Yeah, it's tripping me out to, Jeph. What freaks me out is how the major shipping companies won't arm the crews because of insurance liabilities. Paper work can get a crew killed off the coast of Somalia. Insurance liabilities? 4 radar controlled puff/vulcan guns on freighters would put a big stop to these rowboat pirates. Just my opinion though. Don't pay attention to the Tattoed biker behind the curtain.

Attachment 1996

standoff between an $800 million United States Navy destroyer and four pirates bobbing in a lifeboat

excerpt

The Indian Ocean standoff between an $800 million United States Navy destroyer and four pirates bobbing in a lifeboat showed the limits of the world’s most powerful military as it faces a booming pirate economy in a treacherous patch of international waters.

Driven solely by economic gain, not politics or religion, the band of pirates who captured an American merchant ship’s captain on Wednesday are an unconventional foe for the American military. In recent years, they have shrewdly extorted millions of dollars from international shipping companies; to help negotiate the captain’s release, the Navy turned for advice on Thursday to an F.B.I. hostage rescue team, practiced in a patient approach.

“This is strictly for the money,” said Ken Menkhaus, a Somalia expert at Davidson College. “They are not taking the cargo, and they are not interested in killing people.”

He added, “It’s a business model that has proven very effective for them.”

While surveillance aircraft kept watch on the pirates and their captive, the Navy task force that had steamed more than 300 miles to go to the captain’s aid showed no sign of confronting the pirates. There is no evidence, experts say, of any links between the pirates and Islamic militants in Somalia, and officials said it was unlikely that the United States would strike directly at pirate sanctuaries along the Somali coast, even though the American military has fired missiles within Somalia several times in recent years at suspected operatives of Al Qaeda.

Navy Kills 3 Pirates, Rescues Ship Captain off Somalia's Coast - washingtonpost.com

Captain safe on U.S. ship after escape

MOGADISHU, Somalia, April 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. cargo ship captain kidnapped by pirates off the Somali coast was on board the USS Boxer Sunday after his escape from his captors, U.S. officials said.

Capt. Richard Phillips, 53, of Vermont, was uninjured after jumping from the lifeboat in which he had been held since Wednesday, when pirates overtook the ship he commanded, the Maersk Alabama. During Phillips' escape, U.S. Navy snipers shot and killed three of his captors.

Citing a defense official with knowledge of the matter, CNN reported Sunday that the fourth pirate was aboard the USS Bainbridge much of the day prior to Phillips' escape and rescue, telling negotiators he would not rejoin the other pirates.

The Navy marksmen fired on the kidnappers when one of the Somalis "had an AK-47 leveled at" Phillips' back, a U.S. official said.

"While working through the negotiations process tonight, the on-scene commander from the Bainbridge made the decision that the captain's life was in immediate danger, and the three pirates were killed," Navy Vice Adm. Bill Gortney told reporters. "The pirate who surrendered earlier today is being treated humanely; his counterparts who continued to fight paid with their lives."

Gortney said President Barack Obama had given standing orders for "decisive action" if Phillips was in "imminent danger."

Obama issued a statement, saying Phillips' safety "has been our principal concern, and I know this is a welcome relief to his family and his crew." Obama said he was "very proud of the efforts of the U.S. military and many other departments and agencies who worked tirelessly to secure Captain Phillips' safe recovery."

Talks to free Phillips stalled Saturday when representatives for the pirates refused American requests the pirates be arrested and handed to Somalia officials in Puntland with no ransom paid, The New York Times reported Sunday.

UPI NewsTrack TopNews - UPI.com

Good!

American captain rescued, pirates killed : worldnews

To Rescue Captain, U.S. Snipers Held Steady Amid Many Moving Parts

WASHINGTON — The hard part was not the distance, 75 feet, an easy range for an experienced sniper. Far more difficult were all the moving parts: the bobbing lifeboat, the rolling ship, hitting three targets simultaneously in darkness — and all without harming the hostage, Capt. Richard Phillips.

That was the consensus on Monday from former members of the Navy Seals who said they were impressed by the skills of three Seal snipers who aimed from the fantail of the destroyer Bainbridge and picked off three Somali pirates holding Captain Phillips in a small lifeboat that was being towed about 75 feet behind the destroyer.

“For all three of them to fire those shots at the same time and take those guys out, it was quite a feat,” said Don Shipley, a former member of the Seals who now runs a private Seal training school in Chesapeake, Va. “They showed the patience the sniper has, which is looking through the scope for hours to get that perfect shot.”

A Defense official said that the three snipers, who had authority from President Obama to shoot if they thought Captain Phillips’ life was in danger, fired when they saw a pirate aiming a rifle at the captain’s back. There was no command to fire at that given moment, the official said.

Several dozen members of the Seals had secretly boarded the Bainbridge on Saturday, having flown to the area, parachuted into the ocean and then climbed aboard inflatable boats they had dropped into the sea. The Navy would not say where they were based or if they were part of even more elite, clandestine military units that have historically been used for hostage rescues.

But a former member of the Seals said the events unfolded as a classic hostage rescue operation and that Seal snipers trained daily, and under all conditions, to maintain precision skills.

“Training from a moving platform is something they do all the time,” said the former member, Harry Humphries, who is now a security consultant and actor. “That’s a classic problem at sea.”

Jamey Cummings, another former member of the Seals who is now an executive headhunter, said most Seal platoons of 16 had at least two snipers who were essential to the tactics of the group. “It’s a common misperception that Seals like to sneak up on people and use knives on them,” he said. “If you have to do that, the mission was probably not planned that way.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/wo...ef=global-home


In another report: excerpt:

Navy snipers had multiple chances to shoot Somali pirates - Los Angeles Times

As Sunday dragged on, the seas grew rougher and Navy officers offered to tow the lifeboat behind the Bainbridge, telling the pirates that they would move them to calmer waters. Also, the pirates were likely experiencing a withdrawal from Khat, a narcotic leaf chewed by many Somali men, according to a senior military official. Aboard the hot and cramped lifeboat tensions escalated. Watching from the Bainbridge, the sniper team observed an apparent argument between Phillips and one of the pirates.

The SEAL team observed two of the pirates move away from Phillips and stick their heads out from a hatch. The third pirate raised his weapon at Phillips' back. Convinced that Phillips was about to be shot, the SEAL commander gave the order to fire.

I found the narcotic withdrawal interesting as well as the conflict with the preceding article as to a command.

I would think three simultaneous shots would have been the result of a fire command and of course the shots had to be simultaneous.

At some point we should probably split this thread so we do not dis-advantage the Big Picture but anyway had to add this to the pirate portion:

Henninger: Pirates Vs. the Rest of Us - WSJ.com

Haha, I think I'm going to have to agree with you there. I've been following this thread and it has certainly changed format very bizarely