 |
|
Daylife/Reuters Pictures
|
| Captain Richard Phillips, (R), alongside Cmdr. Frank Castellano, CO of USS Bainbridge after his rescue |
Hero Capt. Richard Phillips was freed today in a dramatic ending to a four-day high seas standoff that riveted the world.
Three of the four ragtag pirates who held the world’s most powerful Navy at bay on the Indian Ocean were killed, and the fourth was taken into custody.
Phillips was said to be in good condition.
On Saturday negotiations had broken down when the Somali pirates reportedly insisted they would only free Phillips in exchange for their own freedom – a deal nixed by US officials.
Phillips, 53, captain of the 17,000-ton relief cargo vessel Maersk Alabama, offered himself as a hostage to save his 19-man crew Wednesday when armed pirates took his ship.
He and the pirates had been drifting in an out-of-gas lifeboat, surrounded by massive US warships who could do little but keep pirate reinforcements from reaching the lifeboat.
The audacious pirates even opened fire Saturday on a small Navy vessel sent from the destroyer USS Bainbridge.
Bravo!
as to why the first time he jumped overboard
no action was taken, i’d go with #11’s scenario.
for those who want to see the specs and pic
of this “life boat” go here:
http://norsafe.no/index.php?pid=1334&aid=1743
personally, i think the majority of these pirate
stories are all canned/prepackaged “scenarios” that are ready to go whenever a distraction is needed in the media. -i’d say 90% are total BS.
i find it hard to believe that these
ships that are boarded “were suprised”
-you mean to tell me they cannot see small craft coming miles away on radar?. -all these ships do not have radar that allows for proximity alarms to be set?
or..they can’t afford a cheap 2kw-4kw secondary
radar to sweep the coastal side of their journey?
bah..
colour me jaded, but i think the majority of
these are either phantom or staged stories to pave the way for some concerned “hot air” to spew from some politico’s mouth.
has there been any talk (or need) about setting up a military base on the coast of Somalia?
-blah blah blah..
-s
#29, seeingclearly said,“The big brave US Navy shot and killed 3 desperate teenagers whose only real crimes were being born into a country that the US turned into a hellhole, and making an attempt to squeeze a tiny bit of cash out of the people who own the world. “
What planet are you from? How did the US turn Somalia into a hellhole, and what makes you think that the US owns the world? Far from it.
#29
“Once again the US has made a bad situation worse with its reckless, violent, cowboy approach to the world. Obama has been fooled by the Rambo-talk of the leftover Bushies at the Pentagon. I hope he comes to his senses and stops following the real Chimp’s behavior.”
No
Sounds like Obama had a standing order to use the FBI how to deal with hostage situations strategy but if the Seals have an opportunity take it. I doubt he micro managed it. Bush would have invaded Somalia and then Kenya just for fun.
“The big brave US Navy shot and killed 3 desperate teenagers whose only real crimes were being born into a country that the US turned into a hellhole,”
Many nations, corporations & opportunistic Somalies dug that hellhole. Could you be more specific to the exact US policies you are referring to? Better yet, what’s your suggestion to fix Somalia so they can promote their general welfare, and secure them the blessings of liberty?
“and making an attempt to squeeze a tiny bit of cash out of the people who own the world. Might we mention that the pirates have almost never harmed hostages? Bravo? You make me sick.”
If you choose to use guns and hostage taking (live by the sword) this will likely be your end eventually. Sounds like they had opportunities to realize they had bitten off more than they could chew with the US Navy involved.
“Now ship crews will simply be killed when their ships are taken, instead of treated well until ransoms are paid”
No profit in that, they don’t want 17,000-ton cargo ship they want cash simply killing crews has no profit.
darn I’ve made a post the NeoCons here wouldn’t completely disagree with I must be losing it.
#31,soundwash brings up another point indirectly….
Whether they are forewarned by radar or not…. I’m wondering if the Darwin award isn’t in order for anyone who ventures into those waters without adequate protection, where there’s an average of about 300 attacks a year and a 40% success rate. There’s close to 100 attacks so far this year alone.
Sorry, but these pirates had the choice of either grabbing some ships (not harming the crews, btw) and getting a tiny slice of the pie, or dying in misery and squalor with no hope of change. Hard to blame them, really.
I don’t have a solution, but just going in with guns blazing and killing everyone is not the way.
But I agree that BusHitler would have half of Somalia dead by now and be shipping the last Guard units to Africa just to show what a big strong cowboy he is!
#35
“I don’t have a solution, but just going in with guns blazing and killing everyone is not the way.”
I don’t think this was the case I think the hostage takers were offered a chance to give up, some sort of ultimatum. This took days, they could have had divers with rebreathers come up in the middle of the night from below the boat and take out the hostage takers on day one if they so chose.
Is it really necessary to identify Captain Phillips as a republican in the photo caption.
Joking. 🙂 glad hes safe.
What a joke alot of you idiots are. People who have never been a Navy Seal, have never been on an ocean going vessel, have never been more than 50 miles from their howmetown, who have no idea what an ocean going vessels life boat looks like, who were not within 5000 miles of this incident, are all of a sudden EXPERTS on what went down, what went right and what went wrong.
“I GOTS TEH INTERWEB DOOD! I KNOW WHAT REALLY WENT DOWN. I COULD TEACH THEM THAR NAVY SEALS A THING OR TWO!”
Gimme a fuckin break.
>But I agree that BusHitler would have half of Somalia dead by now and be shipping the last Guard units to Africa just to show what a big strong cowboy he is!
Worked a few hundred years ago.
>about 300 attacks a year and a 40% success
Out of how many ships?
#26 Diesel, are you threatening to beat me up? You’re on. Boys locker room, after sixth period!
My apologies for calling you a pussy. I really meant to say you’re a prick. My post was thoughtful of the great outcome and congratulatory to my president who was deeply involved in the rescue.
Like a thoughtless prick on this easter sunday,you chose to attack me and the president of the united states needlessly. Now you want to beat me up using your navy seal training?
#29
What are you smoking? The absolutely correct answer to this situation is to take out as many of pirates as possible and make it clear that such nonsense will not be tolerated in the future. It was piracy that brought about the creation of the Navy in the first place. Believe me when I say that the US Navy is adept at eliminating pirates. The “next” time, the pirates will get a Harpoon up the aft and that will be the end of it.
A couple of rocket-propelled grenades would ward off pirates in Zodiacs.
Yet the owners seems to not want this. There must be a reason I don’t understand.
Paddy-O,
My guess is that, yes, an American flagged freighter will be preyed on again.
I seriously doubt these guys care whose flag is on there.
Greg
Why did it take so long to free the captain?
It’s easy! “The Defense Department twice asked Obama for permission to use military force to rescue Capt. Richard Phillips from a lifeboat off the Somali coast. Obama first gave permission around 8 p.m. Friday, and upgraded it at 9:20 a.m. Saturday.”
http://tinyurl.com/d4zuy3
Upgraded? Do you understand what that means? Obama didn’t give the kill order until 9:20 am Saturday!
So the Navy didn’t have permission to take out the pirates till Saturday morning. Therefore, when the captain jumped ship on Friday, all the Navy could do was watch.
So some SEALs got to get their rocks off by shooting some black teenagers who were just trying to survive in a world that has abandoned them.
Sounds like the American definition of a perfect day!
Dear hateyanks,
One day if some pirates capture YOU and are holding you at gunpoint, we’ll leave you in their hands because we know that you just want to give the poor kids a chance. We understand that you value their survival over your own, and that you don’t mind them capturing you and threatening your life.
#40 Dallas
I accept your apology for calling me a pussy. As for being a prick I consider that a complement.
I did not threaten to beat you up. I said if you wanted me to prove that I’m not a fucking pussy I’d be happy to meet you.
I also did NOT say I had SEAL training, I said that I once trained a SEAL team for a specific weapons task.
It is extremely unlikely that there is anyone on this list qualified to carry a SEAL’s jockstrap.
Like all of my posts if I am wrong I change my position , and it seems as though the CiC(Commander in Chimp) may have given the order to take out the pirates. If so, it is the first thing the CiC has done since taking office.
While I’ve never read any specifics close to the issue, I “assume” I could carry anyone’s jockstrap = = not that I would especially want to, but still.
ObamaGod sure is confronted with the Goldilocks Conundrum by his critics. He never seems to get anything right and credit for only what goes wrong. Its not like he’s Bush who actually never did do anything right except leave when his time was up.
JimR,
#21, Jägermeister… I’m not “spreading” anything. I’m just asking a valid question, which you can’t answer… can’t even speculate on.
You weren’t there. Jag wasn’t there. I wasn’t there. So therefore none of us have anything meaningful to add to the discussion since it would only be your vision of what cuda shuda happened.
Oopps, except for Mr. Diesel. He is a really smart dude. He knows the entire involvement of everyone and what everyone did and their responsibility and their contribution and what brand of toilet paper he uses.
#26, Mr. Diesel,
I trained SEALs for a certain task involving weapons during a short period so if you think I’m a fucking pussy, by all means meet with me some time.
Shall we bring a bucket of mackeral to make you do tricks?
#50 Mr Fusion
You could but they pretty much eat and drink like the rest of us with the exception that they are wound a little tight.
#48 bobbo
I did say it was the first thing Obomba had done right since he took office. I tried to give him credit on other things he had done right a few days after taking office but once he started lying about the little things like lobbyists I realized he was exactly like every other elected dipshit.
I gave him the credit for it this weekend and pointed out my error.
Not that he would want to but if he really wanted to impress me he could push for a 4 or 5 hundred ship navy and start doing what the Second Mate of the Maersk Alabama said and take care of the pirate problem once and for all.
Sheeet, I shouldn’t try to post before I’ve finished my first coffee and trying to get the kid off to school.
#49 is addressed to JimR. The first paragraph is a quote and thus should be in italics. The second and third paragraphs are my responses and should be in regular type.
Sorry for any confusion.
(more coffee, more coffee, more coffee, …)
#52 Mr Fusion
I went back and read 49.
Thank you for recognizing my amazing talents.
# 28 JimR said, “#23, Paddy… I’m being the devils advocate here… but what if “next time” the pirates take the captain and tie him up so he can’t jump overboard, then demand their ransom AND …”
Valid question indeed. I highly suggest the following book: Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy
http://amazon.com/Six-Frigates-Epic-History-Founding/dp/0393058476
It will thoroughly answer that question. I’m not being sarcastic. It’s a great read even without the historic lessons…
# 42 Greg Allen said, “Yet the owners seems to not want this. There must be a reason I don’t understand.”
Strangely enough it is an insurance situation. Most cargo ships have Western officers but 3rd world crews. Insurance companies won’t insure an armed ship as it is likely that the crew will steal it. Got this from an agent at Lloyds.
#45
FFS, grow up. Does their age really matter? Are you really trying claim that because they are teenagers, they don’t know that thievery and holding people hostage is wrong? If I claim that the “world has abandoned me” (cue the dramatic music), that any action I take is justified? They are dumb criminals. If they had been smart, they would have not chosen to capture a citizen from the nation with the most powerful navy on the planet.
You would think you would have watch standers looking out for navigation hazards, pirates, other ship, etc. I heard the surface ships in the Navy had such things.
A few M-16’s could repel the pirates. Hell, charge u the fire hoses and blast the pirates off the ship. Then make any you catch walk the plank. (Don’t think modern ships have yard arms from which to hang pirates.
We have overhead drones that can track pirates to their home base and send in the bombers to wipe the block out.
More limited would be to simply have the navy blow the pirate ships out of the water–hostages and all. I wonder how many innocent crew members would be lost with such an overwhelming response (moderated as the squeamish may demand)?
I did some Google Earth up and down Somalia. It looks like the movie set for Terminator 5 AFTER the machines have won. Amazing tool that Google Earth. Cant wait for them to lift the high resolution restrictions. Its an education–and free.
# 58 bobbo said, “We have overhead drones that can track pirates to their home base and send in the bombers to wipe the block out.”
A better use of the drones would be to patrol launch points and just blast the pirates on the way out to sea. No harm to non-pirates. It’s called a blockade and historically is effective.
#59–Paddy==I heard a report a few hours back that that is a proposal being put forward==ship in essence to file a “flight plan” and if a non-filed vessel gets found near the shipping lanes, they get blown out of the water without further questions.
I doubt such a proactive response will actually be undertaken–but it could be. Perhaps with the first crew that gets butchered. These situations always escalate.