Agreed 100%. To this date, none of the pirate hostages have ever been harmed . . . It's all about the ransom money. $2 million dollars the last I heard. http://www.news-press.com/article/20090411/NEWS01/904110373/1075
I haven't been watching the news for the last couple days. What does Obama think about this situation?
Landis, yes that is true...but those insurance premiums have been skyrocketing lately. Pretty soon it will be cheaper just to pay ransoms when an incident happens. Or better yet the shipping companies could pay the pirates ahead of an incident...protection money...or a type of toll...ha!! LOL!! It won't be long before the pirates in southeast asia begin some high profile attacks. They must be envious of the Somalian pirates who for now are capturing all the attention and the loot. I guess we will just have to wait for a group of not so disciplined pirates to attack a ship and kill everyone on board, or maybe capture a cruise ship and rape and kill a bunch of women before shipping companies begin any large scale attempts to properly arm their crews. The failure of developed nations including the US and Britain to put an end to this lunacy sends a very bad message throughout the world. Piracy can become a major problem in places far away from the horn of Africa, very quickly...if it is seen as a way for very poor and destitute people to become rich quickly. Pirates know that the worlds navies cannot be everywhere and like all criminals they love defenseless unarmed victims.
Why would it matter for him to make public remarks? Do you wish to elevate Somalian pirates to the level of world leaders and give them some sort of credibility by having the President of the United States talk about them in public? Why would any one want to give them that kind of status? Why would that be constructive, especially when our VP, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and General David Petraeus have already made statements regarding the hostage situation? These are not "terrorists" trying to advance a particular political will. These are criminals seeking ransom.
I thought it was highly embarassing when British navy sailors surrendered to the Iranians a couple of years ago without firing a shot. Now the US navy is repelled by this raggedy-ass bunch of pirates in a lifeboat.
And given your military expertise in hostage situations, what do you suggest the U.S. Navy do right now that they aren't already doing . . . and do so without endangering the life of Captain Phillips?
You are dealing with a whole different animal with the Somalis. Maybe some A-10 Warthogs straffing their port. Didn't Clinton pull out of there?
A very reasonable assumption, but from what I've read hunger & thirst won't be an issue: <i>...most of the lifeboats are about 28 feet long and carry water and food for 34 people for 10 days. The lifeboats are covered and the elder Murphy suspects the pirates have closed the ports to avoid sniper fire. "I'll guarantee you that if they get all the ports closed, which they probably do, I'll tell you it's probably 100 degrees in there, no air flow, there's no toilet,"</i> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30125386