Scallywags Scuttled
It’s nice to know that even in Obama’s America, it’s still Reagan’s merchant marine:
The American crew of a container ship hijacked off Somalia recaptured their vessel from pirates who had seized it early on Wednesday, in a dramatic encounter in the Indian Ocean.
At least one of the pirates was said to be in custody aboard the 17,000-tonne Maersk Alabama, a Pentagon official said.
An unidentified crew member said that the 20-member crew had managed to seize one pirate and then successfully negotiate their own release. He said the other three pirates were in a lifeboat, but the captain was still “hostage”.
Other sources said the remaining three were “in the water” after they had tried to flee the apparent fightback by the first Americans to be attacked by pirates in living memory.
Joe Murphy, a naval instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in the US, told CNN that his son, Capt Shane Murphy, the second in command of the Maersk Alabama, had told him they had been “able to take down at least one pirate”.
He claimed that the crew was unarmed, though it is not uncommon for such ships to carry weapons in self-defence.
The Maersk Alabama, which was carrying thousands of tons of food aid, some of it destined for Somalia’s drought-struck population, was travelling from Djibouti to Mombasa. The vessel operates under a US flag because it is sometimes used to carry supplies for the Pentagon.
Mr Murphy, who teaches cadets security, said that the vessel sent out a global distress signal and spent “three to five hours” in evasive manoeuvres before the pirates finally boarded early yesterday 400 miles north-east of Mogadishu.
I chose British media coverage of this story because I was reminded of this story from almost exactly two years ago:
The greatest shock from the Middle East this year hasn’t been terrorist ruthlessness or the latest Iranian tantrum. It’s that members of Britain’s Royal Marines wimped out in a matter of days and acquiesced in propaganda broadcasts for their captors.
Jingoism aside, I can’t imagine any squad of U.S. Marines behaving in such a shabby, cowardly fashion. Our Marines would have fought to begin with. Taken captive by force, they would’ve resisted collaboration. To the last man and woman.
You could put a U.S. Marine in a dungeon and knock out his teeth, but you wouldn’t knock out his pride in his country and the Corps. “Semper fi” means something.
And our Aussie allies would be just as tough.
I understand that the sailors on the aid scow were unarmed, but had received some training in combatting piracy.
A-plus.
PS: Uh-oh. Now the pirates have gone and done it.
Latest wire and cable TV reports say US warships and air assets are being sent to the scene of the Maersk Alabama hijacking by Somali pirates. Captain is reportedly being held hostage on a lifeboat near the vessel.
I would say that the pirates are in for a royal butt-whuppin’, but, again, we’re American, not British, so we’ll just drop the “royal”.
Tailgunner said,
April 8, 2009 @ 6:26 pm
How long will it be before Obama brings the crew up on war crimes charges for excessive force, unlawful detention and failure to read the pirates their rights…in Arabic?
I mean, this ‘resist’ stuff can’t be allowed to catch on, otherwise the pirates won’t LIKE us anymore.
The US Navy is en route to the area with strict orders from the Teleprompter-in-Chief to man the rails and BOW to the pirates.
Joe O'Neill said,
April 8, 2009 @ 11:58 pm
The last time anyone captured pirates in the region they just dropped them on the coast because ( Quote) ” International law is a bit vague regarding piracy “
Martino said,
April 9, 2009 @ 12:17 pm
I understand the ship was stocked with humanitarian aid for Somalis.
More proof that the Arab/African world is beyond hopeless (sorry Barry, your Hopenchange doesn’t translate to pirates). If natural selection was real, why do we have these problems in the 21st century?
Tito said,
April 10, 2009 @ 7:42 am
Doncha remember? The time of bravery and american arrogance is gone. We’re gonna do exactly like the british did in your story. There’s not gonna be no whoppin. Obama will bow to the pirates, beg for forgiveness, then give them some stimulus money. I guess there will be no more seal movies coming out of hollywood unless they are conciliators, polite negotiators, bowing and scraping to whoever has a demand. Semper fi? my ass…