Pirates Again

Here's the NY Times on the horrible tragedy that befell the four Christian missionary sailors:

It is not clear why the pirates killed the hostages – whether accidentally during a firefight or possibly out of revenge for the Somali pirates killed by American sharpshooters in a hostage situation in 2009.

Maritime analysts who monitor pirate activity said the killings were unusual and may have stemmed from a highly-combustible mix of around 20 pirates and four hostages squeezed together on a sailboat with limited food, water and space. In the past, when pirates have hijacked smaller vessels, they usually transfer the hostages to a much bigger boat, a so-called mother ship, which functions as a floating base in the middle of the ocean.

According to the Times Obama was "tracking the event closely" but apparently he lost track because so far only Hillary has issued a statement. That was different back in 2009. Here's the Times covering the last high profile pirate event:

Acting with President Obama’s authorization and in the belief that the hostage, Capt. Richard Phillips, was in imminent danger of being killed by captors armed with pistols and AK-47s, snipers on the fantail of the destroyer Bainbridge, which was towing the lifeboat on a 100-foot line, opened fire and picked off the three captors.

Again, the big question is why the pirates would break the first rule of hostage-taking. They mentioned a possible dispute--perhaps a new team of suicide pirates was sent in to kill the Americans to make a point and the others rebelled? Story says they never fired at the Seals other than the RPG. Seems to be some missing pieces at this point.

Whatever the case, these words were spoken by a pirate spokesman after the last event:

“Every country will be treated the way it treats us,” Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding a Greek ship anchored in the pirate den of Gaan, a central Somali town, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying in a telephone interview. “In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying.”

The problem is what to do about them. Carpet bombing won't solve the abject poverty and tribalism that is breeding these scumballs; then again we cannot allow pirates to indiscriminately kill Americans on the open seas no matter how good their excuses sound. America has been to Somalia once to provide food and all we got for it were dead soldiers dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. President Jefferson had a similar problem in his day and his solution lasted a few hundred years--what will Obama do? Smoke a cigarette? Will the media even bother to ask?

MORE 2/22/11

The "Pirates" are saying (that sounds ludicrous, as if the pirates actually have a public affairs officer) that the Navy shot first:

'Our colleagues called us this morning (saying) that they were being attacked by a U.S. warship,' said a pirate who identified himself as Muhammad.

'The U.S. warship shot in the head two of my comrades who were on the deck of the yacht by the time they alerted us,' he said. 'This is the time we ordered the other comrades inside the yacht to react - kill the four Americans because there was no other alternative - then our line got cut.'

And we should believe a pirate? Their alternative is to admit they messed up and assassinated four American Christians on a bible mission. Or maybe they did--can religious based hate crime be ruled out yet?

Remember Denver

Right before last year's Democratic National Convention a Canadian man of Somali descent was found dead in a Denver hotel with a secret:

If Saleman Abdirahman Dirie intended to do harm with the sodium cyanide found in his Denver hotel room, he could have done a lot of it.

Firefighters said Wednesday that Dirie, whose body was found Monday, had a pound of the substance in Room 408 at the Burnsley All Suite Hotel in Capitol Hill, and an expert said that if it were mixed with acid, that would be plenty enough to function as a weapon.

We never heard much more about that story, such as who or what killed him. Initial reports said it wasn't the cyanide. Hmm, maybe it was a pirate. Anyway, it's not every day that cyanide makes the news but such was the case this past week with the confession of captured terrorist (and leftist cause celebre) Saleh al-Marri:

Al-Marri also surfed the Internet to research cyanide gas, using software to cover his tracks, according to the document filed Thursday in federal court in Peoria, Ill. He marked the locations of dams, waterways and tunnels in the United States in an almanac. The government claims this reflects intelligence that al-Qaida was planning to use cyanide gas to attack those sites.

Surely just a coincidence. Nice to know that due to Bush correctly treating him as the dangerous terrorist the government had to plea bargain him down to probably no more than 10 years (including time served) to prevent his outright release due to an interpretation of the meaning of enemy combatant.

United States 1, Pirates 0

Such wonderful news for the Phillips family and for America. Details not complete but no matter what comes out, the man is a hero in the tradition of some of the greatest ship captains.

My earlier comments about Obama's handling of the situation now suggest a tasty serving of crow. Gulp. But I would like to remind folks of my closing line in the pirate post:

But I guess they've got to try it and see for themselves. Who knows, maybe Obama can pull it off.

Good on the Commander-In-Chief. And good on the American military. The piracy problem hasn't suddenly been solved though, and they still hold hundreds of hostages, so we'll have to see how this affects the problem at large. But as to US flagged ships, the pirates will definitely be thinking twice before taking aim again, which is what most of us wild-eyed wing nuts wanted all along.

The Pirate Standoff

The French just got one of their hostages killed in a daring raid. Whether this will actually smoke out a comment from Obama remains to be seen. Perhaps this is an opening for him to remind people that if the pirates just unclench their fists Obama will reach out his hand and drop 'em some cash.

Meanwhile, this gizmo was all the rage several years ago, representing one of my early posts. What other than high technology, the modern equivalent of the Pinkertons, or destroyer escorts will solve this problem? We simply cannot go in there blazing guns and get Captain Phillips killed. Obama's presumed position is correct--we just don't do that in America. We give them the money, get the captain back, then have a C130 gunship meet them onshore.

MORE 4/11/09

They strike again, this time an American Italian tugboat with 16 crew. Guess they're trying not to discriminate against old Europe.

Yet Obama remains mute on the subject, completely ignoring it in his weekly address (although it was a fine address overall). He did mention his speech in Turkey where he said America was not at war with Islam. So, here's the conspiracy theory of the day:

The media has told us the Somali pirates are not affiliated with al-Qaeda. We've also been told it's hard to get journalists into that lawless enclave. Yet recently in a conversation with al-Reuters this exchange occurred:

Reached by Reuters via satellite phone, the pirates on the lifeboat sounded desperate. "We are surrounded by warships and don't have time to talk," one said. "Please pray for us."

How Reuters would have such connections is a mystery unto itself, but this certainly suggests the pirates are faithful to some religion. And what religion might that be?

Well, it could be Christianity, but just speculating there's only one religion that provides verses that could possibly be twisted enough to justify their high seas pilferage--the same one used by the Barbary Pirates over 200 years ago:

It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every muslim who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise. He said, also, that the man who was the first to board a vessel had one slave over and above his share, and that when they sprang to the deck of an enemy's ship, every sailor held a dagger in each hand and a third in his mouth; which usually struck such terror into the foe that they cried out for quarter at once. [2] [3]

So if Obama were to roll in the Navy and Marines with guns ablazin' leaving pirate bodies all over the place he'd likely be accused of going to war with Islam, a place he doesn't want to be. There are other reasons, but that certainly might be one, which is not being discussed in polite company right now.

But I'm willing to be corrected on this theory by facts, assuming they come to the surface anytime soon.

THE TERROR ANGLE 4/11/09

The WaPo has a fairly interesting article that goes through all the complex reasons that Obama is taking a careful approach here, ending with this paragraph:

They are "walking slowly," the official said, "and for the players with continuity, the frustration continues to grow."

But many on the national security team insist that it is their caution and willingness to consider all aspects of the situation that differentiate them from the overly aggressive posture of the Bush administration that they say exacerbated the terrorist threat.

Nutshell--they are worried about the connections between the pirates and al-Shahab, just as the Bush admin was, but are pretending that any response to hostile action is in fact the cause of hostile reactions. That's somewhat reminiscent of the relatively non-confrontational Clinton approach, which only led to increasing escalation of the attacks as time passed culminating in 9/11 and suggests a lack of understanding of the problem. But I guess they've got to try it and see for themselves. Who knows, maybe Obama can pull it off.

Piracy on the High Seas

The recent spate of piracy in the Gulf of Aden/Red Sea area is obviously spiraling out of control, setting up an eventual showdown, by somebody. Somewhere.

The US media has largely yawned at these stories especially during the pre-election maelstrom. But with news slowing down they've now taken mild interest, especially after the British killed a few pirates last week coupled with the Saudi tanker captured this week, and others.

Oddly, the capture of an Iranian-owned ship several months ago that was said to have been carrying a mystery mineral cargo from China was almost completely ignored by the majors, despite reports that several pirates perished upon inspecting the booty. And very little has been said about it's release.

At any rate, decisive action is imperative lest the entire shipping lane be rendered too dangerous for passage. Problem is, "action" can be quite dangerous in and of itself due to that area's geographic sensitivity to world commerce, particularly oil transit. Perhaps the pirates grab of the tanker was a statement to that effect. If so, the ante has been upped. All the way.

So, what's to be done? Will small wars break out leading to an AQ resurgence in the anarchist colony formerly known as Somalia? Will certain well-known leaders suggest talks with the lead pirates without preconditions? If so, will our new Secretary of State get involved? Will carrots and sticks be used, or just sticks? Is it time to call Kofi Annan out of retirement or should Bush just ignore everyone and gather another coalition of the willing to start one final unilateralist pirate ass kicking contest?

And what of Bill Ayers and Reverend Wright? Will they soon pop up on for the defense of international piracy, suggesting it's a only a forced social justice movement responding to the evil white capitalists who run the world, with the solution found in spreading the wealth? Stay tuned.