First round goes to Obama for allowing the trigger to be pulled. Way to go.
The pirates have a lot of hostages and quite a few ships. They’re used to getting paid, so there is probably going to be a lot of blood spilled before this thing is over.
“I want to be very clear that we are resolved to halt the rise of piracy in that region and to achieve that goal, we’re going to have to continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks,” Obama said at a Washington news conference.
I applaud our president, certainly. And I always hope for his success. When he succeeds, we all succeed, in the end.
T.
C’mon Kahuna, don’t you recognize GOP bait when you sniff it?
First round goes to Obama for allowing the trigger to be pulled. Way to go.
The pirates have a lot of hostages and quite a few ships. They’re used to getting paid, so there is probably going to be a lot of blood spilled before this thing is over.
“I want to be very clear that we are resolved to halt the rise of piracy in that region and to achieve that goal, we’re going to have to continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks,” Obama said at a Washington news conference.
Wasn’t it Cheney that said Obama would be tested in his first 90 days in office? That’s a home run for the home team! USA USA
Actually Biden said Obama would be tested in the first 90 days.
I applaud our president, certainly. And I always hope for his success. When he succeeds, we all succeed, in the end.
If everyone felt this way, America would even be a greater country than it is. This is exactly what has been missing in the U.S for a long time.
**Obama 1 - Somali Pirates 0 - NEW **
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U.S. Navy 3 - Somali Pirates -3
Very glad it worked out for the captain. Obama gets some credit, but was really just lucky he let the Navy loose to do their job in time.
“The Defense Department twice sought Mr. Obama’s permission to use force to rescue Captain Phillips, most recently on Friday night, senior defense officials said. On Saturday morning, the president agreed, they said, if it appeared that the captain’s life was in imminent danger.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/world/africa/13pirates.html?_r=3&hp=&pagewanted=all
I heard that Obama was actually one of the men who parachuted into the ocean at night and then shot one of the terrorists. And was back in time to do the Easter egg roll. He is a great American!
Plus he feasted on the hearts of the pirates he killed with his bare hands. It helps that he had Narwhal back up. Obama is the son of god on Earth.
This thread is sad.
Obama was the leader of the Navy Seal Sniper Team that took those pirates out and YaHey was his side kick who helped him sight in for the shot.
*“U.S. Navy 3 - Somali Pirates 3” *…
Undeterred Somali pirates hijack 3 more ships
Play Video AP –
AP – The crew of Maersk Alabama, react on as they leave for the Serena Hotel, Mombasa, Kenya, after leaving … By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY and PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writers Elizabeth A. Kennedy And Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press Writers – 49 mins ago
MOMBASA, Kenya – Undeterred by U.S. and French hostage rescues that killed five bandits, Somali pirates brazenly hijacked three more ships in the Gulf of Aden, the waterway at the center of the world’s fight against piracy.
Pirates have vowed to retaliate for the killing of their colleagues — and the top U.S. military officer said Tuesday h takes those comments seriously.
But Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that “we’re very well prepared to deal with anything like that.”
The latest trophy for the pirates was the M.V. Irene E.M., a Greek-managed bulk carrier sailing from the Middle East to South Asia, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.
The Irene was attacked and seized in the middle of the night Tuesday — a rare tactic for the pirates.
U.S. Navy Lt. Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said the Irene was flagged in the Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and carried 23 Filipino crew. Choong reported a crew of 21, and there was no immediate way to reconcile the figures.
A maritime security contractor, speaking on condition of anonymity because it is a sensitive security issue, said the ship put out a distress signal “to say they had a suspicious vessel approaching. That rapidly turned into an attack and then a hijacking.”
“They tried to call in support on the emergency channels, but they never got any response,” the contractor said.
On Monday, Somali pirates also seized two Egyptian fishing boats in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia’s northern coast, according to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry, which said the boats carried 18 to 24 Egyptians total.
A flotilla of warships from nearly a dozen countries has patrolled the Gulf of Aden and nearby Indian Ocean waters for months. They have halted several attacks on ships this year, but say the area is so vast they can’t stop all hijackings.
Choong said pirate attacks this year had risen to 77, with 18 of those ships hijacked and 16 vessels with 285 crew still in pirates’ hands. Each boat carries the potential of a million-dollar ransom.
The latest seizures come after Navy SEAL snipers rescued American ship captain Richard Phillips on Sunday by killing three young pirates who held him captive in a drifting lifeboat for five days. A fourth pirate surrendered after seeking medical attention for a wound he received in trying to take over Phillips’ vessel, the Maersk Alabama.
Phillips is aboard a Navy vessel at an undisclosed location, Christensen said Tuesday. He was initially taken aboard the Norfolk, Va.-based USS Bainbridge and then flown to the San Diego-based USS Boxer for a medical exam.
In Washington, President Barack Obama appeared to move the piracy issue higher on his agenda, vowing the United States would work with nations around the world to fight the problem.
“I want to be very clear that we are resolved to halt the rise of piracy in that region and to achieve that goal, we’re going to have to continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks,” Obama said at a news conference Monday.
The 19 crew members of the Alabama celebrated their skipper’s freedom with beer and an evening barbecue Monday in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, said crewman Ken Quinn.
The vessel’s chief mate was among those urging strong U.S. action against piracy.
“It’s time for us to step in and put an end to this crisis,” Shane Murphy said. “It’s a crisis. Wake up.”
The U.S. is considering new options to fight piracy, including adding Navy gunships along the Somali coastline and launching a campaign to disable pirate “mother ships,” according to military officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because no decisions have been made yet.
In Burlington, Vt., Phillips’ wife, Andrea Phillips thanked Obama, who approved the dramatic sniper operation.
“With Richard saved, you all just gave me the best Easter ever,” she said in a statement.
The four pirates that attacked the Alabama were between 17 and 19 years old, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
“Untrained teenagers with heavy weapons,” Gates told students and faculty at the Marine Corps War College. “Everybody in the room knows the consequences of that.”
U.S. officials were now considering whether to bring the fourth pirate, who surrendered shortly before the sniper shootings, to the United States or possibly turn him over to Kenya. Both piracy and hostage-taking carry life prison sentences under U.S. law.
The French navy late Monday handed over the bodies of two Somali pirates killed in a hostage rescue operation last week to authorities in Somali’s semiautonomous northern region of Puntland and locals buried the bodies.
Obama is fueling up the Obama 1 Nuclear attack chopper so he and Rambo can free the ships. Yahey is trapped in his room masturbating over the latest People spread about Obama.
We did something?? dang! Don’t surprise me like that man!
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You can thank all the companies that have paid ransom for getting us to this place.
You can thank all the companies that have paid ransom for getting us to this place.
You’re right. You don’t deal with pirates or terrorists - you kill them. Glad you’re on board.
Why didn’t President Bush send in the SEAL sniper teams in a year ago when piracy was already in full swing? I’m guessing because his priorities were all screwed up? I’m also guessing McCain would not have sent in the military, and Sarah Palin would not even know where Somalia is located.
Glad we have Obama at the helm taking care of business, finally.
You can thank all the companies that have paid ransom for getting us to this place.
No shit eh.
I still think that Messiah Obama should have been a man and ordered a submarine to jump out of the water like on Hunt for Red October and have the nose land on the lifeboat like Shamoo. I mean, snipers are cool and all but sorta expected. You jump a submarine and have it land on the bad guys from the depth of the sea…now that is some serious psycological warfare!
I think all the fun, and the opportunity for the SEALS to really probe themselves, is going to happen when we have to land troops on Somali soil to get all those hostages and ships released. Like I said, there is going to be a lot of blood shed, and hopefully not too much of it American.