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Pirates Take 4 Americans Hostage - Administration Paralyzed With Indecision
The Obama Administration on Saturday said it was assessing possible options and responses, and otherwise not doing anything, after Somali pirates hijacked a yacht with four Americans on board in the Arabian sea off the coast of Somalia.
| More B+ diplomacy on the way! |
Pirates hijacked the yacht Quest on Friday, ironically two days after a Somali pirate was sentenced to 33 years in prison by a New York court for the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama, the first American flagged ship seized by pirates since the early 19th Century.
That case ended in a spectacular rescue by US Navy SEAL snipers, who killed three pirates holding Capt. Richard Phillips, acting on their own initiative with the permission of their ships Captain, while the administration continued to assess possible options and responses.
| The SEALS may have issues, but indecisiveness isn't one of them. |
Matt Goshko, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, which oversees Somalia, said preliminary reports indicate there are four U.S. citizens aboard the Quest.
"All relevant U.S. agencies are monitoring the situation, working to develop further information, assess options and possible responses," Goshko said.
| Okay Mr. Goshko, I understand that as embassy spokes-critter you can't tell us exactly what's going to happen next. You can't tell us exactly when the SEALs are going to whack these pirates and free the hostages. But by George you could show a little institutional spine and reassure us that this episode of piracy won't be tolerated. |
Pirates currently hold 30 ships and more than 660 hostages, not counting the attack against the Quest. Pirates have turned increasingly violent in their attacks, and naval officials say pirates have begun systematically torturing hostages and using them as human shields.
| If the pirates use an American as a shield, if they torture Americans, then they have to die. |
Earlier this week a Somali pirate announced that pirates would target Americans in retaliation for the sentencing. The pirate, who identified himself by the name Hassan, said Americans would suffer "regrettable consequences."
Pirates have recently tied hostages upside down and dragged them in the sea, locked them in freezers, beaten them and used plastic ties around their genitals, the commander of the European Union anti-piracy force, Maj. Gen. Buster Howes said this month.
| AoS at 1800 CT: tu3031's comment below about the following paragraph noted. I'm putting it in yellow. Moose, please clarify. |
| An unnamed administration spokesman who asked to not be quoted even anonymously, when criticized for the administration's inaction on the problem, is alleged to have said, "We're assessing possible options and responses as fast as we can. We certainly don't want to offend the pirates, or it might make them angry at us, and who knows what they might do then?" |
| You shouldn't care that they could be angry with us. The pirates should care that we could be angry with them. |
Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-02-19 |
