Seafarers official: Pirates hijack US tugboat

[Faygo Kid]

Source: Detroit News

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- The head of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program says Somali pirates have hijacked an American-owned tugboat with 16 crew in the Gulf of Aden.

Andrew Mwangura says maritime industry sources told him that the Italian-flagged boat was towing two barges when it was attacked.

Mwangura's report could not immediately be confirmed with U.S., Italian or other government officials.

Mwangura says it was unclear if the attack took place off the coast of Somalia or further north near Yemen. He says he did not know what was on the barges. . .

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PIRACY?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

---

This is definitely getting out of hand, if true.

[skooooo]

1. holy shit!

If GW was still in office, he'd probably nuke 'em.

[Faygo Kid]

3. If W was still in office, he would ask for a copy of "My Pet Goat" to read

Take his "mind" off his troubles.

[SpiralHawk]

5. Bush would go AWOL. As usual

He and his republicon cronies whimped out on every real deal emergency. The record is clear.

[ohio2007]

39. bigger holy shit !

how will Barack handle it ?

It's been a couple of days....any official word from the WH ?

he is on the clock

[Ian David]

2. Maybe we should stop dumping our nuclear waste there. n/t

[Dreamer Tatum]

6. Ah, proof by assertion nt

[Renew Deal]

7. I love how people believe that article 100%

with no real proof that it's true.

[robinlynne]

24. proof, maybe not. but written by one of the best journalists around, definitely!

[Mike Daniels]

59. Is this the same journalist that said the pirates of yesteryear were about equality?

If so, he doesn't know his ass from a hole in a ground.

No amount of spin can erase the fact that the pirates of the 1600 to 1700's were seafaring thugs and murderers who killed people who resisted the boarding of their ships, raped women passengers and who were more likely to sell or maroon slaves than set them free or treat them as equal.

If he researched the rest of his article as half-assed as he researched that part then it's only fit to line the bottom of a bird cage.

[ShareTheWoods]

8. Oh those poor misunderstood pirates

Maybe we should just pay any and all blackmail ransoms?

[christx30]

10. And I'm sure

that if the illegal dumping was true, and if it were stopped, they would automatically stop the piracy and give up the million dollar ransoms and go back to subsistance fishing.

[freedomnorth]

12. No, for that to happen, stopping overfishing by international corporations is mandatory. n/t.

[christx30]

19. Or they could just be assholes

that like to hijack ships. And they make a heck of a lot more for hijacking ships than they would fishing or farming.
And the country they live in is lawless, so there isn't any stopping them. But this kind of behavior needs to stop. They are getting more daring and violent. They know that there isn't much stopping them as the area is just too large for the Navy to be everywhere at the same time.

[mbperrin]

56. OK, so the bad western guys are both dumping toxic waste and then overfishing

the same waters? Think about that a moment.

If true, problem will automatically solve itself soon.

Unless it turns out that toxic waste isn't.

[Blue State Bandit]

13. I think it has more to do with over-fishing...

by large corporate fishing companies. This came out during the hijacking of the weapons freighter last fall. The "Pirates of Somalia" are fisherman who have been put out of business by big trawlers scooping away their only means of income.

http://peakenergy.blogspot.com/2008/10/somali-pirates-and-over-fishing.html">Big Gav over at Peak Energy wrote about this back in October.

[Dreamer Tatum]

25. Bullshit

This has to do with pirates wanting money, period, paragraph.

[Milspec]

27. I Agree

these are thugs that like to hijack, go home, screew, get high and hijack again.

[Arctic Dave]

33. "Ah, proof by assertion nt". Works both ways.

[ohio2007]

36. Then why don't they "troll" for the fishing ships that are raping in their territorial waters ?

If it looks like a fishing trawler, moves like a trawler

maybe they are fishing in your waters ?

:sarcasm:
No
that argument that it is about overfishing doesn't hold water if they allow them to fish and

go after we$tern $hipping indu$trie$ as punishment for depleting their living standards.

jmo
"target the trawlers" and maybe the UN will spring into action on the warlords behalf

I'm sure its way off.

[Trajan]

51. Excellent point ....

These creeps aren't patrolling their waters to interdict fishing boats involved in overfishing ... They seek high money targets to fill their own pockets, and nothing more ...

I cannot for the life of me understand those who would lump every possible perceived slight as a reason to justify criminal behavior ....

Somalia is a land of perfect gun rights (through anarchy) where those with the biggest guns become the most powerful war lords ..... This hasn't changed in decades ... The pirates are extensions of those same elemental clans that possess de facto power on the ground at the point of 50 cal machine guns mounted on the back of mini pickup trucks ...

Somalis who pursue dumpers and overfishing trawlers would have the world's sympathy ..... This is not the case now ...

[cali]

14. Who's "we". There are exactly zero claims that any U.S. ship has

ever done that. And zippo evidence as well. Try again.

[ohio2007]

37. I thought "we" dumped in Yucca. oui ? nt

[quakerboy]

57. And then fishing up all their fishes

Or so said the last person I saw saying this.

[NightWatcher]

4. I think now's the time we send in the troops

The Navy was formed to protect our shipping interests from pirates and I think we need to stop this before it gets out of hand. I realize that there is no oil there, but this appears more important than continued fighting in Afghanistan.

[dmosh42]

9. This is the ideal place to use drones....

Any small boats within a hundred miles could be hailed for an inspection. If they flee, send a drone to wipe them out. But, as usual we can't make decisions, so pay off!

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dmosh42]

44. Hey, dumb fuck, the pirates use small craft.....

Having spent some time with the Navy, this is the procedure. Try getting out from behind your bed and see what you need to do, if you want to stay a world power. And learn to spell, dumb fuck!

[FailureToCommunicate]

16. No oil, no nukes, why bother? Great (Bush like) foreign policy. Do you really this

chasing starving pirates is more important than hunting Bin Laden in Afghanistan? You probably did not know anyone killed on
9/11.

[Zynx]

26. Just because we are chasing Bin Laden in Afghanistan doesn't mean we can't

kill some pirates off the coast of Somalia.

[jwirr]

28. Nor does it mean we cannot patrol those waters to stop the high jacking

in the first place.

[Arctic Dave]

34. Why do "we" need to patrol the waters.

There are other countries over there that can do it. Or is this a way to justify a prolonged military presence over there?

[jwirr]

40. You are right - I think there is an equivalent to NATO in that area. It

would be better if it was under the auspices of the UN.

[Zynx]

45. EDIT: Wrong post.

[Zynx]

47. You are assuming that those countries both have the military capability to patrol

such a large stretch of water and are also willing to do so in a robust manner. I am not so sanguine about that prospect.

[christx30]

60. Probably

because no one over there wants to do it, and no one over there has the muscle. They are afraid of the pirates. We are able to slaughter them by the boatload. Tell me when South Africa or Ethiopia gets a navy that can rival the United States. Or when Somalia gets a stable government that can do it. I'll be waiting. Think I'll have time to read a book while I'm waiting?

[TorchTheWitch]

43. patroling has been going on for awhile

Obviously, it's not working. The area is simply far too vast. The USS Boxer is one of the multi-national ships with a crew of about 1000 that's been part of the ongoing patrol of the area.

The better and cheaper idea is for the international community to come together and decide that it's appropriate to start arming merchant ships (which apparently is what they're already coming to the realization of). This piracy has been so easy and so profitable because there is no armed resistance. If they knew that they'd likely be blasted out of the water whenever approaching a merchant ship this wouldn't be a wise business arrangement for them anymore.

[Zynx]

48. Now that it has happened, there must be an appropriate punishment for those responsible.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Zynx]

46. I'm an idiot? At least I wouldn't think "your" is you're".

There has been an appropriate remedy for piracy for years. I see no reason not to apply the historical remedy.

[Arctic Dave]

31. Piracy happens all over the world, why just there?

[Baclava]

11. Actually, an Italian flagged boat with an Italian crew

Wonder how the Italians will handle it.

[Critters2]

15. Maybe the same way the cheese eating surrender monkeys did.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/04/10/French-forces-kill-two-pirates/UPI-51441239392723/

[Baclava]

17. "France won't pay blackmail to pirates"

Aye - off with their heads

[FightingIrish]

21. Also owned by an Italian company, Micoperi Marine Contractors.

They have interviewed the Italian owner of the company. I wonder why the press was so quick to suggest that it was another American ship.

The Italian frigate Maestrale is in the area and steaming toward the captured vessel.

http://www.micoperi.com/index.php?id=8

[pitchforksandtorches]

18. The latest video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I5dVBezF9k

[GinaMaria]

20. My gut says there's something else going on here

The attack on the Italian boat took place as the American captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama was held on a lifeboat watched by two U.S. warships, hundreds of miles from land. The two hijackings did not take place near each other and it was unclear whether they were related.

but I can't figure out what it is.

[cali]

22. why? this has been a lucrative and relatively low risk enterprise for

those doing the pirating, for years. And pirates in that region are holding over 250 hostages.

[GinaMaria]

50. Too many questions.

Why would pirates call this much attention to what they are doing? Doesn't this invite retaliation? Isn't it more lucrative to continue with less visibility? Why would they engage countries with the ability to strike back with a lot of power? Are they backed by something we don't know about? Why would they go from engaging in something you label "as relatively low risk" to amping up the risk and bringing on the US Navy? These seem like odd choices for pirates looking to protect their lucrative enterprise. How do they benefit from this much attention, focus and scrutiny? What has changed that they seem to be getting bolder in their maneuvers? The money motive is understandable, but where's the profit in holding this captain since Wednesday in a tiny boat without food and with the US Navy breathing down their necks?

[ohio2007]

53. Are you suggesting the hostage crises was staged so a holiday weekend rescue could be planned ?

no,I didn't think so.

The 'pirates' have been refining their predatory tactics for years. I saw an article not long ago that AQ types were training to hunt "big game" in these same pirate infested waters ....I hope they learned a lesson.

The "pirates" of Somalia don't give a rats ass about dumped toxic waste or overfishing sine it appears they are not targeting and capturing those same waste handlers and third world fishing boats for all the worlds MSM to come to Somalia and see.
bottom line;
greed

jmo

I could be wrong...they may be complete idiots looking to harpoon whatever Mobey Dick that swims close enough to grapple.

[GinaMaria]

58. I'm not suggesting anything. I'm asking questions

I'm not at all sure how you got that from my list of questions.

I get the greed motive, but this escalation doesn't seem to align with a motive a greed. As a group they may be missing people who think of the big picture, or connect action and consequences. I wouldn't say idiots, but something seems amiss, no? They either lack foresight or want something else. If you were in it for the financial gain and the US Navy got involved, wouldn't you pretty much be 'game over. I'll live to steal another day'? The lack of self preservation is astounding to me. Is greed the only motive when they engage in suicidal behavior? Seems counter intuitive. Most greed heads aren't looking for an early death as that limits their ability to acquire more wealth. It's not adding up. My gut says there's more to the story. What that is, I don't know. Hopefully time will tell.

[Posteritatis]

23. "Getting" out of hand?

It's been out of hand for awhile. It doesn't automatically become Out Of Hand just because Americans are finally involved.

[RedCloud]

29. Arr! We fought the pirates about 200 years ago me hardies!

When Jefferson became president in 1801 he refused to accede to Tripoli's demands for an immediate payment of $225,000 and an annual payment of $25,000. The pasha of Tripoli then declared war on the United States. Although as secretary of state and vice president he had opposed developing an American navy capable of anything more than coastal defense, President Jefferson dispatched a squadron of naval vessels to the Mediterranean. As he declared in his first annual message to Congress: "To this state of general peace with which we have been blessed, one only exception exists. Tripoli, the least considerable of the Barbary States, had come forward with demands unfounded either in right or in compact, and had permitted itself to denounce war, on our failure to comply before a given day. The style of the demand admitted but one answer. I sent a small squadron of frigates into the Mediterranean. . . ."

The American show of force quickly awed Tunis and Algiers into breaking their alliance with Tripoli. The humiliating loss of the frigate Philadelphia and the capture of her captain and crew in Tripoli in 1803, criticism from his political opponents, and even opposition within his own cabinet did not deter Jefferson from his chosen course during four years of war. The aggressive action of Commodore Edward Preble (1803-4) forced Morocco out of the fight and his five bombardments of Tripoli restored some order to the Mediterranean. However, it was not until 1805, when an American fleet under Commodore John Rogers and a land force raised by an American naval agent to the Barbary powers, Captain William Eaton, threatened to capture Tripoli and install the brother of Tripoli's pasha on the throne, that a treaty brought an end to the hostilities. Negotiated by Tobias Lear, former secretary to President Washington and now consul general in Algiers, the treaty of 1805 still required the United States to pay a ransom of $60,000 for each of the sailors held by the dey of Algiers, and so it went without Senatorial consent until April 1806. Nevertheless, Jefferson was able to report in his sixth annual message to Congress in December 1806 that in addition to the successful completion of the Lewis and Clark expedition, "The states on the coast of Barbary seem generally disposed at present to respect our peace and friendship."

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/mtjprece.html

[ohio2007]

41. people don't learn from history, they prefer to knee jerk react when it repeats

"Not one penny in tribute"

But today,
no room for puppets in the world anymore unless they are an extremely brutal Mugabi type

[excess_3]

35. how many of these pirate-hostage situations have we got ...

going on right now?

[ohio2007]

38. well, that reminds me of the definition of insanity

but this time,
they have to sign a waiver to 'certify' they will stop "pirating" even when the money runs out.

[Fovea]

42. Bin Laden's strategy

was to get us so enmeshed we'd collapse like the Soviet Union.

So far it's been going pretty well for him.
We've engaged in quagmire, after will sucking quagmire.

[Trajan]

52. Pirates have been legitimate targets of law enforcement for centuries ...

Well before bin Laden had his first homicidal dream ...

Theft is theft .... It exists on it's own without regard to quagmires or traps ...

[gusandra]

49. Pirates 2, Nationals 0

Could this be Obama's Waco?

[Name removed]

54. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ohio2007]

55. ...you missed the hat trick this afternoon

I know, your post was before events unfolded but I couldn't resist the sport analogy




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXIfRBzbD0E&feature=related