Pirates
 

OK, let me see if I have this right... 4 "pirates" are floating in a little boat holding a US citizen hostage, demanding a ransom. The US has the dingy surrounded by Navy vessels. Where are the sharpshooters? We should be able to pick these guys off like fish in a barrel. I must be missing some vita info.

Bsliny
 

Thats what i thought until i saw a picture of the enclosed life boat there in

Enclosed.... well, that explains that.

When the captain escaped why was he recaptured? Where was the seal team that was (or should have been) under the life boat. Where were the snipers? Have our seal teams gone soft? Has the navy gone stupid? Were the forced to stand down? If so, why?

Has the greatest navy in the world been turned to mush by punks? What the hell is going on?

Yoda

It was after midnight when the guy jumped overboard. Seals and snipers are sleeping.

I would imagine that a sniper on a rolling ship is next to useless - especially in the dark.

Here in Fl. if someone breaks into our house we have the right (by law) to shoot them (self defense) BUT the owners of the commercial ships don't????? What's with that??!! Is there a law that restricts someone from protecting themselves on international waters? Does that mean now we all should be afraid to go on a cruise?!!!!!!

There's only a few hot spots for pirates.
 

Unless you are crusing around Somalia and some other regions in the world, this does not seem to be a major worry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate

60 Minutes last week also showed Merchant Marine academies training cadets in firearm and hand-to-hand fighting techniques.

I watched a program that said if the ship was bearing arms they had to port and be searched etc in several ports and it held up the ship. I also heard if they captured the pirates they had to be turned over to the nearest country (govt) which is Somalia who treats these pirates like Robin Hood. I think the situation is complicated by hostages (from the Phillipines) in a close by ship. It is a situation where you wish they could just go take our guy back somehow.

If you shoot them outside your house, drag them inside!

I had a friend who shot someone banging down his front door, but he shot and killed him thru the door and was charged with manslaughter.

.

MSM news outlets report Captain is safe aboard a Navy vessel...

GREAT NEWS!!!!:pepper2:

woo hoo!

Snipers 3 - Pirates 0

Yep... after 5 days, the POTUS finally gave the authorization to take action... final result, 3 out or the 4 bad guys - dead; US captain - safe!

Read the timeline.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa...l#cnnSTCOther2

The President authorized appropriate force on the 10th, 2 (two) days after the hostage taking.

OK... so who do you believe... MSNBC reported he gave permission twice, on the 3rd and then again on the 4th day ( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30182256/ ) So what.. it was the 5th day the plan was implemented and succeeded.