Captain jumps overboard, SEALs shoot pirates, official says

Captain jumps overboard, SEALs shoot pirates, official says

www.cnn.com

(CNN) -- 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.

Capt. 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 USS Bainbridge negotiating with officials, the source said. That pirate was taken into custody.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Good news. The lifeboat was drifting dangerously close to the coastline and things could have gotten very messy if the pirates had been able to make it ashore with their captive.

Good for the SEALs! Another job (that we have heard about) well done.

Thee pirates shot and killed, one in custody. This mission happened under cover of dark.

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is great news and Im sure his family is so happy and at peace now. Hopefully they can get back to their normal lives soon, since their tiny town has been over run with media for days now.

That Captain is a hero though. He put his crew thru numerous drills in case they ever got attacked. He put his life on the line to save his entire crew and it all paid off.

And yes bravo to our US military

[edit on 4/12/2009 by greeneyedleo]

Now he gets to appear on Larry King for 2 weeks with the title "Hero"

under his name, the title under his name (stutter)

Originally posted by Seany

Now he gets to appear on Larry King for 2 weeks with the title "Hero"

under his name, the title under his name (stutter)

But he is a hero. He sacrificed the safety of his life for his entire crew.
He is more of a hero then half the people our kids call hero.

reply to post by greeneyedleo


why this need to label him a :"hero" , hes just ba guy who was doin his job,

the whole "hero" thing is getting old,

Originally posted by jsobecky

Good for the SEALs! Another job (that we have heard about) well done.

Thee pirates shot and killed, one in custody. This mission happened under cover of dark.

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Amen, Im guessing they have been waiting for a few days to get a clear shot. Im glad the Captain is safe.

Now its time to clean house IMHO

Originally posted by Seany
reply to post by greeneyedleo

 

why this need to label him a :"hero" , hes just ba guy who was doin his job,

the whole "hero" thing is getting old,

But he is. How many of us would have the chops in crunch time to ensure the safety fo the crew and then try to escape not once but twice from these pirate animals?

The Captain's diversion forced the pirates to improvise and go after him, leaving the rest of the crew a bigger advantage to overpower the pirates, which it seems they did.

Glad this story seems to have been resolved with a minimal loss of life.

That said, the battle may be won, but the war against piracy is FAR from over....

[edit on 12/4/09 by The Godfather of Conspira]

Originally posted by Seany
reply to post by greeneyedleo

 

why this need to label him a :"hero" , hes just ba guy who was doin his job,

the whole "hero" thing is getting old,

Look, I understanding you are just trolling. But in case you are not aware:

HERO

he⋅ro   /ˈhɪəroʊ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [heer-oh] Show IPA
–noun, plural -roes; for 5 also -ros. 1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal:

The man earned the title.

Good Job for the SEALS

After years of watching military movies I have to agree that night vision certainly will give our guys the upper hand.

I bet Captain Richard is counting his Easter Eggs now.

Hannity would have never let President Obama live down Captain Richards death.

s n f

[edit on 12-4-2009 by OrangeJuice]

That is good news!

But now we get a couple weeks of the left wingers condemning the Navy for shooting the pirates rather than 'rehabilitating' them, and get another movie from Moore about the brutality the U.S. has levied against these poor Somali laborers just trying to make a living. But I guess it's worth it.

Good to see he got away safe and sound and the bad guys got what they had coming to them.

No offence but it all sounds like a cheesy B grade movie to me, maybe some Hollywood producer will try to cash in on it.

I am proud, that our military kicked the crab out of these Muslim terrorists! However, Obama will claim credit for this matter, even though, he was hiding in DC stroking his new doggie! He has no idea what true leadership and courage means! Now, let's see how the Muslims around the world view the US military in kicking the crab out of their fellow terrorists!

reply to post by FredT


Pirate animals? Think before you type, or at least do some research. These people are trying to protect their coastal lines from American cargo freighters who are stealing their main food supply and crippling any chance of regaining a functioning economy. Not to mention the European countries dumping their toxic waste in the area, killing the ecosystem there while the West hoards what's left all to ourselves.

I'm not trying to take either side here. Its just hard to support Americans who are actively participating in the exploitation and destruction of a culture and an ecosystem. In fact, I refuse to.

"What I did was to keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirating to live."

Glad to hear the captain is safe. Glad to hear the crew is safe.

I do wonder how they plan to try the pirate however. Could be interesting. Might save a headache had the shot the last one as well just for good measure.

reply to post by Bejing


Here we go...its started. The lack of action on the matter was a sign of how poor a leader Obama is..we hear nothing but about how the pirates need to be taken out of comission and the captain needs saving...it happens, he's rescued, action is taken...and the timing of the action only serves to prove how much of a poor leader Obama is....despite the action being successful...

...I suppose that if we had Chuck Norris as president, Chuck would have been first on the scene to rescue the guy...and hell, while we're at it, we could have Stephen Segal as Vice President and Jean Claude van Damme as Secretary of State....then maybe we'd be headed in the right direction, right?

Honestly...what will it take?

Originally posted by Tgautier13
reply to post by FredT

 

Pirate animals? Think before you type, or at least do some research. These people are trying to protect their coastal lines from American cargo freighters who are stealing their main food supply and crippling any chance of regaining a functioning economy. Not to mention the European countries dumping their toxic waste in the area, killing the ecosystem there while the West hoards what's left all to ourselves.

I'm not trying to take either side here. Its just hard to support Americans who are actively participating in the exploitation and destruction of a culture and an ecosystem. In fact, I refuse to.

"What I did was to keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirating to live."

I never thought I would see a post defending the pirates, but here it is. Unbeliable.

Can you please provide some links to show that this ship was there to "steal their main food supply and crippling any chance of regaining a functioning economy".

Also provide some links to show that American cargo ships are "stealing their main food supply and crippling any chance of regaining a functioning economy".

Thanks. I am very unaware of this happening.

reply to post by Bejing

I am proud, that our military kicked the crab out of these Muslim terrorists!

While I detest the pirates, that's a completely uninformed opinion.

In a country where most people live on less than $5 dollars a day, piracy has little to do with religious motivation.

The pirates are a large, multi-ethnic composition of Somalians, Kenyans, Sudanese, Yemenis, Gulf Arabs who are all in it for the profit.

These pirates deluded themselves into thinking they're Long John Silver, living the life of an outlaw:

"They have money; they have power and they are getting stronger by the day," says Abdi Farah Juha who lives in the regional capital, Garowe.

"They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns," he says.

"Piracy in many ways is socially acceptable. They have become fashionable."
Most of them are aged between 20 and 35 years - in it for the money.

And the rewards they receive are rich in a country where almost half the population need food aid after 17 years of non-stop conflict.

Most vessels captured in the busy shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden fetch on average a ransom of $2m.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Larsen says the root conditions of poverty, lawlessness and civil war on the ground in Somalia are to blame. The large sums of ransom money being paid out to pirates, he says, is even leading some Somali women to venture to the port town of Bosaso in hopes of marrying these newly-rich men.

amfix.blogs.cnn.com...

The real root of this issue goes to haphazard conclusion to the UN's intervention in Somalia in 1993.
They simply pulled out and let Somalians twist in the winds and become brainwashed and controlled by powerful warlords.

These same warlords control the militias all these pirates originate from now.

Another wonderful failure in the UN's colourful history.

[edit on 12/4/09 by The Godfather of Conspira]

I'm probably one of the most liberal posters on the board but I have to say the pirates got what was coming to them. I some what sympathize with the plight of the pirates and even some what respect what they're doing, however they need to know that the only way it's going to end for them if they tamper with American ships is death or jail. I expect my country not to tolerate the harassment of our citizens or outright piracy of our commerce in a such provocative in international waters. The pirates can rip off French ships all day long and that's fine but America is supposed to be above this.

Interestingly enough my business partner is a former Navy Seal and was recruited before his stint was up in the navy to be a part of a special anti-piracy task force the Navy was developing a few years ago (I believe they were the team that got the original hostages out a few days ago) Apparently it is simple to rip these boats off. He explained in detail last night how easy it knock off one of these huge tankers.