It’s bigger than Grenada…

In Galcaio, the state capital, pirates from Hobyo even have a store named after their village: it sends a lorry laden with food, drink, cigarettes and khat to them three times a week [Veronique de Viguerie – Daily Mail – October 2008]

BUT!, Is it a small enough war for us to win?

[O]n Sunday night, one of the crew members said Phillips had gone with the pirates as a good-faith gesture. But the pirates did not follow through on their promise to let him go, and his ordeal began.

On Saturday afternoon, two U.S. helicopters buzzed over the pirate stronghold of Harardhere on the Somali coast, residents said. One helicopter landed for about 10 minutes, bewildering locals and scattering herds of goats and cows.

“I have no idea what is happening,” said Laila Arale, a local farmer who sent her sons to sleep elsewhere Sunday night, fearing that the United States might attack Somalia from the air. “I’m scared.”

The Bainbridge had offered to tow the lifeboat to calmer waters as the seas grew rougher, and the pirates, seeming worn down, agreed, said military officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. One pirate with a hand injury effectively gave himself up.

Phillips was by then tied up, having been bound and occasionally beaten by pirates after he tried to escape by jumping off the boat.

The rescue occurred at 7:19 p.m. local time Sunday, the Navy said, and involved dozens of SEALs. With one of the pirates pointing an AK-47 straight at Phillips’s back, an on-scene commander gave the SEAL snipers authority to fire.

John Reinhart, president and chief executive of Maersk Line, the ship’s owner, spoke with Phillips by phone. Reinhart quoted Phillips as saying that “the real heroes are the Navy, the SEALs, those who have brought me home.”  [mmm three head shots in a “bobbing water” condition, at night, no less… hmm   –Mcat]

“It’s a great day for all of us,” Reinhart said at a news conference in Norfolk. “It is truly, truly a wonderful moment.”

What, other than elections, have we ”won” lately?

Today on The News Hour the reading of  the dead from Afghanistan and Iraq was 14.  And there was just a similar reading toward the end of last week.  Two today were from California alone.  Years later… is that “winning”?

So, is waging war on Somaliland (I imagine the war mongers in the WH have worse names for Somalia) something to make us tall and strong again?

Goldman Sachs had a bang up first quarter… will that, mixed with shelling and air bombing Somalia, do it?

Poking around today I saw that the cheese eating surrender monkeys sent in a ground force of French special ops a few months ago, to free the hostages taken from a pleasure yacht… following that, crews from that town returned to spending their nights out at sea, while on pirate work and hostage holding…

We must not be outdone.  Can you imagine if that short shrimp of a French Pretzel outdid our tall Amazons.

A Somali girl leads camels, tied head to tail and carrying all of her family’s household goods, as the family moves from the pirate stronghold of Haradhere to Adado in south-central Somalia on Friday last week. Somali pirates dominate the towns of Haradhere, Hobyo and El-Hur, forcing most people to flee in fear of military action against the pirates. [PHOTO: EPA – October 2008]

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Arcturus linked to Moon of Alabama in the last thread, this is their most recent post and thread on the incidents…

I fear that Obama’s ‘victory’ here will turn out to be like Bush’s ‘victory’ at Tora Bora. The starting point of a very costly  and bloody campaign in which will no one will win.

And from the thread [my bold]:

open questions re this setup

# how many hijackers were involved in the initial boarding? media reports indicate four hijackers involved in this incident – how unusual was it for only four hijackers to attempt to commandeer a vessel of this size? was it flying a u.s. flag at the time?

# media reports state that the hijackers sank their own skiffs after boarding. has this behavior occurred previously? what was the purpose? how did they sink them?

# are there any cases of somali pirates holding an individual, and not a ship, hostage? how did the hijackers end up in the ship’s lifeboat? did they commandeer it? were they enticed? was it through a process of negotiation?

# why were the negotiations w/ the somali elders unable to move forward? who controlled the negotiations for the u.s. side – the fbi or military?

# what was the purpose of the use of the commando boat? to draw fire to guage the hijackers weapon capacity? to draw fire to shape a narrative and justify escalation?

# how did the one hijacker end up on the uss bainbridge to negotiate w/ u.s. officials?

# how did the bainbridge end up towing the lifeboat prior to the assassinations?

# media reports state that the maersk alabama was orginally scheduled to arrive at the port in mombasa on april 16th. was that date correct? and, if so, what accounts for the gap from the date it left the port at djibouti?

# why did the maersk alabama make a stop in djibouti? did it load or unload any containers? if so, what was that cargo? were there military supplies for delivery to the security forces in mogadishu?

# where did the maersk alabama load the cargo of reported humanitarian supplies? when will it offload this reported cargo in mombasa?

Posted by: b real | Apr 13, 2009 11:00:47 AM | 3

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Adding this from the close of the last thread:

Madman in the Marketplace – 13 April 2009

this reenactment makes no fucking sense.

I saw a clip of a reporter walking through one of those model of lifeboats … one person would BARELY fit behind that window.

marisacat – 13 April 2009

agree… it is a small window and this was at night. Does the life boat have electrified chandeliers?