http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5449208Oh my.
cali (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 06:24 PM
Original message
yes, I feel sorry for the pirates.
and it's fine if you want to poke fun at me or pillory me for that sentiment. They were kids. Odds are likely that they were just hired help in a place where gainful employment is pretty much nonexistent. No, I'm not saying that the military shouldn't have killed them to free Captain Phillips, it's just that it's a sorry thing. And the context is important. I still wish they'd just surrendered.
slackmaster (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 06:25 PM
Response to Original message
1. They are a pathetic bunch of people who live in a basket case of a country
I feel sorry for them too, but their situation does not excuse their crimes.
killbotfactory (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 06:32 PM
Response to Reply #1
5. Who is excusing anything?
Not once have I read from the so-called "apologists" that the Somalian pirates are justified in holding hostages for ransom.
I have read various explanations about what has led to this problem, and what contributes to it, but that's not the same as excusing it.
hlthe2b (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 06:45 PM
Response to Reply #1
16. Yes, they are pathetic. But, given the chance of birth, we could be likewise struggling to live in that "basket case of a country." One can be empathetic to the people at large, their situation, and even these misbegotten dead pirates and their families without EXCUSING them..
Juche (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 06:26 PM
Response to Original message
2. I'd like it if Somalia had decent jobs for them
If there were good jobs for them and enough law enforcement infrastructure to prevent them from being able or willing to becoming pirates. But there wasn't.
ThomCat (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 07:47 PM
Response to Reply #2
48. If 1st world nations weren't using their waters as dumping grounds for toxic waste, and raiding their fishing grounds and depleting them of stock, the people of Somolia wouldn't have felt the need to start pirating in their own waters.
For anyone paying attention to the larger picture, this is one more major example of the consequences of major nations pillaging small defenseless nations. They can't even form a proper navy to police their waters, so they have pirates instead.
Europe is responsible for this.
TheCowsCameHome (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 06:28 PM
Response to Original message
4. I'd guess if they surrendered they'd soon be dead meat when they arrived home.
I'll bet the warlords don't take kindly to their boys waving the white flag.
cali (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 06:35 PM
Response to Reply #4
9. they wouldn't have arrived home.
they'd have been tried either in Kenya or in the U.S.
TheCowsCameHome (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 06:44 PM
Response to Reply #9
13. Tried or not, when they eventually went home it'd be all over.
cali (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 06:47 PM
Response to Reply #13
19. they would never have been returned to Somalia. The one who is alive will not be sent back.
HysteryDiagnosis (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 07:08 PM
Response to Reply #7
32. The next captain may not be so lucky, that's the part that has me worried. There will be a next.
Uh-huh. It's a pretty little mess, 0bumble's got us into.
NutmegYankee (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 06:36 PM
Response to Original message
10. I have mixed emotions, but not pity for them.
I am overjoyed that we got our hostage back, and that we fought back against piracy, but was also sad that these young men chose to go out violently versus just surrendering. That said, I do not support them, just had hoped we'd be able to take them prisoner and possibly rehabilitate them.
The bonfire's pretty big, and burns roughly along those lines; about taking the pirates alive and "rehabilitating" them.
Then the primitive jibber-jiggering turns to the word "boy," and there's much disagreement about that term, as photographs posted by some anti-piractical primitives show the pirates to be, easily, in their mid-30s, and stocky, well-built.
cboy4 (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-13-09 09:25 PM
Response to Original message
66. If it had been a boat full of 14 year olds okay....but it sounds as though they acted very adult toward their hostage.
Blue-Jay (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-14-09 06:46 AM
Response to Original message
81. Lemme think about this....
Nope. I'm still arriving at "**** 'em."
