[Orangetxguy]

To day was a good day for the United States! I think perhaps President Obama has also shown that he is willing and able to stand behind America's long held stance, "We don't negotiate!"


US sea capt. freed from pirates in swift firefight

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY and LARA JAKES, Associated Press Writers Elizabeth A. Kennedy And Lara Jakes, Associated Press Writers – 12 mins ago
MOMBASA, Kenya – An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday in a swift firefight that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, U.S. officials said.
Capt. Richard Phillips' crew, who said they escaped after he offered himself to the pirates as a hostage, erupted in cheers abroad their ship docked in Mombasa, Kenya, waving an American flag and firing a flare in celebration.
The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet said Phillips was resting comfortably on a U.S. warship after receiving a medical exam.
The Navy said Phillips was freed at 7:19 p.m. local time. He was taken aboard the Norfolk, Virginia-based USS Bainbridge and then flown to the San Diego-based USS Boxer for the medial exam, 5th Fleet spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen said.
Christensen said Phillips was now "resting comfortably." The USS Boxer was in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia, Christensen said.
The U.S. did not say if Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was receiving medical care because he had been injured or if he was being treated for exposure after his ordeal.
U.S. officials said a pirate who had been involved in negotiations to free Phillips but who was not on the lifeboat during the rescue was in military custody. FBI spokesman John Miller said that would change as the situation became "more of a criminal issue than a military issue."
Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said prosecutors were looking at "evidence and other issues" to determine whether to bring a case in the United States.
Maersk Line Limited President and CEO John Reinhart said in a news release that the U.S. government informed the company around 1:30 p.m. EDT Sunday that Phillips had been rescued. Reinhart said the company called Phillips' wife, Andrea, to tell her the news.
The U.S. official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. A Pentagon spokesman had no immediate comment.
When Phillips' crew heard the news aboard their ship in the port of Mombasa, they placed an American flag over the rail of the top of the Maersk Alabama and whistled and pumped their fists in the air. Crew fired a bright red flare into the sky from the ship.
"We made it!" said crewman ATM Reza, pumping his fist in the air.
"He managed to be in a 120-degree oven for days, it's amazing," said another of about a dozen crew members who came out to talk to reporters. He said the crew found out the captain was released because one of the sailors had been talking to his wife on the phone.
Capt. Joseph Murphy, the father of second-in-command Shane Murphy, thanked Phillips for his bravery.
"Our prayers have been answered on this Easter Sunday. I have made it clear throughout this terrible ordeal that my son and our family will forever be indebted to Capt. Phillips for his bravery," Murphy said. "If not for his incredible personal sacrifice, this kidnapping and act of terror could have turned out much worse."
In the written statement, Murphy said both his family and Phillips' "can now celebrate a joyous Easter together."
Terry Aiken, 66, who lives across the street from the Phillips house, fought back tears as he reacted to the news.

"I'm very, very happy," Aiken said. "I can't be happier for him and his family."
A government official and others in Somalia with knowledge of the situation had reported hours earlier that negotiations for Phillips' release had broken down.
Talks to free him began Thursday with the captain of the USS Bainbridge talking to the pirates under instruction from FBI hostage negotiators on board the U.S. destroyer. The pirates had threatened to kill Phillips if attacked.
Three U.S. warships were within easy reach of the lifeboat on Saturday. The U.S. Navy had assumed the pirates would try to get their hostage to shore, where they can hide him on Somalia's lawless soil and be in a stronger position to negotiate a ransom.
Maersk Line said before news of the rescue broke that "the U.S. Navy had sight contact" of Phillips — apparently when the pirates opened the hatches.
Before Phillips was freed, a pirate who said he was associated with the gang that held Phillips, Ahmed Mohamed Nur, told The Associated Press that the pirates had reported that "helicopters continue to fly over their heads in the daylight and in the night they are under the focus of a spotlight from a warship."
He spoke by satellite phone from Harardhere, a port and pirate stronghold where a fisherman said helicopters flew over the town Sunday morning and a warship was looming on the horizon. The fisherman, Abdi Sheikh Muse, said that could be an indication the lifeboat may be near to shore.
The district commissioner of the central Mudug region said talks went on all day Saturday, with clan elders from his area talking by satellite telephone and through a translator with Americans, but collapsed late Saturday night.
"The negotiations between the elders and American officials have broken down. The reason is American officials wanted to arrest the pirates in Puntland and elders refused the arrest of the pirates," said the commissioner, Abdi Aziz Aw Yusuf. He said he organized initial contacts between the elders and the Americans.
Two other Somalis, one involved in the negotiations and another in contact with the pirates, also said the talks collapsed because of the U.S. insistence that the pirates be arrested and brought to justice.
Phillips' crew of 19 American sailors reached safe harbor in Kenya's northeast port of Mombasa on Saturday night under guard of U.S. Navy Seals, exhilarated by their freedom but mourning the absence of Phillips.
Crew members said their ordeal had begun with the Somali pirates hauling themselves up from a small boat bobbing on the surface of the Indian Ocean far below.
As the pirates shot in the air, Phillips told his crew to lock themselves in a cabin and surrendered himself to safeguard his men, crew members said.
Phillips was then held hostage in an enclosed lifeboat that was closely watched by U.S. warships and a helicopter in an increasingly tense standoff. On Friday, the French navy freed a sailboat seized off Somalia last week by other pirates, but one of the five hostages was killed.
Phillips jumped out of the lifeboat Friday and tried to swim for his freedom but was recaptured when a pirate fired an automatic weapon at or near him, according to U.S. Defense Department officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk about the unfolding operations.
Early Saturday, the pirates holding Phillips in the lifeboat fired a few shots at a small U.S. Navy vessel that had approached, a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The official said the U.S. sailors did not return fire, the Navy vessel turned away and no one was hurt. He said the vessel had not been attempting a rescue. The pirates are believed armed with pistols and AK-47 assault rifles.
"When I spoke to the crew, they won't consider it done when they board a plane and come home," Maersk President John Reinhart said from Norfolk, Virginia before news of Phillips' rescue. "They won't consider it done until the captain is back, nor will we."
In Phillips' hometown, the Rev. Charles Danielson of the St. Thomas Church said before the news broke that the congregation would continue to pray for Phillips and his family, who are members, and he would encourage "people to find hope in the triumph of good over evil."
Reinhart said he spoke with Phillips' wife, who is surrounded by family and two company employees who were sent to support her.
"She's a brave woman," Reinhart said. "And she has one favor to ask: 'Do what you have to do to bring Richard home safely.' That means don't make a mistake, folks. We have to be perfect in our execution."
___ Jakes reported from Washington. Associated Press writers who contributed to this report include Mohamed Olad Hassan and Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu, Somalia; Michelle Faul and Tom Maliti in Nairobi, Kenya; Matt Apuzzo in Washington and John Curran in Underhill, Vermont;

I think our men and women in uniform deserve a big......

:bigclap: :bigclap: :bigthumbsup: :bigthumbsup: :bigclap: :bigclap:


Yeah Yeah....I know the streaming liberals are ..... :bigangry:..... and probably ..... :bigcry: .......... But who cares!

GOOD JOB FOLKS!!

[Uturn2001]

How can you say

To day was a good day for the United States! I think perhaps President Obama has also shown that he is willing and able to stand behind America's long held stance, "We don't negotiate!"

Did you not read the article and/or actually keep up with the events for the last several days.

They were negotiating with the pirates. The current admin ordered in special FBI NEGOTIATORS.

If what you said was true Obama would have sent in the SEALS the moment it was learned a US flagged ship had been taken by pirates. This entire situation should have been over in less than 24 hours once it started.

[Orangetxguy]

Originally Posted by Uturn2001

How can you say



Did you not read the article and/or actually keep up with the events for the last several days.

They were negotiating with the pirates. The current admin ordered in special FBI NEGOTIATORS.

If what you said was true Obama would have sent in the SEALS the moment it was learned a US flagged ship had been taken by pirates. This entire situation should have been over in less than 24 hours once it started.

:hellno::hellno::hellno::hellno:

As a matter of fact...Yes, I did keep up on the situation. AND I did read the article!

Something that I realize, is that Somali and Kenya are a long distance for our forces to operate in.

I am certain the the USS Bainbridge did not have the forces on board to to deal with the situation. Seals are normally assigned to Carrier Battle groups, not to individual ships. The nearest Aircraft carrier is where?

If you have read all the stories that are being posted, you will notice that President Obam gave the order to use force. In order to use force, I am sure that more people were involved than just the USS Bainbridge.

If you read those stories, you will also notice that one of the individuals "On Shore" was taken into custody, by military forces. The United States does not have military people based in Somalia...or Kenya....but they obviously moved them in, to do the mission....and that mission was approved by the President.

3 dead pirates and 1 wounded pirate, one alive and fairly healthy hostage....plus one "arrested" individual from foreign soil..........and no "Military" casualties.

Today was a good day for the United States.


Of course....I may be a DOLT! I figure that when "delaying tactics" are needed, whom better to use, than the FBI? I dunno...I guess maybe I'm to big a DOLT to figure that out.

[Fredog]

some people will find fault no matter what happens, Obama did the right thing!! it had a good ending, so it's good enough for me . of course people who have never been in charge always know better.

[Mr. Ford95]

While I agree it should have been over quicker, Stan's right, they may have had to wait for the SEAL's to get there. Of course once they got there things had probably changed. The Capt. tried to escape so those pirates were really edgy, you can't attack when captors are on edge suddenly, you have to let them settle down. I also wouldn't look too hard into the negotiating deal. It was a ploy to get them to release him, we weren't going to give them anything in return but we had to make them believe they would get something. As soon as he was freed we would have gone after them if the "negotiating" worked. When they put those guns to the Capt's head we made our move just like the WH said to do if things went south. They said to use whatever force was needed and the Navy did.

[repete]

lots of arm chair quaterbacks on this one, I say it's the end resault that matters. GOOD JOB!!

[mike3fan]

Originally Posted by Uturn2001

If what you said was true Obama would have sent in the SEALS the moment it was learned a US flagged ship had been taken by pirates. This entire situation should have been over in less than 24 hours once it started.

Apparently they were just waiting for the right moment.

The Defense Department twice asked President Barack Obama for permission to use military force to rescue Phillips, most recently late Friday evening, U.S. officials said. On Saturday morning, Obama signed off on the Pentagon's request, as he had a day earlier, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

[Snowman7]

Originally Posted by Fredog

some people will find fault no matter what happens, Obama did the right thing!! it had a good ending, so it's good enough for me . of course people who have never been in charge always know better.

Agreed. I say nice job to all involved. Guys like Captain Phillips make me proud to be an American. This is a great story and a great ending.

[ronjon619]

Capt. Phillips is a STUD.

[Snowman7]

Originally Posted by ronjon619

Capt. Phillips is a STUD.

Thats right! Man love for Captain Phillips hahaha!:clap:
:bow::bow::bow::bow::bow: