Game Over

First report, grain of salt and all . . .

Captain jumps overboard, SEALs shoot pirates, official says

The American captain of a cargo ship held hostage by pirates jumped overboard from the lifeboat where he was being held, and U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed three of his four captors, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation.

Richard Phillips was helped out of the water off the Somali coast and is uninjured and in good condition, the official said. He was taken aboard the USS Bainbridge, a nearby naval warship.

At the time of the shootings, the fourth pirate was aboard the Bainbridge negotiating with officials, the source said. That pirate was taken into custody.

See also:
Ship Captain Rescued From Somali Pirates
Captain of Somali-pirate-seized ship rescued
Report: Pirates were out of ammo, sought to trade captain
Obama approved force to rescue pirate hostage
WITNESS – “Hi, is that the Somali pirates?”
US sea captain freed in swift firefight
American captain Richard Phillips taken hostage freed from Somali pirates
Vermont Town Celebrates Captain Richard Phillips’ Release
Official: US sea captain faced imminent danger
UPDATE 1-Somali pirates vow revenge over comrades’ killings
Commander: Pirates’ deaths could escalate violence
Statement by President Obama on the rescue of Captain Phillips
Freed U.S. captain’s crew jump for joy at release

UPDATE: How the Navy Rescued Cpt. Phillips

NBC News is reporting that three pirates simultaneously popped their heads out of their lifeboat and were taken out by Navy sharpshooters from the U.S.S. Bainbridge.

The surviving pirate had jumped ship and surrendered a few hours earlier. The Navy had surreptitiously attached a tow line to the craft to keep it from drifting to the Somali shore, and the pirates apparently looked outside in order to investigate.

Thank God Captain Phillips is safe and had the cojones to take matters into his own hands, jump overboard again, and force the issue. And God bless the SEALs for putting a swift, professional end to the pirate terrorists’ careers.

/I sincerely hope that it turns out this was all part of a planned rescue or that we actually had plans to do something if Phillips hadn’t jumped in the water again

UPDATE:

Now they’re saying that Phillips was tied up in the lifeboat and didn’t jump overboard.

/if true, that makes the call on the triple sniper shot even more gutsy

Day Four

Source: Pirates repel sailors attempting to reach captain

Pirates off the eastern coast of Africa fired on U.S. sailors Saturday as they tried to reach the lifeboat where an American captain is being held, a U.S. official familiar with the situation told CNN.

The gunfire forced the sailors, who did not return fire, back to the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, the official said.

Gee, daylight surface assault, good thinking, what genius thought of that?

FBI Begins Building Criminal Case Against Somali Pirates

FBI agents planned to interview the crew of a U.S. cargo ship Saturday as the bureau began building a criminal case against Somali pirates who attacked the ship and took the captain hostage.

The Maersk Alabama arrived safely in Kenya on Saturday, three days after Somali pirates stormed the ship, failed to hijack it, and fled in a lifeboat with the captain.

“The FBI has informed us that this ship is a crime scene,” John Reinhart, president of Maersk Shipping Line said Saturday, explaining why crew members cannot immediately leave the ship.

Thank God these people weren’t around in WWII, Iwo Jima, crime scene

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men.

/it won’t be long now before the pirate terrorists start demanding a satellite TV upgrade for their brand new 73′ houseboat, or they’ll kill Captain Phillips

The Pirates Have A Plan, Does Obama?

U.S. sends more warships to monitor hostage crisis

The United States is sending more warships to monitor a hostage crisis in the Indian Ocean and 450 km off the Somali coast, officials said on Friday.

The guided missile frigate USS Halyburton, with helicopter capabilities, has now joined the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge in that area, unnamed U.S. defense officials were quoted as saying by CNN.

A third ship, the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, which has a large medical facility on board, will be there within a day.

Two days after the U.S.-flagged cargo ship Maersk Alabama was attacked by pirates, the ship’s captain Richard Phillips is still being held by the pirates in a lifeboat.

With the rest of the 21 American crew members on board, Maersk Alabama is heading to Kenya under the escort of a U.S. security team, but the pirates in the lifeboat showed no sign of give-in during the standoff with U.S. warships.

Philips tried to escape from the pirates on Thursday night by jumping out of the lifeboat, apparently trying to swim to the USS Bainbridge, which is in communication with the four pirates in the lifeboat.

Some of the kidnappers jumped into the water, recaptured Phillips, and returned him to the lifeboat, according to U.S. officials.

See also:
More Warships Head to Scene of Hostage American Sea Captain
Officials: Navy has amphibious assault ship ready
1st piracy of U.S. ship in 200 years reveals growing, costly threat
Somali Pirates Attack First U.S. Ship in 200 Years, Hostage Attempts Escape
Standoff with Somali pirates shows limits of naval response
US hostage fails in escape bid from Somali pirates
Somali Pirates Foil Escape, Threaten to Kill American Captain
Somali pirates demand $2 million for release of U.S. ship captain
Clinton says Somali pirates’ lifeboat out of gas
USS Boxer (LHD 4)
LHD-4 Boxer
Home – USS BOXER (LHD 4)
USS Halyburton (FFG 40)
USS Halyburton (FFG-40)
USS HALYBURTON (FFG 40)

Okay, that’s a nice show of force, but what are the additional ships going to do, besides monitor the situation? We’ve already telegraphed our unwillingness to use force with a hostage involved by letting this standoff fester for three days now.

U.S. Warship Shadows Somali Pirates With Hostage

With one warship nearby and more on the way, piracy expert Roger Middleton of the London-based think tank Chatham House said the pirates were in “a very, very tight corner.”

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,” he said.

Other analysts say the U.S. will be reluctant to use force as long as one of its citizens remains hostage.

And the Somalis are looking to take full advantage of our squeamish hesitation. Tight corner? They’re not only unimpressed by the three U.S. warships surrounding their four comrades, bobbing up and down in a powerless lifeboat, they’re demanding a ransom and going on the offensive!

Somali pirates sail German ship to standoff scene

Somali pirates holding foreign sailors on a hijacked German ship are heading towards a lifeboat where they are holding an American captain hostage. It is thought they intend to use the ship as a shield.

A pirate source told Reuters that the pirates are counting on the fact that the Americans will not destroy the German ship in any attempt to rescue Captain Richard Phillips.

Four heavily armed pirates holding the US Navy captain hostage in a lifeboat far off the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean since Wednesday have been communicating with other pirate gangs who are now sailing a hijacked German ship to the site to avoid being attacked should US warships launch a rescue attempt.

It’s unclear which German ship the pirates are sailing towards the lifeboat. The 20,000 tonne container carrier Hansa Stavanger with 24 crew on board, including five German nationals, was captured on April 4.

. . .

“We are not afraid,” say pirates

Two boats full of heavily-armed fellow pirates have taken up position near lifeboat but are too nervous to come near due to the presence of foreign naval ships including US warships.

“We are not afraid of the Americans,” one of the pirates told Reuters by satellite phone on behalf of the pirates holding Phillips, far off the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean. “We will defend ourselves if attacked.”

See also:
Somali Pirates Send More Ships to Area of Standoff with US
Somali pirates move to aid comrades, hostage recaptured
Enemies of All Mankind: Who Can Stop the Pirates?
Obama And The Pirates

So, let’s recap. Three days ago, we were dealing with four pirate terrorists, holding one hostage, floating in a powerless lifeboat and we did nothing. Now, we’re dealing with lots more pirate terrorists, in more ships and boats, sporting a regular international menagerie of previously captured hostages and we’re still doing nothing other than watching them.

It looks like the pirates’ plan is pretty simple. They’re bringing in more of their hostages to use as human shields while they just motor up to the lifeboat and retrieve their buddies and their newest hostage. Then they’ll sail back to port while several U.S. warships just sit and watch the whole thing.

/does Obama have a plan besides voyeurism?

UPDATE:

FNC is reporting that the pirate controlled German hostage ship has turned back to port, unable to locate the lifeboat.

Pirates on German ship fail to find U.S. standoff

Pirates on a German ship with 24 foreign hostages said on Saturday they had returned to the Somali coast after failing to locate the scene of a standoff involving an American captive on a drifting lifeboat.

Pirates had hoped to use the hijacked 20,000-tonne container vessel, Hansa Stavanger, as a “shield” to reach fellow pirates holding American ship captain Richard Phillips far out in the Indian Ocean. U.S. naval ships are close to the lifeboat.

“We have come back to Haradheere coast. We could not locate the lifeboat,” one pirate on the German ship, who identified himself as Suleiman, told Reuters. “We almost got lost because we could not find the bearing of the lifeboat.”

They’ll surely regroup and try again.

/we’ll see what happens, but this circus has already gone on way too long already

Obama And The Pirates

This spectacle is turning into a farce. Four terrorists in a lifeboat, holding one hostage, have been keeping a U.S. Destroyer and the entire U.S. government at bay for two days now. For God’s sake Obama, do something!

Obama’s Somali Pirate Hostage Crisis is an ‘Annoying Distraction’

The Somali pirate situation in which the pirates took and then lost an American cargo ship and then took her captain as a hostage is being described as an “annoying distraction” for President Barack Obama.

One wonders how Captain Richard Phillips, now being held at gunpoint in a life boat by Somali pirates in the middle of the Gulf of Aden, would characterize the situation. To be sure, the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge in on the scene and a P3 Orion aircraft is monitoring the situation. An FBI hostage negotiation team is providing advice to the US Navy on ways to obtain the release of Captain Phillips without resorting to armed force.

See also:
Pirates pose annoying distraction for Obama
Who is Richard Phillips? Captain of the Maersk Alabama and a hero on the high seas
Capt. Richard Phillips knows pirates

So, Obama’s annoyed, distracted and doing nothing. What about Hillary, what does she think about the first act of piracy against a U.S. flagged vessel in over 200 years?

Clinton says world must end ‘scourge’ of piracy

“We are deeply concerned and we are following it very closely,” Clinton told reporters.

She thinks it’s funny.

The pirates are shaking in their boots. Now go away or Hillary shall taunt you a second time. Let our hostage go or John Kerry will hold hearings!

The U.S. military, well, they’re ready for action, awaiting orders that aren’t forthcoming.

US Navy calls more ships in to Indian Ocean stand-off with Somalian pirates

THE US military on Thursday said it was sending in more ships to the scene of a stand-off with Somalia pirates holding an American hostage on a lifeboat in the Indian Ocean.

A day after pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama aid ship before being overpowered by the unarmed American crew, the high-seas drama remained unresolved with both the pirates and the US Navy promising to move in reinforcements.

The four pirates were ousted from the 17,500-tonne Danish-operated container ship, but were still holding the captain hostage on a lifeboat.

More naval ships were to join the destroyer USS Bainbridge that arrived overnight to help secure the release of the American, US defence officials said.

I’m not exactly sure what more ships are going to accomplish. I’m pretty sure the Bainbridge can already more than handle four terrorists in a lifeboat. How about if we make the Somali pirates regret the day they were born?

U.S. military already prepared with battle plans for Somalia pirates, say intelligence sources

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.

Scratch military action I guess, that would be mean, and besides, no one’s going to pry Obama’s finger off the chicken[expletive deleted] switch.

What about the pirate terrorists, are they going take the cornering of their comrades lying down and be intimidated by a big bad U.S. destroyer? Hell no!

Somali Pirates Sending Reinforcements to Kidnappers

Somali pirates are sending help to members of their band who hijacked a U.S.-flagged ship this week in the Indian Ocean and are holding the captain hostage, said a member of the group who spoke from shore.

The man, who called himself Da’ud and identified himself as one of the pirates, spoke by phone yesterday from the area of Eyl, Somalia. He said he had been in contact with the four pirates who boarded the Maersk Alabama and who then took the captain hostage on a lifeboat that has stalled off the coast.

How long is Obama going to let this continue? Four pirates in a lifeboat are making a mockery of the entire U.S. government. If our response wasn’t so pathetic, this whole episode could inspire a Broadway musical.

See also:
Talks Continue to Release U.S. Cargo Captain Held by Somali Pirates
US warship watches Somali pirates with US hostage
FBI joins effort in hostage standoff with pirates
Maersk A-Class
MV Maersk Alabama
USS Bainbridge (DDG 96)
USS BAINBRIDGE (DDG-96)
DDG 96 Bainbridge
P-3 Orion
P-3 Orion
P-3C Orion long range ASW aircraft

Ye gods Obama, pull your head out of your ass and put an end to this sordid debacle. You’re embarrassing yourself and this country. But hey, what’s new about that? Seriously, how hard can this be?

/Navy divers, under cover of darkness, stun grenades, on three, tangos down, hostage situation over