Somali pirates hijack ship; 20 Americans aboard

[racolvin]

Frankly, now that I think of it, this whole Somali Pirate thing could be a great series of training missions for SEAL teams. Just discreetly consult with the ships registered owners and countries, ask if they want a SEAL team to liberate the ship. We could rotate SEAL teams on the missions as live exercises and eliminate loads of pirates. They might start to think twice about a career in piracy as the bodies of their friends wash up on shore with bullet holes in their foreheads.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: FerrelGeek

Originally posted by: Robor
Trolling much guys?

So what's your suggestion? A stiffly worded retort? Finger shaking? Foot stamping? Panty bunching? Telling them that 'they broke the rules'?

Obama's (now completed) appeasement tour of Europe will do nothing to show anyone that he will have the cajones to stand up to anybody. If he actually authorizes a SEAL, or Delta Force, op against these clowns, has them summarily executed on the spot, and hangs their bodies up for display on the ship to feed the gulls, I'll apologize for my comments turn out to me incorrect.

Showing lack of faith in our leaders isn't trolling.

Make sure to send Jack Bauer.

You've been watching too many movies. The real world doesn't work like this because it can't. You need intel in advance, and a means to insert and extract. You have to know who the targets are. You have to be able to get to them. There's a hundred bits of logistics that you are ignorant of. If this were all there was to it, there wouldn't be a problem now.

This isn't Counter Strike.

 

[Thump553]

The most surprising thing about this article to me was that there actually are US flagged ships with American crewmembers. I thought the US merchant marine was pretty nonexistent these days.

Wild guess-assuming this was a frieghter, the cargo must be something shipped by the US government, possibly military supplies.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane

Originally posted by: K1052
The USS Iowa is sitting in Suisun Bay not doing anything.

Shouldn't take a whole lot of work to make sure she's seaworthy and find some sailors who remember how to work the 16 inch guns and pound the living shit out of where they're operating from. That's how countries used to handle this sort of thing.

But the collateral damage! This isn't politically correct! You aren't understanding their situation. You racist. /sarcasm

A decision was made a good while back by the US Government to pay ransom and tribute demands from pirates in the forms of iron and gunpowder via the muzzles of large caliber naval guns.

I think it's time to revive that old tradition.

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: FerrelGeek

Originally posted by: Robor
Trolling much guys?

So what's your suggestion? A stiffly worded retort? Finger shaking? Foot stamping? Panty bunching? Telling them that 'they broke the rules'?

Obama's (now completed) appeasement tour of Europe will do nothing to show anyone that he will have the cajones to stand up to anybody. If he actually authorizes a SEAL, or Delta Force, op against these clowns, has them summarily executed on the spot, and hangs their bodies up for display on the ship to feed the gulls, I'll apologize for my comments turn out to me incorrect.

Showing lack of faith in our leaders isn't trolling.

My suggestion is to wait and see what the Obama administration actually does and react on it then, not post fucking childish made up bullshit before it happens.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: MotF Bane

Originally posted by: K1052
The USS Iowa is sitting in Suisun Bay not doing anything.

Shouldn't take a whole lot of work to make sure she's seaworthy and find some sailors who remember how to work the 16 inch guns and pound the living shit out of where they're operating from. That's how countries used to handle this sort of thing.

But the collateral damage! This isn't politically correct! You aren't understanding their situation. You racist. /sarcasm

A decision was made a good while back by the US Government to pay ransom and tribute demands from pirates in the forms of iron and gunpowder via the muzzles of large caliber naval guns.

I think it's time to revive that old tradition.

They'll just move out of the area. All you'll have done is kill some half starving civilians and make the pirates even more popular. That's not really helpful

 

[Atreus21]

Originally posted by: Hayabusa Rider

Originally posted by: FerrelGeek

Originally posted by: Robor
Trolling much guys?

So what's your suggestion? A stiffly worded retort? Finger shaking? Foot stamping? Panty bunching? Telling them that 'they broke the rules'?

Obama's (now completed) appeasement tour of Europe will do nothing to show anyone that he will have the cajones to stand up to anybody. If he actually authorizes a SEAL, or Delta Force, op against these clowns, has them summarily executed on the spot, and hangs their bodies up for display on the ship to feed the gulls, I'll apologize for my comments turn out to me incorrect.

Showing lack of faith in our leaders isn't trolling.

This isn't Counter Strike.

Oh hale yes it is. If that freighter'd had a single AWP on board, they'd have killed the entire population of Somalia by now.

Or at least, they'd certainly have killed me by now. That's what always happens anyway.

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: JD50
I'm sure that he has a contingency plan for this man made disaster that has occurred overseas.

:laugh: conservatives: THIS IS OBAMA'S KATRINA, WRITE IT DOWN!!!! :laugh:

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Hayabusa Rider

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: MotF Bane

Originally posted by: K1052
The USS Iowa is sitting in Suisun Bay not doing anything.

Shouldn't take a whole lot of work to make sure she's seaworthy and find some sailors who remember how to work the 16 inch guns and pound the living shit out of where they're operating from. That's how countries used to handle this sort of thing.

But the collateral damage! This isn't politically correct! You aren't understanding their situation. You racist. /sarcasm

A decision was made a good while back by the US Government to pay ransom and tribute demands from pirates in the forms of iron and gunpowder via the muzzles of large caliber naval guns.

I think it's time to revive that old tradition.

They'll just move out of the area. All you'll have done is kill some half starving civilians and make the pirates even more popular. That's not really helpful

Not like we can't follow them as we have things like radar, satellite surveillance, UAV's, etc.

I'm also doubting they'll be that popular if shelling follows them wherever they base out of.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Originally posted by: Hayabusa Rider

Originally posted by: FerrelGeek

Originally posted by: Robor
Trolling much guys?

So what's your suggestion? A stiffly worded retort? Finger shaking? Foot stamping? Panty bunching? Telling them that 'they broke the rules'?

Obama's (now completed) appeasement tour of Europe will do nothing to show anyone that he will have the cajones to stand up to anybody. If he actually authorizes a SEAL, or Delta Force, op against these clowns, has them summarily executed on the spot, and hangs their bodies up for display on the ship to feed the gulls, I'll apologize for my comments turn out to me incorrect.

Showing lack of faith in our leaders isn't trolling.

Make sure to send Jack Bauer.

You've been watching too many movies. The real world doesn't work like this because it can't. You need intel in advance, and a means to insert and extract. You have to know who the targets are. You have to be able to get to them. There's a hundred bits of logistics that you are ignorant of. If this were all there was to it, there wouldn't be a problem now.

This isn't Counter Strike.

Um, I don't play Counter Strike and yes I do understand the real world and what it takes to mount a real world military operation. I wasn't necessarily trying to offer a solution per se; my intention was to engage Robor. Poking your head up and yelling 'Troll!' doesn't add any real value to the conversation.

This is a nasty problem that the world is facing and will probably require a nasty solution to deal with it. The pirates don't give a rat's fettid backside about international law, the UN, the US, or any other country's POV. They're doing this because they know that they can get away with it. Saying things like 'we're sorry about being arrogant' isn't going to make these scumbags play nice.

I think the best overall solution is in prevention. Either countries should arm their ships with the means necessary to protect themselves or the international community should commit the resources necessary to escort these ships through Somali waters. If the pirates attack, SOP should be to blow their boats out of the water no questions asked.

I still question whether or not Obama / the UN will have the wherewithall to do this, which was the real intent of my earlier post.

 

[The-Noid]

Apparently crew took back the ship.

 

[racolvin]

Originally posted by: Hayabusa Rider

Make sure to send Jack Bauer.

You've been watching too many movies. The real world doesn't work like this because it can't. You need intel in advance, and a means to insert and extract. You have to know who the targets are. You have to be able to get to them. There's a hundred bits of logistics that you are ignorant of. If this were all there was to it, there wouldn't be a problem now.

This isn't Counter Strike.

While intellectually I agree with you, I'm curious about the "hundreds" of bits of intel they would need in advance.

From my admittedly comfy chair you need the following:

1) the location of the vessel - easy enough to spot via satellite, since we're not exactly talking about a 20ft boat here And as far as I know the pirates never turn off the transponders.
2) The number and armament of the captors - we know they generally operate in teams of less than 10, especially once the ship is anchored and waiting on the ransom delivery. They're normally armed with small caliber weapons (full and semi-auto) and the occasional RPG but those aren't used for holding captives.
3) Insert via HALO, extract after the ship is underway and outside the range of further pirates via helicopter or or smaller vessel that can come alongside the freighter
4) Deck plans, crew intel, even placement and contents of the cargo containers are available from the shipping company.

Now I understand that there's lots of things that have to happen to deploy a team and you're totally right that there are lots of logistical things that go into doing that but really, is it all that complicated? I'm not trying to be flippant here, I simply don't know. It just doesn't *sound* like all that complex of a mission profile to an outsider.

 

[Arkaign]

This is a no-brainer to me. It's not like the POTUS personally plans a rescue mission or a combat operations blueprint. The US military, dollars to donuts, already has a pile of existing plans for situations just like this, that will need minor tuning to the current circumstances, and is ready to execute it with excellence. Obama's administration will not hesitate to greenlight it. Number 1, it's clearly the right thing to do, and Number 2, he's probably well aware that a weakness in his public perception is being tough enough to authorize such an action.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Originally posted by: Yoxxy
Apparently crew took back the ship.

Yep. Just saw this over on foxnews.com. Oh wait, it's not on dailykos.com, so it must not be true after all. j/k j/k

Hopefully this is all's well that ends well. Props to the guys for taking their ship back!

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Yoxxy
Apparently crew took back the ship.

Reuters has picked up the story.

Glad to see that the ship was taken back!

 

[Robor]

Awesome news... I hope the crew members are ok.

 

[Hacp]

I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but leave them. They knew they were taking a risk by going into that area. Its like those two asian women in NKorea. They took unnecessary risk and now expect the country to bail them out.

 

[Glayde]

"The crew took it back"

We all know it was Rainbow!

 

[sciwizam]

AP: US crew reportedly takes over ship from pirates

The crew of a U.S.-flag ship seized by pirates off Somalia is believed to have retaken the vessel, the Pentagon said Wednesday, even as a shaken national security establishment confronted troubling questions about the hostage-taking at high sea.

Capt. Joseph Murphy, an instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told The Associated Press the Department of Defense that his son Shane, the second in command on the ship, had called him to say the crew had regained control.

"The crew is back in control of the ship," a U.S. official said at midday, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record. "It's reported that one pirate is on board under crew control ? the other three were trying to flee," the official said. The status of the other pirates was unknown, the official said, but they were reported to "be in the water."

:laugh:

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: sciwizam
AP: US crew reportedly takes over ship from pirates

The crew of a U.S.-flag ship seized by pirates off Somalia is believed to have retaken the vessel, the Pentagon said Wednesday, even as a shaken national security establishment confronted troubling questions about the hostage-taking at high sea.

Capt. Joseph Murphy, an instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told The Associated Press the Department of Defense that his son Shane, the second in command on the ship, had called him to say the crew had regained control.

"The crew is back in control of the ship," a U.S. official said at midday, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record. "It's reported that one pirate is on board under crew control ? the other three were trying to flee," the official said. The status of the other pirates was unknown, the official said, but they were reported to "be in the water."

:laugh:

:thumbsup:

 

[OCGuy]

There is a lot to this story im sure.....

I dont think the crew said "Lets roll!" and took down some pirates.

 

[Jeffg010]

Originally posted by: sciwizam
AP: US crew reportedly takes over ship from pirates

The crew of a U.S.-flag ship seized by pirates off Somalia is believed to have retaken the vessel, the Pentagon said Wednesday, even as a shaken national security establishment confronted troubling questions about the hostage-taking at high sea.

Capt. Joseph Murphy, an instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told The Associated Press the Department of Defense that his son Shane, the second in command on the ship, had called him to say the crew had regained control.

"The crew is back in control of the ship," a U.S. official said at midday, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record. "It's reported that one pirate is on board under crew control ? the other three were trying to flee," the official said. The status of the other pirates was unknown, the official said, but they were reported to "be in the water."

:laugh:

Thats awsome!

Jeff

 

[StageLeft]

Crew took back or Maersk wired a check to the pirates and gave it back to them?

I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but leave them. They knew they were taking a risk by going into that area. Its like those two asian women in NKorea. They took unnecessary risk and now expect the country to bail them out.

The hell drugs are you on, they were hundreds of miles away from where this has been happening. It's not like these ships are saving a few bucks in gas and driving in front of the pirates' havens; they are a real threat. Apparently this was in the indian ocean.

Holy fvcK the crew really took it back themselves? WIN. This is the first such incident and Americans did it he he

 

[MovingTarget]

Nothing. We all know the decrease of pirates worldwide is proportional to the rise in global temperatures. By ensuring that they continue to keep on doing their thing, he is protecting us from global warming. Duh.



I don't see any real change in policy here. That is one of the primary purposes of navies worldwide: to ensure the safety of shipping lanes against other navies and pirates. Remember that the Somali coast is about as long as the eastern seaboard of the US. It is probably better suited for local powers to patrol... However, a concentrated effort by all nations could really put a dent in it.

 

[Red Dawn]

I wonder if the crew were Merchant Marines?