Somali pirates

scratch

Least Best Moderator
Staff member
Good shooting, Seals. They have a base thats near the area, I'm surprised it took so long to get permission to end it. Great results, I'm happy the captain was rescued and will make it home to his family.
 

Jones

fILE A GRIEVE!
Staff member
Why is it that no one mentions the action that the French took recently, they took back the boat, with one countryman killed.
If you're talking just about this thread, I mentioned it back on page 2. If you're talking about the nightly news, I would say it's due to the US centric slant of all our major news organizations. ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX are all pretty consistent about ignoring international stories that don't directly involve the US. That's why my link goes to a story on BBC.


Well I agree with that. In the short term I don't this situation really constitutes a crisis for the US. Keep in mind that hostage situations involving criminals happen on a regular basis right here at home. These guys aren't crazy jihadis ready to die for their belief system, just a band of crooks who have seriously bungled their most recent caper and are now just trying to get out with their skins and (hopefully)some loot.

In the long term I think France is taking the right approach. Interestingly even the president of Somalia has called for all the nations involved to stop paying ransoms and instead respond with force.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
Good shooting, Seals. They have a base thats near the area, I'm surprised it took so long to get permission to end it. Great results, I'm happy the captain was rescued and will make it home to his family.

Actually, Obama gave them the green light to drop the hammer on the bad guys a couple of days ago. The authority was given to the commander on the scene to take whatever actions were needed to save the life of the hostage.

They were able to get the pirates to agree to have the lifeboat hooked to the destroyer with a towline. This allowed them to bring the boat in closer and postion it in a calm spot in the destroyers wake.

At that point, the SEALS just had to wait until they could take out all three pirates with simultaneous head shots, which itself is quite a feat to accomplish when firing from one moving boat onto another moving boat.

Obviously a peaceful ending would have been preferable, but the bottom line here is that a bit of patience paid huge dividends. For his part, Obama did a great job of giving his people the authority and support they needed to take care of biz and then getting out of the way and letting the profesionals do what needed to be done instead of trying to policiticize and micromanage the situation from the opposite side of the globe.
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
For his part, Obama did a great job of giving his people the authority and support they needed to take care of biz and then getting out of the way and letting the profesionals do what needed to be done instead of trying to policiticize and micromanage the situation from the opposite side of the globe.

Agreed.

Too bad Clinton did not do that when we had Osama in sights.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
I spend a lot of time at the gun club, and I consider myself to be a pretty good shot with a rifle.

There is no way in HELL I could have made that shot. Not even close. That is way beyond good, we are talking otherwordly skill with a rifle to make that shot. My hat is off to those SEALS and if I were there I would bow and kneel in the presence of greatness.

3 simultaneous head shots...at a range of at least 50 yards.....off of a moving boat and into a moving boat....thru a window....with an innocent hostage in close proximity at gunpoint.... AT NIGHT.

Excederin Headache #.308---problem solved.

Un-freaking-believable.
 

bigbrownhen

Well-Known Member
In my first post, I didn't intend it as a slam on the president, just repeating as I had read story on MSN. I watched a news report with a so called expert on terrorism, that it was wiser for the president to not make any public statements as it would just intensify the situation. It seems he may have trusted the ones(FBI and Navy) trained to deal with such situations.
Now we shall see if the international community will do anything to stop these criminals.
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
I spend a lot of time at the gun club, and I consider myself to be a pretty good shot with a rifle.

There is no way in HELL I could have made that shot. Not even close. That is way beyond good, we are talking otherwordly skill with a rifle to make that shot. My hat is off to those SEALS and if I were there I would bow and kneel in the presence of greatness.

3 simultaneous head shots...at a range of at least 50 yards.....off of a moving boat and into a moving boat....thru a window....with an innocent hostage in close proximity at gunpoint.... AT NIGHT.
Now lets NOT cut their pay. Or their training.

Excederin Headache #.308---problem solved.

Un-freaking-believable.
Exactly How I felt. It isnt like you are eying a cue ball on a flat non moving surface and youll lose and have to buy a round of beers, if you falter in the least. They are the heroes. And I knew that from the beginning. Might not need them all the time but we are the USA and they are in the arsenal. Makes me proud.
 

The Other Side

Well-Known Troll
Troll
Now the media spin is that these were just teenagers.
Kids just out for a good time.


Id like to see the proof of this claim. Rush saying it on the radio doesnt make it true. So please cite the media source where this was said.

I'll say this, there are many teenage somalia boys on boats participating in piracy. This is what happens to third world poor countries without leadership.

But, I still want to see your media source where your statement was made.

:wink2:
 

over9five

Moderator
Staff member
Somali pirates vow to hunt down US ships and kill sailors


Excellent job by President Obama authorizing the kill of the pirates holding Captain Phillips.

Seems to me we have to complete the mission and fast.
 

Sammie

Well-Known Member
There has to be a way to keep this scum off ships that don't belong to them. Pull some old WWII cannons out of storage. Wrap the decks in barbed wire. We wouldn't have to man up every ship out there, but imagine what 100 armed merchant vessels could do.

Can someone explain why, in this day and age, not one sniper or one armed employee is allowed on these ginormous ships. Or at least small armed escorts in dangerous waters. What would be this cost compared
to millions in ransoms paid by shipping magnates? As the rules stand now,
how often will we be reading about more hold ups?
 

Jones

fILE A GRIEVE!
Staff member
There has to be a way to keep this scum off ships that don't belong to them. Pull some old WWII cannons out of storage. Wrap the decks in barbed wire. We wouldn't have to man up every ship out there, but imagine what 100 armed merchant vessels could do.

Can someone explain why, in this day and age, not one sniper or one armed employee is allowed on these ginormous ships. Or at least small armed escorts in dangerous waters. What would be this cost compared
to millions in ransoms paid by shipping magnates? As the rules stand now,
how often will we be reading about more hold ups?
My understanding is that many, if not most major ports will not allow armed merchant ships to dock, including the U.S.
Still, Black Water needs the work these days, seems like this would be ideal situation for them to make some money.
 

Babagounj

Strength through joy
Where these pirates attack covers such a large square miles area that the combined navies of the world would never be able to patrol it all.
And since most groups are actually in such small clusters, any land based attack would not completely stop this problem.
So its time to bring back the battleships, & have them just cruise along the coast randomly firing shells on shore.
 

bubsdad

"Hang in there!"
Think maybe I'll retire, get me a rowboat and move to Somalia. It's the pirate's life for me! These people are a joke. Why not put mercenaries onboard these vessels. I know if I was a shipping magnate that would be a top priority if my freight was travelling through that area.
 

UPSNewbie

Well-Known Member
Think maybe I'll retire, get me a rowboat and move to Somalia. It's the pirate's life for me! These people are a joke. Why not put mercenaries onboard these vessels. I know if I was a shipping magnate that would be a top priority if my freight was travelling through that area.

My understanding is that many, if not most major ports will not allow armed merchant ships to dock, including the U.S.
Still, Black Water needs the work these days, seems like this would be ideal situation for them to make some money.
 

Babagounj

Strength through joy
Id like to see the proof of this claim. Rush saying it on the radio doesnt make it true. So please cite the media source where this was said.

I'll say this, there are many teenage somalia boys on boats participating in piracy. This is what happens to third world poor countries without leadership.

But, I still want to see your media source where your statement was made.

:wink2:
Why pick up any newspaper ( if they still make them ) and read what the families of some teenager who was killed said; he was just starting to turn his life around, or he planned on going back to school ( as soon as he got out of prison ), he wasn't harming anybody , he was a good kid, he lived for his kids, etc.
 
Top