withahip]

“They’re very desperate young Somali men, who honestly felt they had nowhere else to turn but piracy,” Taylor said. “These guys were heavily armed — AK-47s and .45 revolvers.”