posted
From the title, I thought maybe he'd turned cannibal.
But seriously, how wonderful - especially after what happened to the hostage in the French raid against the pirates last week.
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posted
I'm definitely glad he escaped and was rescued, though I'm sorry the pirates couldn't have been brought to justice alive.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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Apparently, commanders of the US Navy vessel made the decision to take out the pirates when they believed Captain Phillips life was in imminent danger:
quote:U.S. forces moved to rescue Phillips after seeing him in imminent danger on the lifeboat, Gortney said. A fourth pirate was negotiating Phillips' fate aboard the nearby USS Bainbridge.
"While working through the negotiations process tonight, the on-scene commander from the Bainbridge made the decision that the captain's life was in immediate danger, and the three pirates were killed," Gortney said. "The pirate who surrendered earlier today is being treated humanely; his counterparts who continued to fight paid with their lives."
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How did they take out the pirates? My understanding is that the Captain jumped into the water, at which point the pirates were killed. The article claims it was the work of Navy Seals. So, either they operated guns onboard the Bainbridge, or were very close to the pirate boat with another craft. Does anyone have details? That seems like the coolest part of the story.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Oct 2005
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According to the BBC article, those orders came from President Obama. I'm glad the Captain is safe and can go home.
I don't think I can justify my reservations at all: it's not better if the the captive gets killed in trying to spare the lives of the kidnappers. In no world is that reasonable.
What drives people surrounded by snipers, with nowhere to hide, to look like they're going to shoot their captive? It seems insanely suicidal. Then again, perhaps it was.
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quote:Snipers determined that one of the pirates had trained an AK-47 on the captain and seemed about to fire, Vice-Adm Gortney added.
But he was unable to confirm media reports that the pirates were threatening Capt Phillips because he was trying to escape and had jumped out of the boat.
The snipers fired on the pirates for several minutes. Capt Phillips was unhurt despite being just a few metres away from his captors during the shooting.
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SEAL Snipers from what I read. If they were in the water when they took the shots, that's pretty damned impressive. Heck, a distance shot from moving, rolling and bobbing craft is impressive too. But I guess that's what you expect from SEALs.
It's too bad the French didn't have the same luck with their rescue attempt. But I'm glad that the pirates are starting to take some losses rather than just being turned away.
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