Enough Dead Pirate Porn: The Press is Relishing the Killing of Three Teenage Pirates With Disturbing Zeal

When you have a hostage situation like this, and the hostage-takers are trying to get the hostage(s) to a more defensible location, from which they can more firmly issue demands and where they can more freely act... and get support, you don't permit them to make that move. From what I read, it sounds like the commanding officer simply ordered that the shots be taken... because they became available. Waiting could have ended up costing the life of the captain.

So... if 4 guys grab a woman to drag her off to rape her, should the police not take the shots if they get them? If a situation like this were to occur, wouldn't most of the progressives applaud the saving of the woman?

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Somalis still have not learned their lesson. More examples need to be made.

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in Africa. It makes them feel tough, especially when the military is doing it. Americans are feeling weak and whipped right now.

The media is selling the killing of these three kids as a great American victory to make the masses feel good about their country, their national identity, and themselves. It brings back some of America's waning confidence that "we rule."

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I know the readers of Alternet, or for that matter, most other sites like this, have no idea what these Navy SEALs did to get to the Navy destroyer on which they fired those three shots that took out the pirates holding the captain of that hijacked ship.

Navy SEAL training is probably the hardest test of human strength and will in all the U.S. military. In fact, about 99% "washout" before the end of their training, and the ones who apply for the SEALs are taken from the ranks of the "creme de la creme" of all the Navy has to offer.

But, getting back to the operation that called for the SEALs. It was reported that the SEALs were parachuted from high altitude and landed in the sea at night. But, this type of jump is not an ordinary jump. This type of jump probably started from 40 to 50 thousand feet in order the avoid detection from the pirates. These men were equipped with pressurized suites and oxygen masks because of the extremely cold temperature and lack of oxygen at that altitude. They then free fell, turning their bodies into a bullet shape, in order to offer the least amount of drag as they fell at 120 mph. They jumped into a pitch black night, and used an altimeter to gauge their decent. When they reached about 20 thousand feet, they deployed a drogue chute to slow their decent. At about 5 thousand feet they deployed their main chute and landed in the ocean, in total darkness. They carried with them their sniper rifle and other necessary equipment for the mission. They then were picked up by a launch and taken the the destroyer from which they positioned themselves the take the shot. The single shot that each SEAL took was taken at night, on a moving platform, at a bobbing and weaving target, all in the same split second. They wouldn't get a second chance. They had to be right the first time, or the hostage would lose his life in the next split second.

For anyone to find fault with the men who participated in this action just doesn't "know". The pain and suffering these men went through to get to be chosen for this mission can only be told by them. And, the skill sets required to achieve a surgical strike of this caliber puts them in the arena of "World Class". And, to these men I say, OUTSTANDING!!!

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Someone has held you captive for 4 days, is in desperate straights and probably running out of water and food, has an AK47 pointed at your head?

Not sure if the author thinks thats a party but I'd say they waited 3 days too long!

I say it again, thank you USN!

Now lets do it again!

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. . become a conservative-dominated website?

Or are the trolls swarming because this is the 17th year of their cycle?

Look at these posts. It's like Tool Time here. Ooh ooh ooh aah aah aah.

Enjoy it. There's no extra harm in that. You haven't had much to applaud except Obama's (America's) failures since Sarah went back to governing the glacier.

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3 teenagers with ak47's, 17-19 years old with the sense of immortality only a teenager can have (normal) with way too much testosterone (normal) and typical attention span (short, normal) which is expected at this age...

one sea captain hostage with age and wisdom on his side...

food and water running out according to american standards...

maybe time and waiting would have given the captain the upper hand, along with the psychologist they already had on board the destroyer to try to talk the kids out of a really bad idea... and no one would have been shot...

ok, so bring on the slamming and fury... actually, no one won in this round... sad...

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If they had gotten him to dry land, it's probable he would not have survived.

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acts of lethal violence by our own against others, howl and cry foul when others commit similar acts against us ... that's hypocrisy 4 U!

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Somalia was a battlefield of the Cold War. The U.S. propped up and supported unpopular dictators as long as U.S. interests were adhered to. After the Cold War Somalia was given up, much like Afghanistan was given up after the Soviets pulled out of the broken country.

And after a brutal Somali civil war (of which the U.S. was indirectly responsible) had totally broken down their society, piracy is what you get. Is there a surprise here? The bloodthirsty glee from the hostage issue comes from ignorant Americans who are pathetically ignorant of history and are blind supporters of flag wavers.

And folks wonder why the WTC was hit.

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Do you hear what I hear?

The sound of MOST American progressives applauding this action is what I hear.

The point is that at the end of the day, we're all still Americans and don't like seeing our people humiliated in such a manner. In many cases, many Americans put themselves in the position of the captain and crew and sympathize. At that point all political posturing falls away.

You can call it mindless jingoism all you want but at some elemental level of functioning, you have to understand the psychology.

While certainly race played a role in the popular reaction to this incident, I think that if the pirates were (name a Balkan nation here) hijacking ships in the Mediterranean, the reaction would be pretty much the same. You touch one of ours, you touch all of us.

The pirates won't quit as evidenced by this morning's news. Progressives need to prepare themselves with the eventual bombing of the pirates' safe ports in Somalia. Obama will have no choice.

And yes, the vast majority of the American people will applaud such a move, regardless of the collateral damage that will result.

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That's the story going around. if u believe that you must believe I have a nice span across a river in NYC for sale. Cheap. Cash only.

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there must be any number of ways to deal with Somali piracy in a civil manner, but macho morons get to call the shots, war boys with all their hi-tech toys, oo-rah, fist thumping machismo, wankers ...

and we think we're civilized ... yeah right!

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Whether or not the Seals need and deserve accolade for what they did, I do not know. What conservatives don't get and probably can't get is that it's still sad that three teenagers died. The conservatives don't care why.

It isn't that military and police forces aren't essential. It's that war and killing is always always sad.

I was shocked by my other wise caring sister and the way she vehemently applauded the success of the seals. It wasn't that she applauded them, it was how she did it...with verbal violence and no caring about why the situation happened. If you don't like what someone is doing, shoot them down. It doesn't matter why they were doing it. We don't need to rectify situations in order to stop them from happening again. We just need to destroy people who do it. So sad all the way around.

Reminds me of the lack of curiosity on the right about why 9/11 happened. "They hate our freedoms" was enough even though that made no sense whatsoever. It does make sense that mega corporations hate our freedoms.

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As a pretty far left person, long time subscriber to this site, i am embarrased by this article.
the author states an unbiased investigation should take place. It is obvious to me that he wouldn't qualify to be on it. Killing these poor little teenagers won't stop the hijackings (another 4 ships were taken after this) But a concerted effort of no quarter gun diplomacy might. When you give poor people a chance to strike at the powers that be, you will always have anarchy. I have no doubt this author believes that it is the rest of the world that is at fault here, and that these impoverished (maybe not so much anymore) Somali's have the moral high ground. Not only was this a truly superb operation, it was the right thing to do.
But this author intimates that the Capt of the Bainbridge is a liar and murderer. I only wish that he (the author) could spend 4 days in a cold boat with his hands bound and 4 crazy teenagers. I have a notion that he would be saying "shooot, for Gods sake shoot"!!!!

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I didn't know the pirates were teens. That makes a huge difference in terms of my feelings, but not in terms of my relief at the rescue. It had to be done.

It's just a damn shame that the tribal chiefs can force Somali kids into these impossible situations. It's not unlike Bush and Cheney sending American kids off to kill and be killed.

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Merka has no problem killing brown people remember how much howling was going on over Serbia and all that? Well it was white people in the firing line. These were just some nigger boys, no problemo, kill em, move on to the next bunch of brown skins we can kill for profit.

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Oh, yes!!
when someone is killed by a "teen", they are not as dead as when they are killed by an adult.

The weak minded, knee tremblers here have NO IDEA whatsoever what it is like to be in a situation like this, whether it was the "innocent teen babies" or an adult whose life was being threatened.

I can just hear the author as a rapist drags her little fiminazi ANTI-AMERICAN ass off and she says, "Oh, it's OK, you're just a teen."

There there are the weenie weakkneed ones who post here from the comfort and saftey of BEHIND THEIR KEYBOARDS actually JUDGING how people act and what they do in a REAL situation.

You people are simpering wimpering fools who know NOTHING about these realities.

Then there are the high and mighty who use the race card.
Well, I'd guess they are more HIGH than mighty as,
whatever race and/or ethnicity someone happens to be does NOT make them anymore dead than any other.

I would love to have a recording of these judgemental know-nothings while they are in a foxhole being shot at or while they are being dragged off into an alley to be raped by SOMEONE OF WHATEVER RACE, etc.

It smells here and, that which smells is the decomposition of legitimacy of many posters.

As for you HATERS OF AMERICA, I'd say you know very very few, if any, actual American everyday citizens.
You probably don't WANT to know any of us as, that would FORCE you to make a judgement about YOURSELF.

Well, this REAL AMERICAN is going to go to the gym for health reasons and, when I get home, I'm going to change into my work clothes and go do some evil things such as repair a washer for someone.
How violent.
After doing a couple of these things, I'll come home and get my lawn mower ready in case mother nature's mood improves.
BTW-I have a neighbor across the street who is a Hmong.
They don't have their own mower so, I sometimes let them use mine or I mow their lawn.
How absolutely FUCKING racist of me.
Oh , yeah.
Thins evening, I'll violently and angrily sit on the couch and watch my favorite team play.

WOW!!
What a violently hateful and ignorant human being I am.
And, ONLY because I am an American.

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It wasn't until an American was captured that piracy became a major news story in the US. If the boat had a crew of 20 how were the pirates able to seize the vessel and take the captain hostage? Why don't these crews have guns to repel such attacks? Pirates have been active in this area for approximately 2 years. Why weren't they prepared? I just read that another American vessel has been seized. Perhaps the navy should send a ship to patrol this area. Obviously the pirates have no intention of ceasing their activities.

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The teenage thug pirates are dead, dead, dead!!!! They got what was deserved. All my admiration for the Navy SEALS for taking out this scum who by their elimination is no sad loss. My only criticism on the press is that they should not refer to these terrorists as "Pirates." That's to romanticised a term. I'm sure we would have heard nothing from this author if the Americans had been killed.

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You'd think it happened in America, except they didn't kill anybody.

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What did you expect the Navy to do? Stand by and do nothing while the captain tried to swim through a volley of bullets? Or Shoot The Pirates before they got the chance to kill the captain? I doubt very much the age of the Poor Pirates was uppermost in their minds at that point. It's really easy to judge when you weren't there.

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Just stick to the facts when you discuss a news story.

Otherwise, jump into novel-writing with both feet.

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Amidst the cheerleading, the demonizing and the manufactured outrage, we need to be alert to the danger that this could be a buildup to a demand for US intervention to "give Somalia a government".

After more than a decade of anarchy, Somalia finally had a government emerging, the Islamic Union Courts, in 2006. Not what I would have wished for them, or apparently what George Bush and the CIA wished, but it was what the people of Somalia were creating. It was destroyed by foreign intervention, with heavy US support, but no foreign army could put the pieces back together again and now the Ethiopian army is withdrawing from a situation they can't control.

Somalia does need a government, but it is not the place of the US to impose one, or to dictate which Somali factions will or will not be allowed to form one. Piracy has to stop, but some provision has to be worked out for policing Somalia's now-lawless coastal waters by Somalis themselves - protecting the fishing grounds and preventing illegal dumping - in a way that is consistent with international law. (Any Somalis with the skills and will to do that are now to be found no doubt among the "pirates".)

But in no case should we countenance a move for US military intervention in Somalia, or let a propaganda campaign leading to that go unchallenged.

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I am thoroughly disgusted by some of these comments. These pirates have been in business for a long time and now that they threaten Americans everyone is pissed off and ready to kill. I have a bunch of questions about what happened. As should every single one of you that claims to be progressive. And because I have questions doesn't mean I think it was a bad decision to kill those KIDS...it just means that I have questions and want to know what they are NOT telling me. The mainstream media, as all of us know, never tells us the whole story. It's why most of read Alternet.
As the mother of a 19-year-old boy, I'd like to know the circumstances that drove these young boys to do what they did.

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Creepy? Here's what's creepy: someone who would complain about three thugs who tried to take over a ship. They are hijacking shipments of FOOD for needy people. I wish things were better in Somalia but let's remember the lessons of Iraq. We can't make over everyone's government. In the meantime having armed thugs hijacking and holding ships for ransom is unacceptable.

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You guys should be on the front lines of all the world's battles; you would kill them with rhetoric. This is one case where the word is mightier than the sword.

As I said to someone who was at least polite in response to what I had posted; I was just trying to give credit to a group of men who did an Outstanding job in their rescue of that ship captain. It could have gone very wrong, with the captain being killed. My intent was to explain what had to take place for these Navy SEALs to complete their mission, successfully. I wasn't there, on the scene, so all I had to work with was what was being said through the media. The exact details I don't have, so if I was off on some of them, I apologize. Again, I just wanted to express my amazement at their achievement. There aren't too many people in the world who could have pulled that off. So again, I say to those Navy SEALs, Outstanding!!!

P.S. If you have any further complaints, say them to the SEALs who did their duty in trying to save that captain's life. And, good luck.

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In my world, a teen with a loaded weapon is even more a greater hazard than a so called adult in the same position. There are those who will find a problem with most anything that happens. Kids kill... It is happening daily in all communities. We have 17 and 18 years olds in our military. In parts of Africa, 12 year olds are paid to kill.

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Something is still amiss with this story... first of all I hear a bunch of folks saying it was a boatload of food... but I've also heard the ship was chartered by the DOD, and you know they don't peddle food, sure as hell not relief food, and no real evidence that that boat had food on it has arisen other than hearsay. It was flying an American flag and registered in the U.S. and nobody registers a ship in the U.S. without a good reason; it's too damn expensive. And surely not Maersk, they'll register in their home country or Panama (the country of choice apparently due to better prices).
No, there's still a lot to this story that we aren't hearing... the 'facts' about it are shaky and ever-moving and they don't fit quite right.

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on a ship bobbing in the water, aiming at moving targets on another ship bobbing in the water, the SEALS took three shots and killed three pirates.

The SEALS are badass. Better'n Ninjas for taking out pirates.

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As my training as a U.S.M.C. sniper dictated if I had orders to "take the shot" that is precisely what I would have done given the urgency of the moment. No one, let me say again, "no one", exults over having to end someone's life. But these young men from Somalia have been taught, I hope and pray, that the United States of America is not the one to play around with. Negotiate yes, take hostages in international waters, absolutely not! We "must" reserve the right to retaliate given the urgency of the moment which, they, the hostage takers, dictated. Clearly this was and is a thorny situation. But it is a situation that cannot be worked out on the high seas through hostage taking. The situation in Somalia cries out for formal negotiations perhaps through the United Nations, and other countries.

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If someone had to, let it be the ones who instigated the situation. If not them it would have been an innocent mariner.

Something had to break in this area of the world. Its been going on for far too long.And its not over.

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Now a Somali leader says "We will get you back for the deaths of our people". And your USA media are pounding the war drums. And so the cycle spirals out of control. And who will be the losers? Not safe, comfy citizens of USA, that's for sure. Little brown children with sad chocolate eyes. Old men with salt-and-pepper beards. Women with thin, vulnerable arms and babies on their backs. Fathers desperate to keep their families safe. People. Pawns in your great games.
I am not in favour of piracy, but jeez, I could wish that USA citizens were less triumphal, thrilled by the deaths of these boys. This situation is sad, sad, sad, and there are no winners here.

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We bombed (for five days) and destroyed their country. Their country is in chaos. Now we are heroes who killed a couple "pirates"?

It's so Orwellian. Set up an enemy and then have a solution to the problem by killing and destroying for profit.

It's all distraction from our problems here in the US. It could also be used as a reason to invade and rob them (like Afghanitan and Iraq, etc.).

The Navy Seals could have done this a long time ago. Nope wait until it got out of hand and make it a victory. A victory we haven't seen in years in Iraq and Afghanistan (now Caspian Sea area).

Bush=Obama same war, globalist, and corporate rule presidents.

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The real story will never be told by this media and government in control today. It's like most "incidents" are set up for a reason.

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