DUmpmonkiez defend the pirates.

[dutch508]

You knew it was going to happen...

KoKo  (1000+ posts)      Fri Apr-10-09 10:13 AM
Original message
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5427059

'Pirates' Strike a U.S. Ship Owned by Pentagon Contractor, But Is the Media Telling the Whole Story
 Edited on Fri Apr-10-09 10:13 AM by KoKo
'Pirates' Strike a U.S. Ship Owned by a Pentagon Contractor, But Is the Media Telling the Whole Story?
By Jeremy Scahill, Rebel Reports
Posted on April 8, 2009, Printed on April 10, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/135716 /

UPDATE: At least one nuclear-powered U.S. warship is reportedly on its way to the scene of the hijacking off the coast of Somalia of a vessel owned by a major Pentagon contractor. A U.S. official told the Associated Press the destroyer USS Bainbridge is en route while another official said six or seven ships are responding to the takeover of the “Maersk Alabama,” which is part of a fleet of ships owned by Maersk Ltd., a U.S. subsidiary of a Denmark firm, which does about a half-billion dollars in business with the U.S. government a year.

The Somali pirates who took control of the 17,000-ton "Maersk Alabama" cargo-ship in the early hours of Wednesday morning probably were unaware that the ship they were boarding belonged to a U.S. Department of Defense contractor with "top security clearance," which does a half-billion dollars in annual business with the Pentagon, primarily the Navy. The ship was being operated by an "all-American" crew -- there were 20 U.S. nationals on the ship. "Every indication is that this is the first time a U.S.-flagged ship has been successfully seized by pirates," said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesperson for for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. The last documented pirate attack of a U.S. vessel by African pirates was reported in 1804, off Libya, according to The Los Angeles Times.

The company, A.P. Moller-Maersk, is a Denmark-based company with a large U.S. subsidiary, Maersk Line, Ltd, that serves U.S. government agencies and contractors. The company, which is based in Norfolk, Virginia, runs the world's largest fleet of U.S.-flag vessels. The "Alabama" was about 300 miles off the coast of the Puntland region of northern Somalia when it was taken. The U.S. military says the Alabama was not operating on a DoD contract at the time and was said to be delivering food aid.

The closest U.S. warship to the "Alabama" at the time of the seizure was 300 miles away. The U.S. Navy did not say how or if it would respond, but seemed not to rule out intervention. "It's fair to say we are closely monitoring the situation, but we will not discuss nor speculate on current and future military operations," said Navy Cmdr. Jane Campbell.

The seizure of the ship seemed to have been short-lived. At the time of this writing, the Pentagon was reporting that the U.S. crew retook the ship and was holding one of the pirates in custody. At this point, it is unclear if the crew acted alone or had assistance from the military or another security force.

Over the past year, there has been a dramatic uptick in media coverage of the "pirates," particularly in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates reportedly took in upwards of $150 million in ransoms last year alone. In fact, at the moment the Alabama's seizure, pirates were already holding 14 other vessels with about 200 crew members, according to the International Maritime Bureau. There have been seven hijackings in the past month alone.

Often, the reporting on pirates centers around the gangsterism of the pirates and the seemingly huge ransoms they demand.

-snip-
But this type of coverage of the pirates is similar to the false narrative about "tribalism" being the cause of all of Africa's problems. Of course, there are straight-up gangsters and criminals engaged in these hijackings. Perhaps the pirates who hijacked the Alabama on Wednesday fall into that category. We do not yet know. But that is hardly the whole "pirate" story. Consider what one pirate told The New York Times after he and his men seized a Ukrainian freighter "loaded with tanks, artillery, grenade launchers and ammunition" last year. "We don't consider ourselves sea bandits," said Sugule Ali:. "We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard." Now, that "coast guard" analogy is a stretch, but his point is an important and widely omitted part of this story. Indeed the Times article was titled, "Somali Pirates Tell Their Side: They Want Only Money." Yet, The New York Times acknowledged, "the piracy industry started about 10 to 15 years ago… as a response to illegal fishing."

Take this fact: Over $300 million worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are "being stolen every year by illegal trawlers" off Somalia's coast, forcing the fishing industry there into a state of virtual non-existence.

But it isn't just the theft of seafood. Nuclear dumping has polluted the environment. "In 1991, the government of Somalia collapsed," wrote Johann Hari in The Independent. "Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since -- and the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country's food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas."

more at.....
http://www.alternet.org/audits/135716/%27pirates%27_str... /

Yup. America's fault.

malaise  (1000+ posts)      Fri Apr-10-09 10:16 AM
Response to Original message
1. Looks like donning my tin foil hat when I first heard
 about this was a rational response. 

[TheSarge]

DUmmies feeling sorry for and sympathizing with terrorists...go figure.

[USA4ME]

Consider what one pirate told The New York Times after he and his men seized a Ukrainian freighter "loaded with tanks, artillery, grenade launchers and ammunition" last year. "We don't consider ourselves sea bandits," said Sugule Ali:. "We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard."

These pirates certainly know how to play the heart-strings of the average idiot (read liberal) here in America in order to try and get away with stealing.  And, as you and I both can plainly see, they'll fall for it everytime.

.

[JohnnyReb]

After reading that, I feel so sorry for the pirates......NOT.....they're chum in my book, lets do some shark fishing.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Watching the news this morning, I saw Eric Holder sounding remarkably stupid on pirates.  It sounds like he has no idea what to do with them if the Navy is so good-hearted as to actually capture any now or later.

The traditional law of piracy was that any sovereign who captured them could tray (and usually execute) them, piracy was a 'Crime of universal jurisdiction' which meant the captor could try them whether they had ever attacked a ship of the captor's nationality or not.  It boggles my mind that this is the same ass-clown who thinks terrorists can be handled in the courts under laws yet to be written, when he can't figure out that all necessary legal foundations were laid over 300 years ago to deal with pirates and he doesn't know anything about them.

I also gravely doubt that this is the 'First attack on US sailors by pirates in 200 years,' I don't doubt for a minute that there are many dead Americans at the bottom of the Caribbean, the area around the Molucca Strait, and in Philippine waters, it's just that pirates in those places kill instead of ransoming, and attack small craft instead of container ships.

[delilahmused]

The one delicious irony to this whole situation is the ship was bringing relief aid to Obama's Kenyan homeland. Poor brother George STILL can't get any help from America.

Cindie

[HACKSAW]

I also gravely doubt that this is the 'First attack on US sailors by pirates in 200 years,' I don't doubt for a minute that there are many dead Americans at the bottom of the Caribbean, the area around the Molucca Strait, and in Philippine waters, it's just that pirates in those places kill instead of ransoming, and attack small craft instead of container ships.

Evidently they never heard of the SS Mayaguez.

[miskie]

So, the problem is overfishing, and the pirates respond -- not by grabbing a fishing trawler, but a ship with humanitarian cargo for cash. Do they not see the inconsistency here ?

Stupid stupid DUmmies.

[NHSparky]

Evidently they never heard of the SS Mayaguez.

Or the USS Pueblo.

[Wineslob]

Based on the weakness shown by the Oblahma admin....................does this surprise anyone??

[USA4ME]

Based on the weakness shown by the Oblahma admin....................does this surprise anyone??

If I'm China or Russia or DPRK or Iran or Cuba or any number of other countries and/or groups opposed to the USA, I gotta figure I've got a free pass on quite a few things over at least the next 4 years.

.

[Wineslob]

If I'm China or Russia or DPRK or Iran or Cuba or any number of other countries and/or groups opposed to the USA, I gotta figure I've got a free pass on quite a few things over at least the next 4 years.

.

Excatly, but what really scares me, judging by Clintoons response, is the utter lack of determination to GET THE JOB DONE...........namely.........get the pirates and kill their damn asses. No quarter.

[jukin]

Who'd have thunk that Biden was talking about the super power Somali when he spoke of the international community testing the naive one.

[thundley4]

What I dislike is the referring to the pirates as "criminals". They are Terrorists, plain and simple.

[DixieBelle]

What I dislike is the referring to the pirates as "criminals". They are Terrorists, plain and simple.

exactly. they are going down a dangerous path in calling them criminals.

[Crazy Horse]

exactly. they are going down a dangerous path in calling them criminals.

Oh you mean like the path to 9-11-01 when the clenis admin considered Osama and his ilk to be criminals??

[DixieBelle]

yep....that's the one. And sKerry's "global test"......

[diesel driver]

What I dislike is the referring to the pirates as "criminals". They are Terrorists, plain and simple.

If a real man were our president, they would be called "future potential targets"....

[BlueStateSaint]

If a real man were our president, they would be called "future potential targets"....

Somehow, I think that you just called Sarah Palin a "real man" by that definition.    She sure as all Hell wouldn't take any shit from them.