Hey Obama - How's That Search For Osama Bin Laden Going?

We're all curious as to the status. All of us rember your bravado, the chest thumping, your declaration during the campaign that you would be the one to actually capture or kill him, unlike the evil George W. Bush was unable to do.

Well, the airways have been absent any mention of Obama. Just make sure you let us know when you find him, OK? Thanks!
Rees




Following is a statement from Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton in response to the Republican debate in Des Moines this morning.

"The fact that the same Republican candidates who want to keep 160,000 American troops in the middle of a civil war couldn't agree that we should take out Osama bin Ladin if we had him in our sights, proves why Americans want to turn the page on the last seven years of Bush-Cheney foreign policy."

and this:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama said on Wednesday the United States must be willing to strike al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan, adopting a tough tone after a chief rival accused him of naivete in foreign policy.

and this:

"For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just “muddle through” in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell – but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives.

and this:

"AL-QAEDA leader Osama bin Laden should be executed, if he is ever captured alive, US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama said in interview excerpts released yesterday."

The Illinois senator told CNN that the accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks in 2001 should face the full weight of US and global justice.

"I am not a cheerleader for the death penalty," Senator Obama said. "I think it has to be reserved for only the most heinous crimes, but I certainly think plotting and engineering the death of 3000 Americans justifies such an approach.

"I think this is a big hypothetical, though - let's catch him first.

"We have failed to seriously go after al-Qaeda over the last five years because of the distraction of Iraq.

"I think we are now seeing the consequences of that in Afghanistan."

Bullets Send A Loud Message to Pirates - Cruise ship fends off pirate attack with gunfire

By NICOLE WINFIELD,
Associated Press Writer
April 26, 2009

ROME – An Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits.

Six men in a small, white Zodiac-type boat approached the Msc Melody at about 1730 GMT Saturday and opened fire with automatic weapons, Msc Cruises director Domenico Pellegrino said. They retreated after the security officers returned fire and sprayed them with water hoses. The ship continued its journey with its windows darkened.

"It felt like we were in war," the ships commander, Ciro Pinto, told Italian state radio.

None of the roughly 1,000 passengers and 500 crew members was hurt, Pellegrino said. The passengers were asked to return to their cabins and the external lights on board turned off.

Pellegrino said all Msc cruise ships around the world are staffed with Israeli security agents because they are the best trained.

The attack occurred about 200 miles (325 kilometers) north of the Seychelles, and about 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of Somalia, according to the anti-piracy flotilla headquarters of the Maritime Security Center Horn of Africa.

Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet, said that last fall after the attack on a Saudi tanker more than 400 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia there had been "a definite shift in (the pirates) tactical capabilities."

"It's not unheard of to have attacks off the coast of the Seychelles, we've even had some in the past month," he said. "But at the same time, it is a sign that they are moving further and further off the Somali coast."

Separately Sunday, four Yemeni tankers escorted by a Yemeni coast guard boat on their way to Aden were attacked by pirates. Three of the ships escaped and coast guards captured five pirates and wounded two others, said Mohammed Abdul-Rahman, a senior official at the Overseas Shipping and Stevedoring Company. Pirates could only seize one of the tankers, the Qana. The Yemeni Interior Ministry said coast guards were trying to free it.

And the Turkish cruiser Ariva 3, with two British and four Japanese crew aboard, survived a pirate attack near the Yemeni island of Jabal Zuqar, said Ali el-Awlaqi, head of the Yemeni El-Awlaqi Marine company said.

"Pirates opened fire at the cruise ship for 15 minutes then stopped for no reason," he said, adding that the cruiser was heading to Aden, Yemen, to fix a broken engine.

International military forces have battled pirates, with U.S. Navy snipers killing three holding an American captain hostage in one of the highest-profile incidents.

But Saturday's exchange of fire between the Melody and pirates was one of the first reported between pirates and a nonmilitary ship. Civilian shipping and passenger ships have generally avoided arming crewmen or hiring armed security for reasons of safety, liability and compliance with the rules of the different countries where they dock.

Pellegrino said the pistols on board the Melody were available to the commander and security agents. He said they were used as a deterrent, "in an emergency operation."

It was not the first attack on a cruise liner. In November, pirates opened fire on a U.S.-operated ship, the M/S Nautica, which was taking 650 passengers and 400 crew members on a monthlong luxury cruise from Rome to Singapore. The cruise liner was able to outrun the pirates. In early April a tourist yacht was hijacked by Somali pirates near the Seychelles just after having dropped off its cargo of tourists.

The Melody was on a 22-day cruise from Durban, South Africa, to Genoa, Italy, when the pirates attacked late Saturday, slightly damaging the liner, Pinto said.

"After about four or five minutes, they tried to put a ladder up," Pinto told Sky TG24. "They were starting to climb up but we reacted, we started to fire ourselves. When they saw our fire, and also the water from the water hoses that we started to spray toward the Zodiac, they left and went away."

"They followed us for a bit, about 20 minutes, and continued to fire," he said.

Cruise line security work is a popular job for young Israelis who have recently been discharged from mandatory army service, as it is a good chance to save money and travel.

"We have always had great faith in their capacity, they have always been very qualified," Pellegrino said of the Israelis, though he declined to give the name of the firm.

The Spanish warship SPS Marques de Ensenada met up with the Melody to escort her through the pirate-infested northern Gulf of Aden, the Maritime Security Center said. The cruise ship was headed as scheduled to the Jordanian port of Aqaba, returning to the Mediterranean for spring and summer season cruises.

Meanwhile, Somali pirates on Sunday demanded a $5 million ransom for the release of two Egyptian fishing boats hijacked earlier this month, and the safe return of their crew, Egyptian Foreign Ministry official Ahmed Rizq said in Cairo.

"Tribal sheiks are trying to mediate to convince the hijackers to release the boats and the sailors, but it's clear to everybody that we are dealing with piracy that has no other purpose but money," he said, adding that the negotiations were between the hijackers and the boats' owners.

Pirates have attacked more than 100 ships off the Somali coast over the last year, reaping an estimated $1 million in ransom for each successful hijacking, according to analysts and country experts.

Another Italian-owned vessel remains in the hands of pirates. The Italian-flagged tugboat Buccaneer was seized off Somalia on April 11 with 16 crew members aboard.

On Saturday, the Foreign Ministry dispatched a special envoy, Margherita Boniver, to Somalia to try to win the release of the tug and crew. In a statement, the ministry also denied reports by relatives of the crew that an ultimatum had been issued by the pirates.

Associated Press writers Rukmini Callimachi in Nairobi, Kenya, Ahmed al-Haj in Yemen and Maggie Michael in Cairo contributed to this report.
Click to read the rest of the article and comments

Obama Apologizes for the 3 Pirate Deaths!

Please Read! This is an absolutely great article.
Rees

Posted by: Laer
April 24th 2009
White House Issues Clarification On Somali Attacks

The White House has issued a clarification on its stated policy regarding operations in Somalia related to the activities of pirates, and apologized for the recent incident in which three pirates were killed.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed that the Navy had misunderstood President Obama’s orders, resulting in the unfortunate death of three working class, teenage pirates and a probable deterioration in how pacifists and life-long America-haters may feel about America.

Gibbs stated that a careful review of audiotapes of a conversation between the president and the Secretary of Navy proved the president did not say, “I authorize ATTACKS on the pirates,” but rather, “I authorize A TAX on the pirates.”

Gibbs said that as a result of the missunderstanding, the president has issued a formal apology, which will be delivered to Somalia as soon as someone finds a Somali government official to deliver it to. Gibbs also confirmed that the president has signed a new excutive order, ruling that 95 percent of Somalis will now receive a tax cut.
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Now Kill Them!

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted Monday, April 13, 2009

Piracy: The Navy's spectacular rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips left three of his captors at the bottom of the sea. But this wasn't a clear enough message to the Somali pirates, who now vow to kill Americans..

The full majesty of the U.S. military was laid before the ragtag sea thieves holding an American captain hostage. Spearheaded by the Navy's highly trained SEALs, the coordinated U.S. response not only rescued Phillips, but blew away three pirates, demonstrating the stunning array of training, experience, leadership, split-second thinking and superior firepower unknown anywhere else. It was a magnificent end to a terrifying five-day ordeal.

But unfortunately this isn't the end of the story. Pirate confederates onshore vow revenge on the U.S. and France, which rescued its own nationals from pirates this weekend, too.

"France and the U.S. will encounter unforgettable lessons," Mohamed Hashi Yasin, a self-declared pirate spokesman, told Bloomberg News by mobile phone from the port of Eyl.

"We will take quick revenge on American ships if we don't receive apologies," said another. "We will not only target ships and crew in the sea, but also American agencies' staff in Somalia." [are they looking for Obama European Tour Type apoligies? - my comment]

It's easy to laugh at the rage of these pathetic sea thugs. But their threats must be taken seriously.

Lawless forces fired on a U.S. congressman leaving Somalia Monday, and the congressman believes this may only be the start. He may be right, because pirates are essentially an organized crime gang, and this Somali syndicate has metastasized in a failed state.

Somali pirates drew $150 million in ship ransoms from some 200 of the 20,000 ships that pass through the Gulf of Aden in the last year. They have networks of informants in ports throughout the world advising of ships approaching. They have much of what passes for the Somali government on their payroll, forking over 30% of their ransom take to corrupt officials. They have links to the 64,000 Somali-born refugees in the U.S. Most disturbingly they could make common cause with terror groups like al-Shabab.

The revenge threats signal that Somali piracy is now about more than "getting paid." It's about the next logical move from crime: war, with the aim of ruling the global sea trade on pirate terms.

That requires a stronger response than what's now seen from the world community, and there's a need to move fast.

President Obama has stated a global response is necessary, and that means the U.S. and its allies will have to show the will to take the war to the pirates onshore.

Ports that accept pirated ships must be destroyed, just as the Barbary pirate lairs once were. Coastal pirate villas must be bombed. Overseas, financing avenues will have to be broken, and collaborators in the civilized world must be busted.Just as the rescue was coordinated, so must this second stage be.

Right now for Somalia, whose coast abuts 11% of global trade, including 7% of the world's seaborne oil, there's no coordinated response, just every country looking out for its own nationals, using the best options it can. The U.S. is the only nation with the experience and organization to lead.

Years ago, the U.S. recognized the dangers of the criminal-to-state dynamic in Colombia, when the Medellin cartel's four billionaire drug lords amassed enough cash and paid off enough officials to challenge the state's very existence.

As described in Mark Bowden's "Killing Pablo," the U.S. brought a bigger war to these criminals and the terrorists they made common cause with, culminating in the success of Plan Colombia.

Somalia's pirates are no different. If the pirates want to make war on the U.S. in a bid to convert their criminal spoils to terror and power, the only response is to give it to them.
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Somali militants fire at U.S. lawmaker

Yahoo News
from Reuters
By Abdi Sheikh and Abdi Guled
April 13, 2009

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia's militant Islamist rebel group al Shabaab said Monday it fired mortars at a plane carrying a U.S. lawmaker, a day after U.S. snipers killed three Somali pirates and freed the American ship captain they had been holding hostage.

An al Shabaab spokesman said his group fired at the plane carrying Representative Donald Payne as he left the anarchic Horn of Africa country following a rare one-day visit by a U.S. official. Payne's plane took off safely and no-one was hurt.

The successful rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, who had been held by pirates for five days in a drifting lifeboat after their attempt to hijack the U.S.-flagged container ship Maersk Alabama failed, was hailed in the United States as a "feel-good" story that temporarily lifted the country's spirits in gloomy economic times.

Three U.S. snipers each fired a single shot virtually simultaneously, each killing his target. A fourth pirate was captured alive.

The successful conclusion boosted President Barack Obama, who had authorized the U.S. navy to use force if the commander on the spot felt Phillips's life was in danger.

Obama, in brief comments Monday, called Phillips a hero and reiterated that he was resolved to work with other countries to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia.

"We're going to have to continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks," Obama said. "We have to continue to be prepared to confront them when they arise."

More than 250 hostages of many nationalities are still being held along the Somali coast by pirates who have seized dozens of vessels, from tankers to yachts, in recent months.

Helicopters once again flew over pirate bases near Eyl on the Somali coast overnight after Phillips' rescue.

"They killed our friends on the lifeboat and we thought helicopters would bomb us in Eyl last night," a pirate in Eyl, who called himself Farah, told Reuters.

"We were mourning for dead friends and then roaring planes came -- grief upon grief. America has become our new enemy." [I would think that after "Black Hawk Down" we were already your enemy - my comment]

Al Shabaab, which condemns both piracy and anti-piracy patrols by international navies off Somalia, said the attack on Payne's plane was a message to the United States but did not directly link it to the hostage issue.

ENCOURAGE PROSECUTION

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Washington was encouraging states to prosecute suspected pirates and working with the shipping industry to avoid future hijacks. He cautioned that the problem would not be solved overnight.

Responding to threats by the pirates' to kill foreign hostages in retaliation for the rescue, Wood said: "These folks are bandits. They're lawless."

Phillips was the first American taken by pirates who have plundered ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean for years.

The U.S. Navy said the decision to shoot his kidnappers was a split-second one, taken because he appeared to be in imminent danger.

"They were pointing the AK-47s at the captain," Vice Admiral William Gortney, head of the U.S. Naval Central Command, said.
Click to read the rest of the article

US sea capt. freed from pirates in swift firefight

Update: Captain Phillips was tied-up with ropes at the time the snipers shot the pirates. The U.S. Navy Seal snipers saved the life of Captain Phillips and sent a message to all pirates monitoring the situation.


God Bless The United States Navy!
Deadly Force is the only way to deal with these scumbag terrorists. It's too bad the 4th pirate wasn't able to join the other three in their Muslim paradise.
Rees

photo of Maersk-Alabama captain Richard Phillips, (right), stands alongside Cmdr. Frank Castellano, the commanding officer of USS Bainbridge

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY and LARA JAKES
Associated Press Writers
April 12, 2009

MOMBASA, Kenya – An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday in a swift firefight that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, U.S. officials said.

Capt. Richard Phillips' crew, who said they escaped after he offered himself to the pirates as a hostage, erupted in cheers abroad their ship docked in Mombasa, Kenya, waving an American flag and firing a flare in celebration.

The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet said Phillips was resting comfortably on a U.S. warship after receiving a medical exam.

The Navy said Phillips was freed at 7:19 p.m. local time. He was taken aboard the Norfolk, Virginia-based USS Bainbridge and then flown to the San Diego-based USS Boxer for the medial exam, 5th Fleet spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen said.

Christensen said Phillips was now "resting comfortably." The USS Boxer was in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia, Christensen said.

The U.S. did not say if Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was receiving medical care because he had been injured or if he was being treated for exposure after his ordeal.

U.S. officials said a pirate who had been involved in negotiations to free Phillips but who was not on the lifeboat during the rescue was in military custody. FBI spokesman John Miller said that would change as the situation became "more of a criminal issue than a military issue."

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said prosecutors were looking at "evidence and other issues" to determine whether to bring a case in the United States.

Maersk Line Limited President and CEO John Reinhart said in a news release that the U.S. government informed the company around 1:30 p.m. EDT Sunday that Phillips had been rescued. Reinhart said the company called Phillips' wife, Andrea, to tell her the news.

The U.S. official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. A Pentagon spokesman had no immediate comment.

When Phillips' crew heard the news aboard their ship in the port of Mombasa, they placed an American flag over the rail of the top of the Maersk Alabama and whistled and pumped their fists in the air. Crew fired a bright red flare into the sky from the ship.

"We made it!" said crewman ATM Reza, pumping his fist in the air.

"He managed to be in a 120-degree oven for days, it's amazing," said another of about a dozen crew members who came out to talk to reporters. He said the crew found out the captain was released because one of the sailors had been talking to his wife on the phone.

Capt. Joseph Murphy, the father of second-in-command Shane Murphy, thanked Phillips for his bravery.

"Our prayers have been answered on this Easter Sunday. I have made it clear throughout this terrible ordeal that my son and our family will forever be indebted to Capt. Phillips for his bravery," Murphy said. "If not for his incredible personal sacrifice, this kidnapping and act of terror could have turned out much worse."

In the written statement, Murphy said both his family and Phillips' "can now celebrate a joyous Easter together."

Terry Aiken, 66, who lives across the street from the Phillips house, fought back tears as he reacted to the news.

"I'm very, very happy," Aiken said. "I can't be happier for him and his family."

A government official and others in Somalia with knowledge of the situation had reported hours earlier that negotiations for Phillips' release had broken down.

Talks to free him began Thursday with the captain of the USS Bainbridge talking to the pirates under instruction from FBI hostage negotiators on board the U.S. destroyer. The pirates had threatened to kill Phillips if attacked.

Three U.S. warships were within easy reach of the lifeboat on Saturday. The U.S. Navy had assumed the pirates would try to get their hostage to shore, where they can hide him on Somalia's lawless soil and be in a stronger position to negotiate a ransom.

Maersk Line said before news of the rescue broke that "the U.S. Navy had sight contact" of Phillips — apparently when the pirates opened the hatches.

Before Phillips was freed, a pirate who said he was associated with the gang that held Phillips, Ahmed Mohamed Nur, told The Associated Press that the pirates had reported that "helicopters continue to fly over their heads in the daylight and in the night they are under the focus of a spotlight from a warship."

He spoke by satellite phone from Harardhere, a port and pirate stronghold where a fisherman said helicopters flew over the town Sunday morning and a warship was looming on the horizon. The fisherman, Abdi Sheikh Muse, said that could be an indication the lifeboat may be near to shore.

The district commissioner of the central Mudug region said talks went on all day Saturday, with clan elders from his area talking by satellite telephone and through a translator with Americans, but collapsed late Saturday night.

"The negotiations between the elders and American officials have broken down. The reason is American officials wanted to arrest the pirates in Puntland and elders refused the arrest of the pirates," said the commissioner, Abdi Aziz Aw Yusuf. He said he organized initial contacts between the elders and the Americans.

Two other Somalis, one involved in the negotiations and another in contact with the pirates, also said the talks collapsed because of the U.S. insistence that the pirates be arrested and brought to justice.

Phillips' crew of 19 American sailors reached safe harbor in Kenya's northeast port of Mombasa on Saturday night under guard of U.S. Navy Seals, exhilarated by their freedom but mourning the absence of Phillips.

Crew members said their ordeal had begun with the Somali pirates hauling themselves up from a small boat bobbing on the surface of the Indian Ocean far below.

As the pirates shot in the air, Phillips told his crew to lock themselves in a cabin and surrendered himself to safeguard his men, crew members said.

Phillips was then held hostage in an enclosed lifeboat that was closely watched by U.S. warships and a helicopter in an increasingly tense standoff. On Friday, the French navy freed a sailboat seized off Somalia last week by other pirates, but one of the five hostages was killed.

Phillips jumped out of the lifeboat Friday and tried to swim for his freedom but was recaptured when a pirate fired an automatic weapon at or near him, according to U.S. Defense Department officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk about the unfolding operations.

Early Saturday, the pirates holding Phillips in the lifeboat fired a few shots at a small U.S. Navy vessel that had approached, a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The official said the U.S. sailors did not return fire, the Navy vessel turned away and no one was hurt. He said the vessel had not been attempting a rescue. The pirates are believed armed with pistols and AK-47 assault rifles.

"When I spoke to the crew, they won't consider it done when they board a plane and come home," Maersk President John Reinhart said from Norfolk, Virginia before news of Phillips' rescue. "They won't consider it done until the captain is back, nor will we."

In Phillips' hometown, the Rev. Charles Danielson of the St. Thomas Church said before the news broke that the congregation would continue to pray for Phillips and his family, who are members, and he would encourage "people to find hope in the triumph of good over evil."

Reinhart said he spoke with Phillips' wife, who is surrounded by family and two company employees who were sent to support her.

"She's a brave woman," Reinhart said. "And she has one favor to ask: 'Do what you have to do to bring Richard home safely.' That means don't make a mistake, folks. We have to be perfect in our execution."
Click to read the article

Finally!!! American captain rescued, pirates killed, U.S. official says

from CNN.com

(CNN) -- The captain of the Maersk Alabama was freed Sunday after being held captive since Wednesday by pirates off the coast of Somalia, a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation told CNN.

Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama is being held by pirates on a lifeboat off Somalia.

The official said Capt. Richard Phillips is uninjured and in good condition, and that three of the four pirates were killed. The fourth pirate is in custody. Phillips was taken aboard the USS Bainbridge, a nearby naval warship.

Earlier Sunday afternoon Maersk Line Limited, owner of the Maersk Alabama, said the U.S. Navy informed the company that it had sighted Phillips in a lifeboat where pirates are holding him.

Phillips was spotted another time earlier in the day, the Navy said.

A man who answered the door at Phillips' home in Underhill, Vermont, told CNN's Stephanie Elam that the family has known the news for hours. He said details would have to come from Virginia, apparently referring to the home base of Maersk Line Limited, based in Norfolk, which owns the ship.

On Saturday, the FBI launched a criminal investigation into the hijacking of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship by Somali pirates, two law enforcement officials told CNN. The probe will be led by the FBI's New York field office, which is responsible for looking into cases involving U.S. citizens in the African region, the officials said.

The Maersk Alabama reached port in Mombasa, Kenya, on Saturday. Crew members aboard the freed cargo ship described how some of their colleagues attempted to "jump" their pirate captors.

A scuffle ensued and one of the sailors stabbed a pirate in the hand in the battle to retake the container ship, one of the sailors told CNN.

Snippets of information are starting to emerge about how the Alabama's crew managed to retake the ship after it was hijacked by pirates Wednesday about 350 miles off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean.

Crew members smiled broadly as they stood on the ship's deck under the watchful eyes of security teams. Although the crew was kept away from the media, CNN's Stan Grant got close enough to ask crew members what happened after the pirates climbed aboard the ship.

One crew member said he recalled being awakened around 7 a.m. as the hijacking began. View a timeline of the attack and its aftermath »

Some of the crew managed to hide in a secure part of the Alabama as the pirates stormed the ship, the sailor said.

As the sailors described their clash with the pirates, a crew member pointed to one shipmate and said, "This guy is a hero. He and the chief engineer, they took down the pirate. ... He led him down there to the engine room and then they jumped him."

The shipmate added that he stabbed the pirate's hand and tied him up.

"Capt. Phillips is a hero," another crew member shouted from the deck of the freed ship.

Since Phillips was captured Wednesday, the destroyer USS Bainbridge has been in the area of the lifeboat, trying to free him.

An attempt by Phillips to escape from the 28-foot covered lifeboat was thwarted by a pirate, who dove into the Indian Ocean after him. Phillips' captors appear to have tied him up afterward, Pentagon officials said.

The Alabama resumed its course on Thursday for Mombasa, its original destination, carrying food aid and an armed 18-person security detail.

Maersk president and CEO John Reinhart told reporters Saturday that the crew will stay on board in Mombasa while the FBI conducts an investigation.
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Hostage, 2 pirates killed in French rescue operation

CNN) -- A French hostage and two pirates died Friday in a rescue operation off Somalia, the French president's office in Paris said Friday.

Four hostages, including a child, were freed from the hijacked yacht after almost a week of captivity, Nicolas Sarkozy's office said.

The four adults and a child had been held aboard their yacht, the Tanit, since it was seized in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, the president's statement said.

The military made its move after the pirates refused their offers, including one to swap an officer for the mother and child held aboard, and threatened to execute the hostages one-by-one -- and because the Tanit was drifting closer to the Somalian coast, the defense ministry said.

The possibility that the pirates could take their hostages ashore was a red line that prompted the mission. The same red line triggered two successful rescue missions by the French military last year, the ministry said.

According to French media reports, a special forces unit attacked the hijacked vessel from different directions in two motor-powered rubber boats. The pirates opened fire and the special forces team fired back.

Two of the five pirates were killed, along with Florent Lemacon, the owner of the Tanit, French media said. The military rescued Lemacon's wife and 3-year-old child along with two friends of the Lemacons.

The Lemacons and their friends left Brittany last summer in the Tanit on a round-the-world trip, according to a blog they were keeping about the trip. The blog's last post on March 20 -- when the Tanit was in the Gulf of Aden -- said the French military had twice contacted them in the previous few days to warn them of pirates.

The French military brought back 12 pirates to stand trial in the previous two rescue missions, the Defense Ministry said.

There has been a series of high-profile and increasingly sophisticated pirate attacks in recent months.
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Barry & The Pirates

from American Thinker
April 10, 2009
by Lance Fairchok

This is what we have come to. Unilateral action, even if it is as clear cut as defending US interests against pirates, must be avoided.

Murderous Jihadist terrorists get civil rights and government lawyers while US taxpayers pick up the bill. Pirates, who board US shipping and threaten American seamen, get treated like simple criminals that do not warrant so much as a mention by the President. One would have thought it was a no-brainer for the Manchurian President, a populist win-win to paint Obama as a decisive leader, a chance to inspire confidence that he was up to the challenge. It was a chance to warn aggressors, pirates or otherwise, away from international shipping. It was also a chance, now squandered, to reassure friend and foe alike that America had not lost her nerve or reneged on her exceptional role as a world leader.

But no, it's all just a distraction from the greater work of wealth redistribution, "social justice," and remaking America into the utopian vision of a narcissistic socialist academic with a nice speaking voice. No pompous speeches and meandering lectures this time, the implications of piracy on trade and sovereignty are beyond Obama.

When asked by a reporter about the Maersk Alabama during a White House event, President Obama responded to the question with: "Guys, we're talking about housing right now," translated as "don't bother me with trivialities." Obama has no clue what is required of a world leader and his advisors less so. A mere three months into its first term, the Obama administration is turning out to be just the embarrassment and bumbling disaster, we feared it would be.

I've already noticed people taking Obama stickers off their cars. They can only pad the polls so long. Pirates are easy, what's going to happen if we are attacked again, or Iran, Pakistan, or North Korea use a nuke?
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Cargo Ship Captain Attempts Escape - Recaptured by Somali Pirates

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

from MSNBC
Friday, April 10, 2009

Captain Richard Phillips, the U.S. Cargo Ship captain being held captive by four Somali Pirates, attempted to escape during the night but was apparently recaptured by the pirates.

The video report above provides more details. The U.S. Cargo Ship was taken over by Somali Pirates two days ago, but the American crew fought back, retaking the ship, not before four pirates escaped in a lifeboat with Captain Phillips as a hostage.
Click to go to the article

To the Shores of Tripoli - Then and Now

Based on the current situation with the Somali Pirates attacking a U.S. flagged merchant ship and the subsequent holding of the American Captain as hostage, you would think that Fred Thompson wrote the following article just yesterday or even today. No, he wrote the article back on May 8, 2007, almost 2 years ago. I noticed 3 very pronounced issues that are common between the current day pirate situation and back in 1794. Some things never change

Rees

by Fred Thompson

May 8, 2007

From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli. We fight our country’s battles in the air, on land and sea.First to fight for right and freedom, and to keep our honor clean;We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine.

That’s from the Marine Corps Hymn, of course, and you can thank me for not singing it. When I was a boy, a lot of America kids knew that verse — and probably a few more. I hope they still do, but I get the impression that might not be the case.

U.S. Marines patrol the street in Ramadi, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, April 8, 2007. U.S. forces have tried just about everything to quell the Sunni insurgency in the capital of blood-soaked Anbar province, and after years of some of the fiercest street fighting of the war, something finally appears to have worked: Ramadi, at least by Ramadi standards, is calm.

That’s one reason I’d like to spend some time talking about the heritage this song represents. Another reason is that the lyrics hold a history lesson critical to America’s future. I realize a lot of you already know this material, but indulge me for the sake of those who might not.

The very first line written for the Marine Corps Hymn, about the shores of Tripoli, refers to America’s first foreign war. After the Revolution, U.S. ships were sailing the world in search of trade without British protection. With no real navy to protect our merchants and travelers, American vessels and citizens were being targeted for looting, enslavement and ransom. The enemy was the so-called Barbary pirates — agents of the North African provinces of the Ottoman Caliphate.

Ransom and protection money were demanded and paid. Stories of terrible treatment of American men and women in the dungeons of North Africa were well known. Behind it all, the country was having a pro- and antiwar debate. On the one hand were those who took the “no blood for trade” approach. They had legitimate concerns about the cost and political impact of maintaining a standing military. They favored negotiations and payments rather than fighting.

For a long time, their side was winning the argument. In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams even went to London to negotiate directly with the envoy from Tripoli. Several historians and writers have reminded us recently of the ambassador’s nearly forgotten answer.

Fortunately, Jefferson prepared a written report for the government and left other records of the incident. Here’s a description from The Atlantic Monthly in 1872:

Disguising their feelings as best they could, they ‘took the liberty to make some inquiries concerning the ground of the pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury.’ The ambassador replied that it was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave.” He claimed every one of their guys who was “slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise.

This answer may have helped sway the debate to the side of those who favored military response over further attempts at diplomacy. Some believe it had a personal impact on Jefferson himself, though higher and higher ransoms probably helped too. Congress finally acted, creating the U.S. Navy in 1794. This included approval for the construction and manning of six frigate warships, including the USS Constitution — which is afloat and commissioned to this day.

Still, though, congress refused to act directly against the Barbary pirates for years. Eventually, between 10 and 20 percent of U.S. revenues would be paid annually without ever buying actual safety for Americans. In the end, Thomas Jefferson acted on his own, sending forces into harm’s way. America entered into its first and protracted foreign war. From beginning to end, in fact, the conflict lasted approximately 14 years. I couldn’t tell you, by the way, if the Barbary wars were ever described as a “quagmire” or “lost.”

I won’t describe here the taking of Tripoli by courageous American soldiers. And I sure don’t have time to talk about America’s eventual victory over the forces of that era’s religiously justified terrorism. I would though encourage you to read about it for yourself. It’s a great story and it holds an important lesson about the nature of the world.

Sometimes folks around the world mock Americans for not having more of a sense of history. They might be right, but I think it is often for a good reason. Americans are a people who look to the future instead of the past. We hope and believe that things can and will get better. We are more than willing to forgive our old enemies and move forward together in peace. So we tend to forget the bad things we left behind.

Unfortunately, some of our enemies feel differently. They neither forgive nor forget. Listening to the messages of al Qaeda’s leaders, you understand that they see their old defeats in very personal and contemporary terms. They are in a “long war” against us, even if we don’t know it. And they’re committed to winning it.

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Why is Hillary laughing? Is it the "Man-caused seafaring disaster?" meh...

from Michelle Malkin.com
By Doug Powers
April 9, 2009



Hillary Clinton was commenting about the situation concerning the so-called “Somali pirates,” and during her remarks she let loose with a “let’s change the subject” laugh that she hasn’t made since a reporter spotted a cheerleader under Bill’s podium back in ‘93.

For those wondering about the reason for Hillary’s sudden cackle, I have five theories:

1) Nervous laughter because she suddenly realized she would be reprimanded for saying “piracy” instead of using a slight variation of the Administration’s preferred term, “Man-caused seafaring disaster.”

2) Desperately trying to suppress the urge to say “ARRRR!.”

3) Caught off guard by being asked about doing nothing about the Somali pirates when she was expecting to be asked about doing nothing about North Korea’s missile launch and Iran’s nuclear program.

4) Giddy because her “the world needs to come together to end the scourge of piracy” remark gave her a book idea: It Takes a Village to Erase a Pirate

And the most likely possibility…

5) The guy standing next to her looks an awful lot like somebody who just baked a Moroccan air biscuit, doesn’t he? - THE WINNER! DING! DING! DING!

One of the most disconcerting traits of the Obama presidency so far is that whenever something bad happens, the first response of the administration is to very sternly wonder why nobody else is doing anything about it. “Global consensus” is required to attack everything except our paychecks. Now that’s piracy.

Update: John Kerry says this serious “pirate” situation calls for immediate hearings! That should scare ‘em, Senator.

Here is a HILARIOUS preview of those Senate hearings:


(h/t for the vid link to Conservative Xpress)
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U.S. military already prepared with battle plans for Somalia pirates, say intelligence sources

from The New York Daily News
BY James Gordon Meek

Thursday, April 9th 2009

WASHINGTON - U.S. military commanders have already prepared battle plans for ending the scourge of piracy on the high seas off Somalia if President Obama pulls the trigger, sources told the Daily News Wednesday.

The Navy sent a warship to intercept Somali pirates Wednesday who hijacked a U.S.-flagged freighter, as commanders weighed military options for nailing the brigands' bases.

Retired U.S. Ambassador Robert Oakley, who was special envoy to Somalia in the 1990s, said U.S. special operations forces have drawn up detailed plans to attack piracy groups where they live on land, but are awaiting orders from the Obama national security team.

"Our special operations people have been itching to clean them up. So far, no one has let them," Oakley told the Daily News.

The veteran diplomat, who also was ambassador to Pakistan, said teams of Army Delta Force or Navy SEALs "could take care of the pirates in 72 hours" if given the order to strike.

"They have plans on the table but are waiting for the green light," Oakley said.

A Special Operations Command spokesman at McDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., declined comment.

A U.S. intelligence official, though dismissive of the pirates having any terrorism links, ["HAVING" TERRORISM LINKS? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THEY ARE TERRORISTS!!! WHAT A PATHETIC STATEMENT!] said "there is a more intense focus" now on these criminal gangs.

America's stealthiest warriors have been involved in combat operations in the Horn of Africa for years - operating from secret bases in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Manda Bay, Kenya.

The Navy launched an antipiracy command in January, Joint Task Force 151, which includes contingents of SEALs and Marines who specialize in boarding and seizing hijacked ships.

The Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia and Kenya equal an area roughly four times the size of Texas, the Navy pointed out.

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US warship arrives as pirates' options dwindle

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY

Associated Press Writer

April 9, 2009

NAIROBI, Kenya – A U.S. destroyer kept watch Thursday on a drifting lifeboat where Somali pirates were holding an American ship captain hostage, a day after bandits hijacked a U.S.-flagged vessel for several hours before 20 crew members overpowered them.

The pirates took Capt. Richard Phillips as a hostage as they escaped the Maersk Alabama into a lifeboat in the first such attack on American sailors in around 200 years. Negotiations were believed to be under way, a relative of the captain said, but it was not clear who was conducting them.
Kevin Speers, a spokesman for the ship company Maersk, said the pirates have made no demands yet to the company. He said the safe return of the abducted captain is now its top priority.

The USS Bainbridge had arrived off the Horn of Africa near where the pirates were floating near the Maersk, he said.

"It's on the scene at this point," Speers said of the Bainbridge, adding that the lifeboat holding the pirates and the captain is out of fuel.

"The boat is dead in the water," he told AP Radio. "It's floating near the Alabama. It's my understanding that it's floating freely."

The U.S. Navy has sent up P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft and has video footage of the scene.
One senior Pentagon official, speaking on grounds of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, described the incident now as a "somewhat of a standoff."

Though officials declined to say how close the Bainbridge is to the site, one official said of the pirates: "They can see it with their eyes." He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of talking about a military operation in progress.

The Bainbridge was among several U.S. ships that had been patrolling in the region when the 17,000-ton U.S.-flagged cargo ship and its 20 crew were captured Wednesday.

Phillips' family was gathered at his Vermont farmhouse, anxiously watching news reports and taking telephone calls from the U.S. State Department to learn if he would be freed.

"We are on pins and needles," said Gina Coggio, 29, half-sister of Phillips' wife, Andrea, as she stood on the porch of his one-story house Wednesday in a light snow. "I know the crew has been in touch with their own family members, and we're hoping we'll hear from Richard soon."
Phillips surrendered himself to the pirates to secure the safety of the crew, Coggio said.

"What I understand is that he offered himself as the hostage," she said. "That is what he would do. It's just who he is and his response as a captain."

Coggio said she believed there were negotiations under way, although she didn't specify between whom.

With one warship nearby and more on the way, piracy expert Roger Middleton from London-based think tank Chatham House said the pirates were facing difficult choices.

"The pirates are in a very, very tight corner," Middleton said. "They've got only one guy, they've got nowhere to hide him, they've got no way to defend themselves effectively against the military who are on the way and they are hundreds of miles from Somalia."

The pirates would probably try to get to a mothership, he said, one of the larger vessels that tow the pirates' speedboats out to sea and resupply them as they lie in wait for prey. But they also would be aware that if they try to take Phillips to Somalia, they might be intercepted. And if they hand him over, they would almost certainly be arrested.

Other analysts say the U.S. will be reluctant to use force as long as one of its citizens remains hostage. French commandos, for example, have mounted two military operations against pirates once the ransom had been paid and its citizens were safe.

The Maersk Alabama, en route to neighboring Kenya and loaded with relief aid, was attacked about 380 miles (610 kilometers) east of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. It was the sixth vessel seized in a week.

Many of the pirates have shifted their operations down the Somali coastline from the Gulf of Aden to escape naval warship patrols, which had some success in preventing attacks last year.
International attention focused on Somali pirates last year after the audacious hijackings of an arms shipment and a Saudi oil supertanker. Currently warships from more than a dozen nations are patrolling off the Somali coast but analysts say the multimillion-dollar ransoms paid out by companies ensure piracy in war-ravaged, impoverished Somalia will not disappear.

The attacks often beg the question of why ship owners do not arm their crew to fend off attacks. Much of the problem lies with the cargo. The Saudi supertanker, for example, was loaded with 2 million barrels of oil. The vapor from that cargo was highly flammable; a spark from the firing of a gun could cause an explosion.

There is also the problem of keeping the pirates off the ships — once they're on board, they will very likely fight back and people will die.

Pirates travel in open skiffs with outboard engines, working with larger ships that tow them far out to sea. They use satellite navigational and communications equipment, and have an intimate knowledge of local waters, clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.

Any blip on an unwary ship's radar screens, alerting the crew to nearby vessels, is likely to be mistaken for fishing trawlers or any number of smaller, non-threatening ships that take to the seas every day.

It helps that the pirates' prey are usually massive, slow-moving ships. By the time anyone notices, pirates will have grappled their way onto the ship, brandishing AK-47s.

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American Crew Battles Somali Pirates

Hey Obama, what are you going to do? These are the first American citizens captured by pirates in about 200 years!

Rees

Military Sources Tell CBS News Somali Attacker Taken Hostage, But Ship's Master Still Held Captive

(CBS/AP) The crew of a hijacked U.S. cargo ship is in a standoff with Somali pirates after attempting to retake the vessel, military sources told CBS News correspondent David Martin.

The sources told CBS News that crew members are in control of at least part of the ship after overpowering the pirates and taking one into custody. But the hijackers still held the ship's master hostage. The crew members have been in contact with their families.

There has been no official confirmation regarding the ship's status.

The U.K. Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa) issued a news release earlier Wednesday stating that a Danish-owned, U.S.-operated 17,000 ton container ship was seized in the Indian Ocean approximately 400 miles east of Mogadishu.

Reports coming into the Pentagon carried varying estimates of the number of American crew members. Some said 21, others said 19. It was not immediately clear the nature of the ship's cargo is, although one report said that it might be food aid.

Capt. Shane Murphy, a 2001 graduate of Massachusetts Maritime Academy, was second in command on the ship, the Cape Cod Times reported. It said this information was passed on by Capt. Joseph Murphy, his father, who is a professor at the academy.

The elder Murphy teaches anti-piracy tactics in his maritime security class. He said a company spokesman notified the family Wednesday morning of the incident and at last report the ship was drifting.

Murphy said his son was well aware of the threat of pirates in the area and, while home on a visit only a few weeks ago, had talked with his class about the risk. "He knows the potential danger and he talked with my students about that," Murphy said. "He connected right away with the students."

At least 12 of the Americans aboard the Maersk Alabama are members of the Seafarers International Union, spokesman Jordan Biscardo said. The union is trying to get as much information on the situation as it can, he said.

"It goes without saying we're deeply concerned and we're closely monitoring the story," Biscardo said.

Biscardo would not immediately release the names of the union members aboard the vessel. The Seafarers International Union represents unlicensed United States merchant mariners sailing aboard U.S.-flag vessels. The Maritime Center said the ship had been tentatively identified as the Maersk Alabama, If so, it would be the first U.S.-flag vessel taken by the Somali pirates and the crew would be the first American citizens captured by pirates in about 200 years.

(CBS)In December 2008, Somali pirates chased and shot at a U.S. cruise ship with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel.

Though the ship is the sixth seized within a week in the dangerous region around Africa, Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said it was the first pirate attack "involving U.S. nationals and a U.S.-flagged vessel in recent memory."

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