It looks like it might be open season on pirates, finally.

[Highlander]

Remember, pirates are people too.

Aargh! Ye don't say, do ye?

Aargh!

 

[Alex2507]

US support for authoritarian regimes that oppress their own people doesn't exactly help your image either.

As soon as I fix my fofo I am so driving up there to suppress this notion that there is any difference between all of Canada and say Maine and N. Dakota. Our views are your views. Our problems are your problems and your land is our land ... except for PEI ... you can bloody well keep that.

... 99.9% of AH is wondering, "What the hell is PEI?"

 

[armaraas]

http://www.gov.pe.ca/ ?

I had to look it up...

 

[Davemcc]

Really? What ransom did they get? I didn't even hear that they demanded ransom, but I may have missed it.

 

[highfigh]

There have been other instances of kidnapping with the ransoms having sky rocketed over the last few years. I think 9.5 mil was the max paid out about a year ago.

I know they have collected hundreds of millions in ransom but I don't remember hearing/reading about any demands for that that this case. That's why I made that comment.

 

[highfigh]

Why all the pirate haters here?

These pirates are just poor people trying to make a living ... trying to overcome poverty and oppression caused by the Man. They come from a disadvantaged background. You should try to understand them and feel their pain.

I believe the haters here must fall into one (or more) of the following three categories:

1). Racist.
Since these pirates are all black, and you hate them, you must be a racist. You shouldn't hate someone because of the color of their skin.

2). Anti-Union.
Since all of these pirates belong to the IPPU (International Pillagers and Pirates Union) and you oppose them, you must be anti-union. Sure the IPPU increases the cost of doing business (ransom and murder), but isn't that a reasonable price to pay to support the union?

3). Evil Capitalist/Imperialist.
You are an oppressor of the people. You have caused all the evils known to man. It is because or You that these pirates even exist.


What is wrong with you people?

Remember, pirates are people too.

If you're going to post this kind of stuff, you might want to use some smilies, so nobody will think you're serious.

 

[highfigh]

You can amost guarantee it!? Wow, I had no idea your an insider in the pirate trade!

From what I've been reading, it's beoming more like organized crime, than anything else. As for what happened in this case, they had been negotiating with the surrounding US warships for hours, maybe days, when the killings occured. The pirates had even sent a couple of representatives to the USS Enterprise. So, I highly doubt that the killings had a religious motivation. More likely, the hostages attempted to escape, or there was an argument amongst the pirates. If there was a religious motivation, they would've killed them right away.

From what I also read, the countries they (hostages) were visiting weren't exactly hot beds of Islamic fundamentalism. They were just heading for the Suez canal, which is why they were anywhere near Somalia.

The US is looked at as "evil incarnate", because of propaganda. It's easier to blame somebody else for your problems than to accept responsibility yourself. That said, US support for authoritarian regimes that oppress their own people doesn't exactly help your image either. Just sayin'....

If there was a functional government in Somalia the piracy would quickly go away. That's because we would have somebody/something to point a finger at and attack, if they didn't stop the piracy. Right now, it's a game of whack-a-mole and there's nobody we can lean on to make it stop.

I know people, you know, [people. Uh, an ancestor was attacked by privateers in the 1600s? (actually happened)

As I posted, I hadn't read/heard about any negotiations re: these four, so it's news to me.

What you wrote about US support for authoritarian regimes is one of the things that really hampers our attempts to be taken seriously as a "good guy', to some. We do so much to help in times of crisis but in some ways, as you know, our hands are tied because we can't just step in and boot a country's leader in the azz and shove him out the door, as much as we would sometimes like to (Libya, Iran, Syria, The Sudan) or just walk in and start a new government where none presently exists (Somalia).

The way the pirates are operating is like some snipers- they look for a target of opportunity and strike.

 

[highfigh]

If I didn't read it or hear it, I wouldn't have known about it, would I?

 

[Davemcc]

If I didn't read it or hear it, I wouldn't have known about it, would I?

Just a little

 

[mike c]

If you're going to post this kind of stuff, you might want to use some smilies, so nobody will think you're serious.

yeah, my sarcasm meter just wasn't registering anything.

i do hope he wasn't serious though.

but here are some facts.

i hate thieves, pirates, robbers, any type of napper, etc. simply because they steal instead of work ... frak the reasons they need to that chit because i see handicapped people working their *** off.

basically, i hate them because i work my *** off and don't steal ... get in line.

death to people who wish to steal other's hard work.

 

[highfigh]

Just a little

THAT'S IT! You and me, outside, RIGHT NOW!

 

[mtrycrafts]

The fact that they sailed there makes me wonder how much they kept up on current events.

We'll probably never know the full story, their actual intent of their journey. Was it pleasure? Religious preaching?

 

[mtrycrafts]

'"We had plans to either take the hostages to the inland mountains or to move onto other hijacked ships because we knew that the U.S. Navy was serious about carrying out a rescue operation," Hassan said. "The hostages pleaded with us not to harm them or take them to dangerous places. They cried when we captured them ... and asked us to release them because they were too old and couldn't endure captivity."
...
Pirates reacted angrily to the sentencing and have since vowed that they will kill hostages before being captured during military raids and being sent to face trial.'

I say we oblige the cork soakers

Interesting update. This could get bloody in a hurry from the looks of things.

 

[Davemcc]

MSNBC reports that the pirate's leader spent $110,000 capturing this vessel.

"Pirate leader Farah, speaking from Bayla, a pirate haven in the northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland, vowed to avenge the deaths and capture of his comrades.

"I lost the money I invested and my comrades. No forgiveness for the Americans. Revenge. Our business will go on," he said, adding he had spent $110,000 so far in the hijacking, including on weapons and food and salaries."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41715530/ns/world_news-africa/

 

[GO-NAD!]

I know people, you know, [people. Uh, an ancestor was attacked by privateers in the 1600s? (actually happened)

As I posted, I hadn't read/heard about any negotiations re: these four, so it's news to me.

What you wrote about US support for authoritarian regimes is one of the things that really hampers our attempts to be taken seriously as a "good guy', to some. We do so much to help in times of crisis but in some ways, as you know, our hands are tied because we can't just step in and boot a country's leader in the azz and shove him out the door, as much as we would sometimes like to (Libya, Iran, Syria, The Sudan) or just walk in and start a new government where none presently exists (Somalia).

The way the pirates are operating is like some snipers- they look for a target of opportunity and strike.

I have great respect for the USA as a whole, as it pertains to being the "good guy". The Marshall Plan after WW2 was an altruistic effort of epic scale and put Europe back on it's feet in a relatively short period of time. Doesn't matter that a huge motivation was to check the expansion of Soviet influence. The results are what matters.

The problem is, you can do so much good around the world, but it's all forgotten when you also prop up really nasty regimes in the name of "better the devil I know..."

And you're right, you can't just march in and "fix" broken countries wherever they are. It'd be an exercise in futility. Not to mention that you'll bankrupt the country doing it.

Iraq has a long way to go in being sorted out and Afghanistan is a writeoff, as far as I'm concerned. Trying to establish a government and the rule of law in Somalia? Forget about it.

A lot of posts in this thread have suggestoins of just shooting them all, sink em', etc. Again, I say it ain't so simple. These pirates are often not detected until they have already hijacked a vessel. When they have hostages, it gets way more complicated than just "blowing them out of the water".

I don't have the answer. But, the "just kill 'em all" crowd don't either.

 

[GO-NAD!]

MSNBC reports that the pirate's leader spent $110,000 capturing this vessel.

"Pirate leader Farah, speaking from Bayla, a pirate haven in the northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland, vowed to avenge the deaths and capture of his comrades.

"I lost the money I invested and my comrades. No forgiveness for the Americans. Revenge. Our business will go on," he said, adding he had spent $110,000 so far in the hijacking, including on weapons and food and salaries."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41715530/ns/world_news-africa/

It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. He wants revenge because his criminal venture was thwarted. Unreal.

 

[highfigh]

I have great respect for the USA as a whole, as it pertains to being the "good guy". The Marshall Plan after WW2 was an altruistic effort of epic scale and put Europe back on it's feet in a relatively short period of time. Doesn't matter that a huge motivation was to check the expansion of Soviet influence. The results are what matters.

The problem is, you can do so much good around the world, but it's all forgotten when you also prop up really nasty regimes in the name of "better the devil I know..."

And you're right, you can't just march in and "fix" broken countries wherever they are. It'd be an exercise in futility. Not to mention that you'll bankrupt the country doing it.

Iraq has a long way to go in being sorted out and Afghanistan is a writeoff, as far as I'm concerned. Trying to establish a government and the rule of law in Somalia? Forget about it.

A lot of posts in this thread have suggestoins of just shooting them all, sink em', etc. Again, I say it ain't so simple. These pirates are often not detected until they have already hijacked a vessel. When they have hostages, it gets way more complicated than just "blowing them out of the water".

I don't have the answer. But, the "just kill 'em all" crowd don't either.

In some cases, it seems that the US is in the "no good deed goes unpunished" area.

I have seen various amounts of annual US aid given to other countries and one started by saying that the US is the most generous country and also the stingiest, partially because a lot of the aid ends up going to US contractors. I'd like to think this is largely because the US has some exceptionally well organized and experienced people who are able to get the job done much faster than the people in the impoverished countries. However, we have seen that huge amounts of money have been squandered and misappropriated by these same contractors.

As far as Iraq is concerned, I think bad things should happen to the d-bag who's so proud of lying about WMD to the intelligence community in his effort to get rid of Hussein. The cultures of Afghanistan and Pakistan won't allow us to just go in and find who we want.

 

[Rickster71]

Why all the pirate haters here?

These pirates are just poor people trying to make a living ... trying to overcome poverty and oppression caused by the Man. They come from a disadvantaged background. You should try to understand them and feel their pain.

I believe the haters here must fall into one (or more) of the following three categories:

1). Racist.
Since these pirates are all black, and you hate them, you must be a racist. You shouldn't hate someone because of the color of their skin.

2). Anti-Union.
Since all of these pirates belong to the IPPU (International Pillagers and Pirates Union) and you oppose them, you must be anti-union. Sure the IPPU increases the cost of doing business (ransom and murder), but isn't that a reasonable price to pay to support the union?

3). Evil Capitalist/Imperialist.
You are an oppressor of the people. You have caused all the evils known to man. It is because or You that these pirates even exist.


What is wrong with you people?

Remember, pirates are people too.

Me thinks you may be on to something.

Look how much everyone likes the Pirate Captain Jack Sparrow.
I'm just sayin.

 

[Nemo128]

Why were they sailing in that area in the first place. Jeeze!

I think a lot of people missed the point of this. For example, I live in Newark NJ. I have the right to walk around the South Ward at 2am if I want to. But I damn sure should expect to either be harrassed by the police or gunned down by a hoodlum for every item on my person if I do. You weigh the risk of what you do. That's a fact of the human world.

Send a few pirates to Davey Jones’s locker and they might start thinking twice about those potential payoffs vs sure death.

For people that would consider death an easy escape from the life they lead, there is no fear of death. To live just one day longer being able to eat is worth the risk to people with nothing.

AFAICT, it should be open season for pirate hunting.

It should have been open season many years ago.

I highly doubt that anyone distributing korans in Mississippi would ever be kidnapped and murdered for it.

You're right, the kidnapping would be too much effort. A bottle bomb through a glass window is a lot easier to accomplish and harder to be caught for.

These pirates are just poor people trying to make a living ... trying to overcome poverty and oppression caused by the Man. They come from a disadvantaged background. You should try to understand them and feel their pain.

You put it lightly. To call people living in Somalia "disadvantaged" is like calling Bill Gates a middle income small business owner.

This is a fact that no one will ever admit: you will NEVER know what lengths you will go to in order to survive, feed yourself and your family, and fend off others who are in the same situation UNTIL YOU'VE LIVED IT YOURSELF. Everyone is on a high horse until they don't even have a horse to sit on. Now go enjoy your home theaters and internet connections and paved roads and running water and available electricity and public transportation and unemployment insurance and globally-dominant-military might that nearly guarantees your safety while accusing the truly empoverished-beyond-comprehension of being lesser people. I've love to see how people in any developed nation would react if they lost everything they had, every scrap of cloth and every crumb of food and every sliver of soap.

And don't accuse me of being some bleeding heart or whatever buzzword is popular this month. I'm all for liberal use of bullets and explosions to rid those waters of pirates, but I'm also not advocating it for any reason other than fighting fire with fire. The same way I have no problem with police in my city gunning down drug dealers, I have no problem with pirates being on the wrong end of 16" guns. Munitions don't recognize skin color, religion, or nationality.

 

[Rickster71]

For people that would consider death an easy escape from the life they lead, there is no fear of death. To live just one day longer being able to eat is worth the risk to people with nothing.

Seems to be based in greed.
When they demand ransom it's for millions of dollars, not food.

This is a fact that no one will ever admit: you will NEVER know what lengths you will go to in order to survive, feed yourself and your family, and fend off others who are in the same situation UNTIL YOU'VE LIVED IT YOURSELF.

I agree; though it disgusts me to see parents / adults perpetuating that lifestyle by bringing babies into the world that they can't hope to feed or provide for.