4 American hostages killed by pirates off Somalia

[RandomGuy]

I was going to do another joke thread about the yacht that got captured by pirates, but then this happened, and that is definitely not funny.


NAIROBI, Kenya – A U.S. Navy destroyer was shadowing a hijacked yacht with four Americans aboard when a pirate fired a rocket-propelled grenade, followed by bursts of gunfire. U.S. special forces scrambled onto the occupied vessel only to find the four Americans fatally wounded.

The yachting enthusiasts from California and Washington killed off the coast of East Africa on Tuesday were the first Americans slain by Somali pirates since a wave of attacks began six years ago. One of the American couples had been sailing around the world since 2004 handing out Bibles.

The deaths of the four travelers, all in their late 50s or 60s, appeared to underscore an increasingly brutal and aggressive shift by pirates in their treatment of hostages.

Killing hostages "has now become part of our rules," said a pirate who identified himself as Muse Abdi. He referred as a turning point to last week's sentencing of a pirate to 33 years in prison for the 2009 attack on the U.S. cargo vessel the Maersk Alabama — just two days before the hijacking.

"From now on, anyone who tries to rescue the hostages in our hands will only collect dead bodies," Abdi said. "It will never, ever happen that hostages are rescued and we are hauled to prison."

...

Fifteen pirates were taken into custody — 13 aboard the yacht as well as the two who had been negotiating aboard the Sterett, Fox said. In addition, two pirates were killed in the operation, including one who was knifed by a member of the U.S. force, Fox said.

...

But the conventional wisdom in the shipping industry had been that Somali pirates are businessmen looking for a multimillion-dollar ransom payday, not insurgents looking to terrorize people.

"We have heard threats against the lives of Americans before but it strikes me as being very, very unusual why they would kill hostages outright," said Graeme Gibbon-Brooks, the head of Dryad Maritime Intelligence, adding that the pirates must realize that killing Americans would invite a military response.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110222/ap_on_bi_ge/piracy

The solution for the captured pirates is pretty simple to me. A quick, straightforward and fair trial, followed by a no-brainer outcome.

:hang

[clambake]

why should they get a trial?

[clambake]

shouldn't they walk the plank?

[Brutalis]

Why take hostages? Put them back on their own boat, tie them down, blow them the fuck up.

Are destroyers not shooting on sight?? Just sink em all. What's the big deal?

[CubanSucks]

this sucks






I'm not gonna lie, it's a little crunk reading "one was knifed by a member of the U.S. force"


give the same treatment to the rest of these fucking bastards

[BlackSwordsMan]

Its idiotic to even go near there with a boat. Tough shit its not like these somali pirating just happened over night they should have known better.

[CubanSucks]

Its idiotic to even go near there with a boat. Tough shit its not like these somali pirating just happened over night they should have known better.

I don't think anyone questions they were naive (naive=stupid in this extreme)

[The Reckoning]

did you know?

"walking the plank" was an action first (recordingly) utilized by pirates during the reign of the roman triumvirate of caesar, pompey and crassus.

they made roman citizens "walk the plank" who they did not consider worthy (wealthy) enough to hold for ransom. pompey gained fame for building a large navy and stamping out pirating in the meditteranean.


WELL NOW YOU KNOW

[BlackSwordsMan]

thats some faggy information to know fuck pirates

[The Reckoning]

thats some faggy information to know fuck pirates


you want to faggy scat pirates? gross.

[Bender]

Killing hostages "has now become part of our rules," said a pirate who identified himself as Muse Abdi. He referred as a turning point to last week's sentencing of a pirate to 33 years in prison for the 2009 attack on the U.S. cargo vessel the Maersk Alabama — just two days before the hijacking.
so we take care of these pirates for 33 years, and let them be a drain on the country. Just kill 'em.

[Brutalis]

did you know?

"walking the plank" was an action first (recordingly) utilized by pirates during the reign of the roman triumvirate of caesar, pompey and crassus.

they made roman citizens "walk the plank" who they did not consider worthy (wealthy) enough to hold for ransom. pompey gained fame for building a large navy and stamping out pirating in the meditteranean.


WELL NOW YOU KNOW

Didn't people get fatally wounded via stabbing or gunshot before they had to walk the plank depending in what century it was?

[The Reckoning]

Didn't people get fatally wounded via stabbing or gunshot before they had to walk the plank depending in what century it was?

im pretty sure. to attract sharks most likely.

[ALVAREZ6]

One of the American couples had been sailing around the world since 2004 handing out Bibles

I somehow have slightly less sympathy towards said couple...

[CubanSucks]

I somehow have slightly less sympathy towards said couple...

My God, they have different opinions than you?!

[ALVAREZ6]

My God, they have different opinions than you?!
Well I'm certainly not traveling the world spreading my word to ignorant, poor people in a pathetic way, am I?

[CubanSucks]

Well I'm certainly not traveling the world spreading my word to ignorant, poor people in a pathetic way, am I?

:lmao so pathetic! This wasn't the crusades

[The Reckoning]

:lmao so pathetic! This wasn't the crusades


and here comes the butt pirate to spew his flaming takes all over the thread

[ALVAREZ6]

:lmao so pathetic! This wasn't the crusades
Just because the difference is in many years does not mean that by description they're not doing the same thing....but anyway that is beyond the point.

It's natural to feel less sympathy for people that they don't identify with and vice versa, probably reasonable to say most humans will feel more sympathy for people they identify with.
So yeah, when an ex-murderer who reforms his life, somehow gets out of the legal system, becomes a contributing member to society dies...I would feel less sympathy (compared to someone I knew absolutely nothing about). For lack of thinking of a better example.

Being myself, after hearing the couple was traveling around handing out bibles, so what, I am less sympathetic. Just as I would be more sympathetic if it were an Argentinean couple traveling around filming a documentary for something cool. Naturally, the fact that they were doing stupid shit (IMO) slightly (remember, I did say slightly) lowers the sympathy that I will feel for a very short time in this small story of which I will probably not think of for much more time during the remainder of my life. Like any other story as such. I would also be less sympathetic if the same thing happened to a couple that likes to ride around obnoxiously in their car blasting Miley Cyrus music (IMO a stupid thing to do). Why? Gee I don't know, I mean I get it's a pretty irrelevant thing in the grand scope of things...but it's still something I'll think of for a minute and then move on with my life.

[CubanSucks]

Just because the difference is in many years does not mean that by description they're not doing the same thing....but anyway that is beyond the point.

It's natural to feel less sympathy for people that they don't identify with and vice versa, probably reasonable to say most humans will feel more sympathy for people they identify with.
So yeah, when an ex-murderer who reforms his life, somehow gets out of the legal system, becomes a contributing member to society dies...I would feel less sympathy (compared to someone I knew absolutely nothing about). For lack of thinking of a better example.

Being myself, after hearing the couple was traveling around handing out bibles, so what, I am less sympathetic. Just as I would be more sympathetic if it were an Argentinean couple traveling around filming a documentary for something cool. Naturally, the fact that they were doing stupid shit (IMO) slightly (remember, I did say slightly) lowers the sympathy that I will feel for a very short time in this small story of which I will probably not think of for much more time during the remainder of my life. Like any other story as such. I would also be less sympathetic if the same thing happened to a couple that likes to ride around obnoxiously in their car blasting Miley Cyrus music (IMO a stupid thing to do). Why? Gee I don't know, I mean I get it's a pretty irrelevant thing in the grand scope of things...but it's still something I'll think of for a minute and then move on with my life.

Don't really have anything else to say. I agree it was stupid and futile soooo...I guess that's that?

[The Reckoning]

Don't really have anything else to say. I agree it was stupid and futile soooo...I guess that's that?


:depressed

howd your operation go?

[CubanSucks]

:depressed

howd your operation go?

oh you! I'm not gonna let you get to me cause words can't bring me down









































http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kbi0NGanzUM/TB8Nb4LjU6I/AAAAAAAAALM/yHJgtBcul9Q/s1600/fuck-you-guys.jpg

[benefactor]

Yeah...I'm not sure why they didn't just kill them. Bind them, line them up and piss on them, then stab each one in the leg and thrown them in the ocean. The sharks will show up soon enough.

[MiamiHeat]

um wait

Americans cry and bitch about waterboarding and torture to arab terrorists, we have to treat them humanely and give them great living conditions, but you guys have no problem advocating waving human rights trials and just executing these people.

[Kyle Orton]

Tbh I'm one of the biggest mookie crew haters on this site, but :lmao @ how much 4cc and his brother piss off this cubansucks dickhead.

[Kyle Orton]

oh you! I'm not gonna let you get to me cause words can't bring me down



:cry:cry I'm rubber you're glue :cry:cry, whatever you say bounces off me and stick onto you :cry:cry:cry

[RandomGuy]

um wait

Americans cry and bitch about waterboarding and torture to arab terrorists, we have to treat them humanely and give them great living conditions, but you guys have no problem advocating waving human rights trials and just executing these people.



The solution for the captured pirates is pretty simple to me. A quick, straightforward and fair trial, followed by a no-brainer outcome.

:hang

As I said in the OP, giving anybody a fair trial is essential.

In this case I would imagine the evidence is pretty overwhelming. If ever there was an "open and shut" case, this is it.

[lil'mo]

oh, no! rich sailing enthusiasts that hand out bibles! what will the world do without them?

[RandomGuy]

so we take care of these pirates for 33 years, and let them be a drain on the country. Just kill 'em.

I would note that young man was not involved in the cold-blooded murder of 4 captives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maersk_Alabama_hijacking

I can imagine that difference could mean an outcome just a *bit* different.

[RandomGuy]

oh, no! rich sailing enthusiasts that hand out bibles! what will the world do without them?

Deaths of Americans at hands of Somali pirates a troubling escalation in violence, experts say (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/02/killing-of-yachting-couple-marks-troubling-escalation-in-somali-pirate-crisis-experts-say.html)

The killing of four Americans in a yacht hijacked by Somali pirates puzzled some experts, who say it's rare for pirates to kill their hostages.

About 50,000 vessels pass through the area each year. Roughly 200 are attacked by pirates, said Roger Hawkes, director of corporate security for Houston-based Global Industries, a marine engineering and construction company. Hawkes notes that piracy in the area is a crude criminal enterprise.

“They are just out to make money,” he said. “The hostages have always been their lifeline and their money line too.”

As a result, Hawkes said, despite the scourge, he could not think of a single incident in which pirates were accused of directly killing a hostage, though several hostages have died over the years when they suffered heart attacks and could not reach a hospital. The vast majority of incidents do not end with a guns-blaring rescue or with harm to those being held, but with a quiet exchange of money for hostages.

“This is a complete game-changer if they actually did arbitrarily execute them,” Hawkes said.

Jean and Scott Adam, of Southern California, and Phyllis Macay and Robert Riggle, of Seattle, were killed on the Adams' yacht several days after it was hijacked off the coast of Oman.

Accounts of the killings varied Tuesday and could take some time to sort out.

The Adams were headed toward the Red Sea and then the Greek islands on Friday when, according to U.S. military officials, pirates boarded the Quest off the coast of Oman.

Almost immediately, U.S. naval vessels began shadowing the yacht, negotiating for the Americans' release as the vessels made their way south toward Somalia, said Lt. Col. Mike Lawhorn, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, part of an international coalition of anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean.


There were signs of dissent among the pirates. On Monday, two of them abandoned the yacht and came aboard the guided-missile destroyer Sterett.

Then, on Tuesday morning, the pirates fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Sterett, which missed, according to the U.S. military. As some pirates came on deck with hands raised, as if trying to surrender, a team of 15 Navy SEALs boarded the yacht amid small-arms fire. President Obama had authorized the use of force if the military determined that the hostages' lives were in imminent danger, the White House said.

"The intent always had been that this would be a negotiated process and not ever go into a point where we actually had gunfire," said Vice Adm. Mark Fox, commander of U.S. naval forces in the region.

When the U.S. forces boarded the yacht, they found two of the pirates already dead; military forces killed two others, one with a gun and one with a knife. All four hostages already had been shot. Some were still alive and given medical treatment, but all died, U.S. officials said. Their bodies were taken aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise and were expected to be taken to the United States.
The pirates offered a different account.

Liban Muse, a member of the pirate group involved in the incident, told The Times in a telephone interview from the Somali coast that the U.S. military fired first.

"We had no intention of killing the hostages until the Americans began shooting at us," Muse said. "Our preference is only to take ships and ransom money, not to kill. But governments are targeting and killing our people."

The case has raised questions about what private yachters can do to improve security.

The high cost of on-board security -- prices often start at $4,000 per day -- is all but prohibitive for most private boaters. Many of them band together in convoys or “rallies.” The Adams had joined a rally but split off three days before their capture. The convoys can make military protection simpler, but with pirates now operating in such a massive expanse of water, it can be hard to guarantee safety, experts said.

-- Scott Gold

[RandomGuy]

Why take hostages? Put them back on their own boat, tie them down, blow them the fuck up.

Are destroyers not shooting on sight?? Just sink em all. What's the big deal?

The problem is figuring out who to shoot at. You are talking about a section of the ocean that sees upwards of 50,000 ships per year, and a lot of fisherman.

[CubanSucks]

Tbh I'm one of the biggest mookie crew haters on this site, but :lmao @ how much 4cc and his brother piss off this cubansucks dickhead.

somebody can't recognize sarcasm


"oh you! I'm not gonna let you get to me cause words can't bring me down"


that TOTALLY sounds like I'm being serious I guess

[The Reckoning]

somebody can't recognize sarcasm


"oh you! I'm not gonna let you get to me cause words can't bring me down"


that TOTALLY sounds like I'm being serious I guess


you never answered my question

[lefty]

Ok, RIP, this is horrible



But WTF was that yacht doing in that area ??????

[BlackSwordsMan]

Comedy central is so silly they replayed the somali pirate episode last night.

[703 Spurz]

um wait

Americans cry and bitch about waterboarding and torture to arab terrorists, we have to treat them humanely and give them great living conditions, but you guys have no problem advocating waving human rights trials and just executing these people.

Anyone who kills someone deserves to die themselves. Period.

[Muse]

Go ahead and give the Darwin award to these people, I mean they knew the risk that was involved in sailing these waters and they ended up paying for it with their lives.

[Sisk]

I somehow have slightly less sympathy towards said couple...

Like I said, your M.O.


As everyone else has already said - kill them all. No trial.

[RandomGuy]

Like I said, your M.O.


As everyone else has already said - kill them all. No trial.

I disagree, though as I said earlier that I have no problem with hanging them.

We have a lot to lose by NOT giving them a trial, and nothing to lose if we do.

Simply executing people, no matter how deserving they might be, goes against some pretty fundamental principles that we all agree on, and makes us look like bloodthirsty jackasses, who are ready to go back on the values we say we believe in when it suits us.

The evidence here is pretty overwhelming. They were caught in the act, and none of them can really mount much of a defense. A guilty verdict is almost 100% certain by anybody's analysis.