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Maersk Ship Arrives at Mombasa [Update x2]

By SusanUnPC on April 11, 2009 at 6:55 PM in "Blackhawk Down", Canada, Pentagon, Persian Gulf, Piracy

(bumped up due to breaking news)

UPDATE #2: Pirates Holding Captain Fire at U.S. Vessel
With Navy “Personnel” On Board

UPDATE: BELOW is raw video via the A.P.’s YouTube channel. No video yet of the ship’s arrival, and of the crew’s Navy SEAL escorts. The FBI will be interviewing the crew, reports say.

Here’s another earlier video from CNN, a backgrounder. And CNN is airing a special on pirates — and how to deal with them — tonight at 8 p.m. ET. ALSO BELOW: How Canadians are successfully combating piracy:

RAW VIDEO, A.P.
Alabama Docks at Mombasa, Kenya

Hostage drama continues 1:25
CNN’s Stan Grant has the latest on the hostage situation
off the coast of Somalia in which an American
is being held.

Then, there’s how the Canadian handle the pirate problem? (Hint: It’s SMARTER!): The Canadians had the bright idea (!) of having military ships guard and escort their cargo ships delivering food to Africa. That link takes you to this video:

CTV Newsnet: Eric Margolis, foreign affairs expert, on the role of the Canadian ship

A Canadian ship will guard food deliveries in waters off Somalia because of the threat of piracy, which as a foreign affairs expert explains, is big business in the failed state.

  • Manu

    Has the teleprompter commented yet?

    • http://noquarter foxyladi14

      TOTUS has a mouthful of pizza and can’t comment right now..

    • Julia

      Please, can I eat my waffles?

  • steve

    Looks like it’ll be a long weekend for barry….

    “Pirates seize U.S.-owned, Italy-flagged tugboat
    …16 crew including 10 Italians.”
    http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLB80287

    • http://firefox AnnieCollier

      Time to order more pizza.

  • http://AmericasFavoriteTerrorist.com Gerard McNedich

    yeah another American ship taken hostage…

    when pirates feel so emboldened as to start attacking american ships it says a whole lot about america’s new standing in the world…

    thanks Obama!

    ===========

    —- and —-

    breaking news out of UK:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7995044.stm

    One of Gordon Brown’s senior officials has resigned after sending e-mails which reportedly discussed smearing senior Conservatives.

  • diane

    http://www.poorrichardsalmanac.biz
    HOPE IS COMING!
    “sunday’s comin!”
    HAPPY EASTER ONE AND ALL!

  • Elizabeth

    Canada is not alone. Two Japanese destroyers were likewise dispatched to the Gulf of Aden 3 weeks ago with the initial mission of protecting their own ships and Japanese nationals.

    The government later submitted a bill that would widen the scope of force that could be used against the pirates and allow them to protect foreign vessels and nationals as well as Japanese, although I’m not clear on the status of that legislation.

    Is this the strategy all countries outside of the US are taking ?

    • http://AmericasFavoriteTerrorist.com Gerard McNedich

      oh, you mean as in actually giving a fuck?

      as in actually doing something proactive?

      as in actually protecting their citizens?

      yes, it seems every country is already a few steps ahead of Obama…

    • Julie

      There are plenty of U.S. ships in the area protecting against pirates. They cannot protect every ship in the vast area and they certainly will not escort every non-U.S. ship, like the one that was trying to be hijacked.

      By the way there has never been a U.S. flagged ship captured by Somali pirates.

      • http://noquarter foxyladi14

        until now..
        BRING BACK THE COWBOY..

        • Docelder

          Is “cowboy” and “goldbrick” the only choices we have? If so… yes, I too will take the cowboy.

      • I’mFedUp

        Gee, Julie the troll, I hope you’re on one of the ships that gets pirated next. Maybe then you’ll wonder why the Fraud is too busy eating $500,000 pizza to help your sorry azz.

        • candymarl

          Yes, where is our vaunted leader that would bring world peace and end all violence the moment he stepped into the WH?

          I suspect there is much back channel negotiating going on. That’s fine. But as President, the ultimate responsibility for those American lives is Obama’s. It doesn’t matter if it’s an American flagship or not.

          This is a test of Obama’s leadership not Hillary’s. Hillary works for Obama.

          If things don’t go well I’m sure Hillary will get the blame.

          If things do go well Obama will get all of the credit. Sigh.

          • arran

            Nope, 0bama bought the presidency and all that happens on his watch. That’s how it works.

      • Ferd Berfle

        I’ve got it–you’re Long John Silver’s pet parrot. Here’s cracker. Now shut up.

      • http://deleted Buzz Latte

        La-la-la-la-la-la sang sweetly with fingers in their little obot ears.

        Obots can rationalize a nuclear attack away into a “oh well, all is well”.

        Is it the kool-aid or the lack of brains? Hard to tell.

        Give us your insight, Julie.

  • http://N/A breeze

    Somali pirates seize another boat

    BBC NEWS
    March 11, 2009

    Somali pirates have hijacked a tugboat in the Gulf of Aden with 16 crew members on board – 10 of them Italians, reports say.

    Maritime industry sources say the tug was towing two barges at the time of the attack at 0800 GMT. The crew are said to be unharmed.

    Meanwhile pirates holding a US captain hostage have warned that using force to rescue him could result in “disaster”.

    The pirates said they hoped to put Capt Richard Phillips on a larger vessel.

    US and other naval ships are making their way to the area.

    He is being held by four pirates in a lifeboat hundreds of kilometres off Somalia.

    Meanwhile unnamed US officials were quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was examining the hijacking.

    US Attorney General Eric Holder said last week there had not been a case of piracy against a US ship for hundreds of years.

    • Docelder

      not been a case of piracy against a US ship for hundreds of years.

      Nor had an American President bowed before a foreign power. There is a growing list of things we can no longer say. This is just the beginning I am afraid. The world was tired of the U.S. being the world cop? Be careful what you wish and want for… be very careful.

  • tek

    What? Obama can’t pick up the phone and call someone in Kenya?

    • http://AmericasFavoriteTerrorist.com Gerard McNedich

      well, his Genocide-Committing Cousin doesn’t want to be seen as close to Obama…

      its bad for his reputation…

      • Ferd Berfle

        LMAO

        I guess That One got thrown under the bus in this instance.

        • tminu

          Watch the Dept of Vital Statistics (Mombassa version) gets somehow blown away?

  • http://noquarter foxyladi14

    HAPPY EASTER ALL..
    LETS PRAY FOR THE CAPTAIN..

  • http://N/A breeze

    MOMBASA, Kenya – Cheering and guarded by Navy Seals, the crew of an American ship reached a Kenyan port Saturday evening without their captain, still held hostage by Somali pirates in a lifeboat hundreds of miles from shore.

    Capt. Richard Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was seized Wednesday when he thwarted the takeover of the 17,000-ton U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama, which was carrying food aid for hungry people in Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda.

    A U.S. military official said that early Saturday the pirates in the lifeboat believed to be armed with pistols and AK-47s fired a few shots at a small Navy vessel that had approached, possibly to conduct reconnaissance. No one was hurt and the Navy vessel turned away, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

    The U.S. sailors did not return fire, he said. The U.S. had not approached in a rescue attempt, he said.

    Crew members said that as the pirates boarded his cargo ship, Phillips had told his crew to lock themselves in a cabin and surrendered himself to safeguard his men.

    “He saved our lives!” second mate Ken Quinn, of Bradenton, Florida, declared from the ship as it docked in the resort and port city of Mombasa. “He’s a hero.”

    The crew later overpowered some of the pirates but the Somalis fled with Phillips to an enclosed lifeboat, the relatives said.

    Quinn told reporters the experience was “terrifying and exciting at the same time.”

    Not everybody on the ship was ecstatic, however. One man looked out at the assembled journalists who were shouting questions at him, and after a pause said: “You’re a bunch of … leeches.” Later, facing the crowd again from the ship, he added: “Don’t disrespect these men like that. They’ve got a man out on a lifeboat dying so we can live.”

    The Italian tugboat was hijacked in a new attack in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia’s north coast Saturday as it was pulling barges, said Shona Lowe, a spokeswoman at NATO’s Northwood maritime command center outside London.

    MORE ON

    WORLDWIDE HOSTAGES TAKEN BY PIRATES:

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090411/ap_on_re_af/piracy

  • http://N/A breeze

    Sorry, I forgot to clean up.

    I am rather upset for my mother country. Italy does not need any more grief at this time.

  • Doc99

    Web-only Special: The Obama Inaction Figure. For a limited time only.

    • http://noquarter foxyladi14

      first of it.s kind an IN..ACTION figure.probably be a sell out.at least the chia heads grow hair.

      • Lyn

        its a shame it doesn’t bow.

    • I’mFedUp

      LMAO that’s hilarious. Really captures the Stoner in Chief.

    • Docelder

      I was thinking it needed a “white flag” as an accessory… then realized that lifting it would take an action in itself.

      • I’mFedUp

        Well, I can’t wait until someone makes a “Surrender Monkey” action figure and gets called a “racist.” ROFLMAO.

        • mel

          Like the Obama Gia Pet?…lol

          • Docelder

            Or the sock monkeys. I am surprised we haven’t already heard something about the use of the term “surrender monkey”. It is perfectly fine to associate Palin with a “pig” a filthy animal to the Muslim world… but use the word “monkey” in any connotation… it is coming… I can sense “the card”.

      • Ferd Berfle

        Besides, his banner is bi-colored (naturally), consisting of a lily-white field with a broad yellow stripe down the center.

    • Ferd Berfle

      Where’s his Coat-of-Arms consisting of bent elbows with hands and fingers pointing in opposite directions with the motto, “Not My Fault-He Did It”?

  • http://helpmejoseph.typepad.com/puma_for_life/ Puma for Life

    Has he ordered any beer to have with his pizza? Which brewery did he fly it in from? Just wondering…

    • I’mFedUp

      I’m actually from St. Louis where the pizza chef is from. My family is sooooooooo appalled by this. I can’t believe the Jagoff in Chief would do this. When people are starving and can’t pay their rent, this degenerate scum is partying in the White House like it’s Orgy Fest 2009. Now, he has to have a chef fly in to make his pizzas. It just doesn’t GET any worse than this. WHERE is the OUTRAGE AMERICA?

      • Docelder

        I was in St. Louis in the early 80′s. I don’t recall Pi. I remember Hodaks though. But, I can’t imagine though they couldn’t just have the regular White House chef make pizza though. I guess you are a rock star when your private chef isn’t qualified enough to make your pizza.

        • I’mFedUp

          It’s disgraceful the way Mr. Spendy Bling is flashing around our cash. I can’t believe people aren’t already storming the White House after the past few weeks of the Fraud’s Anti-American destructive nonsense.