Captain saved.

For the people following this story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/piracy

He's coming home.

 

Great job!! *sigh of relief* :celebrate :wine

 

LOL, you can find Fred praising Obama in this thread... http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=186872&page=3

:-D

 

He's not a softie after all ain't he?

 

I even spelled his name right and everything. I am surprised. I did not think he would do it. :-D

 

While I'm pleased to see Capt Phillips and his crew were saved from these floating muggers, one can't help but feel trepidation in the above statement. What are these maniacs capable of?
Nip it in the bud now.
Send out a message that threats against any country will culminate in draconian measures being taken to maintain the well-being of any nationals in any waters.
I'm sure these pirates would dearly love to have a bit of a ruck with the likes of the SBS, the Royal Marines and the navy SEALS, not to mention the navies of UN nations.
I don't see this as any different from the war against the Taliban or Al Qaida. These pirates are terrorists, albeit at sea, but terrorists nontheless.
Give them the good news that their piracy isn't going to be tolerated any longer. The sooner the better.
If this doesn't happen, the situation will undoubtably escalate with more and more desperate lunatics seeing this lifestyle as the only way out of their otherwise wretched existence.
We all know negotiating ransoms and diplomacy won't end anything. All these people know is force and power, so let them see how much of it the civilized world actually has.

 

And it keeps on getting stranger. Now I totally agree with Joey! :-D

Ever wonder why we have a Navy? http://www.mariner.org/usnavy/04/04a.htm

Ever wonder about our Marines? "The Marines' most famous action of this period occurred during the First Barbary War (1801–1805) against the Barbary pirates,[22] when William Eaton and First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon led seven Marines and 300 mercenaries in an effort to capture Tripoli. Though they only reached Derna, the action at Tripoli has been immortalized in the Marines' hymn and the Mameluke Sword carried by Marine officers.[23]"



I don't like the idea of another war, or armed conflict on the other side of the world. I think we have had enough of that. But we can't be held hostage by pirates. Hopefully several countries can unite to help take care of this problem. The pirates are no match for a modern army or navy, but they have hostages, which could complicate things.

The pirates are funded mostly with the ransom money that get. Cut that out and confiscate/destroy some of their ships and weapons, and they will be in trouble.

 

They need to know that they are messing with the wrong MFers.
Go in, kick their asses and don't even bother with taking names.
Mess with us at your own peril.

 

That IS good news. Three perfect shots by three marksmen in choppy waters, WOW. Hope it turns out well for the other hostages as well.

 

Can you imagine if with the money those pirates/elders have that they'll get some shoulder fired weapons that could just sink a super tanker? There's no fish left there due to freezer ships just offshore with no government, what have they got to lose? A slow death by starving or a quick one by a bullet?

The stakes have been raised and who knows where this will end?

 

I feel you there, but we need to think about that first. Somalia has no real government. Do we really need to be in another country around the world trying to 'Nation Build'? I think short term, we protect our country's ships in that area.

Long term, why not let the UN, NATO or some other countries go in and 'fix' Somalia. Like Augie said, the people there have very little, being a pirate is normal to them. It's like being a lawyer or no, even better, a politician in the US. :-D

If we protect our ships, and make it too expensive and too hard to capture our ships, the pirates, like common thieves, will go for easier targets.

 

Now the pirates have escalated the stakes. Because the French and Americans killed pirates, the pirates are now threatening to kill any French or American hostages taken in future. :cry

Bazza