Plague of Somali pirates continues. 5 ships taken over the weekend.

[David Floyd]

Or just light up the entire liferaft with a .50 cal as soon as the captain is clear.

[SlowwHand]

Captain Hook, when reached by phone, said the pirates should have killed the hostage captain before dying. He's free with everyone's life, while he sits by the phone.

[SlowwHand]

dp

[notyoueither]

So did the Navy SEALS shoot from shore, then?

I'm assuming they did it at close quarters.

Hand to hand. Knife in teeth stuff. Fitting. Arrr!

[SlowwHand]

Snipers.

MOMBASA, Kenya – U.S. Navy snipers opened fire and killed three pirates holding an American captain at gunpoint, delivering the skipper unharmed and ending a five-day high-seas hostage drama on Easter Sunday.

Capt. Richard Phillips was in "imminent danger" of being killed before snipers shot the pirates in an operation authorized by President Barack Obama, Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said.

He said the pirates were armed with AK-47s and small-caliber pistols and were pointing the rifles at the captain when the commander of the nearby USS Bainbridge gave the order to open fire.

Gortney, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, said the White House had given "very clear guidance and authority" to take action if Phillips' life was in danger.

[notyoueither]

Patty lied to me!

[Asher]

Patty rarely knows what he's talking about. Even in military matters. All hot air.

[SlowwHand]

[The Mad Monk]

No he didn't. According to the press conference earlier today, at the time of the rescue, the lifeboat was 20-30 yards from and tethered to the destroyer.

Pirates in a barrel, anyone?

[Zkribbler]

Good job, Navy.

[Dinner]

[MOBIUS]

Awesome job! See how smoothly these things go when Obama is in charge.

[Theben]

Obama;s contribution was, "go ahead and kill 'em." He said it twice.

[Patroklos]

I understand Whoha is questioning credibility, but I expect there aren't many people besides somali's to report these things. If dumping were happening off the coast of norway then I suspect it would be norwegians making the reports...

The Gulf of Aden is one of the most trafficked sea lanes in the world, thousands of large merchants trasit it each month. There has been roughly a dozen warships from around the world patroling the coast for the better part of the last six years at least, the idea that some clandestine organization like COBRA or SPECTER are villainously dumping waste off Somolia and nobody can provide evidence or at least corroborated the story is ridiculous.

My original objection was in part b/c some were so quick to dismiss the possibility we (in "the West") were doing something we shouldn't in the area. I tend to disagree with Che as much as anybody here but I won't dismiss the point simply because he made it.

I think the quick dismissal has to do with nothing else but the lameness of the story. It sounds like a Captain Planet plot line.

Waiting for fatigue to set in on the bad guys?

They were trying to negotiate a deal. Apparently one of the four was onboard the destroyer negotiating a surrender when the SEAL snipers shot the others because it looked like they were about to kill the hostage. This pirate is now in custody.

Yeah, because the President has direct go/no-go command over rescue operations.

The only on site action the captain was allowed to pursue without permission from higher ups was in the case of imminent death to the hostage, which is why the snipers opened fire.

So did the Navy SEALS shoot from shore, then?

I said quite clearly that normal sailors performing sniper duty as a side assignment would never have the skills required for such a shot, and that it would be extremely difficult even for full time snipers. These SEALs are full time snipers, and they made a very difficult shot.

However, I highly doubt they were onboard from the beginning, it probably took a couple days to get them there. Though they could have been flown in while Bainbridge was heading to the area.

I don't see why they would be sitting more than a couple of hundred meters from the boat. And you don't need to be a sniper to blow some holes in an unpowered liferaft from that distance.

Because shooting things like .50 cals at a boat even 100 meters off is a bad idea with hostages around?

Patty lied to me!

How so?

Patty rarely knows what he's talking about. Even in military matters. All hot air.

I will add that I am a bit concerned about how this went down. Of course it is a judgment call on the snipers and I suppose they could have been about to execute him, but does that really make sense when they had voluntarily allowed themselves to be towed and had one of their number onboard the warship negotiating at the time?

I don't really give a damn about the pirates, but if we killed them while under a "flag or truce" then it is the wrong message to be sending.

[The Mad Monk]

Yeah. I think the "about to kill the hostage" angle is a fig leaf. They had the shot, so they took it. Remember, the Navy wasn't really in charge here, the FBI was, and shooting if an opening came up sounds like something they would do.