Gunmen from Hizbul Islam head for Somalia’s southern port of Kismayu October 1, 2009. Rival Islamist rebels battled in southern Somalia’s Kismayu port on Thursday, killing at least 20 people and the fighting threatened to spread to other parts of the failed Horn of Africa state.
REUTERS/Feisal Omar

NYTimes:

United Nations officials say Somalia has not been in such perilous shape since the central government collapsed in 1991 and is in desperate need of help.

But right now that help is being delayed, they say, at least partly because the American government is worried that its aid is going to feed terrorists.

American officials are concerned that United Nations contractors may be funneling American donations to the Shabab, a Somali terrorist group with growing ties to Al Qaeda.

~~~

American officials are increasingly concerned that the Shabab and their allies are working with Al Qaeda to turn Somalia into a factory for global jihad.

Some Somali-Americans have already joined the Shabab as suicide bombers, raising the prospects that one day men like these could exploit their American citizenship and return to the United States to wreak havoc.

The Shabab have been waging a vicious guerrilla war against Somalia’s transitional government, which has grass-roots support and foreign backing, but is hobbled by a weak and untrustworthy military.

While the transitional government struggles to establish itself, United Nations officials say they have no choice but to work with local Shabab commanders to distribute critically needed aid, like 110-pound bags of sorghum, tins of vegetable oil, plastic sheeting and medical supplies, in Shabab-controlled areas.

But are United Nations contractors actually helping the Shabab fight their war? Preliminary information from a continuing United Nations investigation indicates that some of the biggest Somali contractors hired by the United Nations World Food Program may be sharing their proceeds with the Shabab or their allies, or, at a minimum, turning a blind eye when militants steal sacks of American-donated grain and sell them on the open market to get money for guns.

“We know W.F.P. contractors have been diverting food to the Shabab,” said one official close to the investigation, who was not allowed to speak publicly. “And we’re talking about millions of dollars of food.”

World Food Program officials have been tight-lipped about the allegations. Peter Smerdon, a spokesman for the agency in Kenya, said the World Food Program was conducting its own separate investigation and “taking immediate actions to increase security at W.F.P. warehouses and other distribution points.”

Because Somalia is so dangerous, especially for foreigners, it is extremely difficult for international aid agencies to closely monitor operations inside the country, especially since most of the agencies are based hundreds of miles away in Kenya.

Somali businessmen, with thin résumés and fat contracts, are given enormous leeway in how they carry out their multimillion-dollar aid duties. On top of that, there is no national banking system, so the United Nations is left with an informal money transfer network to move hundreds of millions of dollars of cash.

Last Wednesday’s South Park meets Somali pirates in “Fatbeard” (Quick! While it lasts).

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

Thus far, all the talking heads have been assuring the world that the pirates pure motivation was economic, and not ideology. I, however, has said over and over that fisherman don’t buy their weaponry and maritime equipment from the local bait shop. They would turn to local contacts, most especially for illegal arms. And who is better equipped with those contacts than their backyard jihadists, al Shabab?

Back on April 2nd, J. Peter Pham, writing for the World Defense Review, agreed with my belief of heightened risks in the wake of the rescue, pointing out that not only were the Somali sea thugs not deterred by the US military, the possibility of a terrorist attack in the name of piracy has been growing.

Second, there is the risk of a terrorist incident targeting the naval vessels. Bruno Schiemsky, who formerly served as on the United Nations committee monitoring the arms embargo on Somalia, wrote earlier this year in an article on Somali piracy for Jane’s Intelligence Review:

Although this criminal activity is motivated primarily by the desire for financial gain, encouraged by a weak state and high poverty levels, there are indications that the pirates based around Kismayo and Harardheere (not Puntland) are strengthening links with Islamist insurgent group the Shabaab. As part of this relationship, the pirates are becoming more closely involved in arms trafficking through the region, increasing their potential sources of revenue…Although sources indicate that the Shabaab as yet plays no active role in piracy attacks, despite its links to pirate groups, this may change as the Shabaab develops its maritime component.

There are already indications that, as Schiemsky suggests, al-Shabaab is in fact developing a primitive maritime capacity, mainly to ensure the security of its smuggling operations bringing foreign jihadists into and out of Somalia as well as moving weapons and other materiel into the country. It should be recalled that the suicide bomber who killed four South Korean tourists and their local guide near the ancient fortress city of Shibam, Yemen, on March 15, Abdel Rahman Mehdi al-Aajbari, had gone to Somalia for training and returned to his native country to carry out the deadly attack. Given that the leadership of al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-linked group that was formally designated a “foreign terrorist organization” last year by the U.S. Department of State, clearly puts such ideologically-motivated objectives as driving non-Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula above its more direct political goal of toppling the flailing “Transitional Federal Government” (TFG) of Somalia – to say nothing of the pecuniary interests which drive the pirates – would it be too far-fetched to imagine the temptation which the assembling fleet must present to them?

He then references this all was prior to Osama Bin Laden’s latest tape to bolster the jihad movement in Somalia.

Just two days ago, Dina Temple-Raston, writing for the NPR, also noted experts were worried about AQ joining overtly into the lucrative piracy business.

Al-Qaida is nothing if not opportunistic. Its leadership watches the news carefully. It tracks how stories play. It adapts its tactics. Now, counterterrorism experts are worried that al-Qaida and its affiliates will be inspired by Somali pirates.

“Potentially, piracy is a platform for their activities,” says Robert D. Kaplan, a fellow at the nonpartisan Center for a New American Security. “There are already al-Qaida affiliates in Somalia. If they can make contact with pirate federations, then al-Qaida can use piracy as a form of terrorism.”

In recent months, al-Qaida has strengthened its ties with a Somali terrorist group called al-Shabab. And experts worry that group, through clan ties or family connections, could give al-Qaida an opening to the pirates.

“We should assume that al-Qaida will try to morph in whatever direction possibilities emerge,” says Kaplan. “And, remember, al-Qaida lives off weakly governed states in an Islamic cultural setting, and that perfectly describes Somalia.”

The article then turns to the more predictable rhetoric about the distance AQ has kept between their cause and the pirates…. and in fact makes special note about their silence during the US standoff.

The al-Qaida leadership was noticeably quiet during the latest standoff between the pirates and the U.S. Navy. There were no supportive video messages, no cry about the U.S. infidels attacking fellow Muslims. Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, says that is because al-Qaida is trying to lay low.

“In general these days, al-Qaida is remaining very quiet,” he says. “And I see it as part of an overall pattern of their working with local affiliates and not being front and center as they once were.”

Hoffman also believes that the pirates are a welcome diversion… possibly keeping Obama’s eye fixed soundly on Afghanistan/Pakistan. Kaplan, however, notes that the financial benefits of piracy would be enticing for funding jihad efforts.

It didn’t take long to prove those who attribute piracy only to economic means wrong. AQ, ever the opportunists, today have decided to publicly call on the Somali pirates as their own allies.

From Khaled Wassef at CBS News:

(CBS)A senior Saudi Arabian al Qaeda operative has called on Somali jihadists to step up their attacks on “crusader” forces at sea in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, and on land in neighboring Djibouti, which hosts France’s largest military base in Africa.

“To our steadfast brethren in Somalia, take caution and prepare yourselves,” Sa’id Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri (aka Abu Sufian al-Azdi) says in a new audiotape acquired by CBS News. “Increase your strikes against the crusaders at sea and in Djibouti.”

Shihri warns Somali militants against a conspiracy led by “the crusaders, the Jews and traitor Arab rulers,” to put an end to the Muslim extremists’ progress in Somalia.

“The crusaders, the Jews and the traitorous rulers did not come to the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden except to wage war against you in Somalia and abolish your newly established emirate, and by Allah, they shall be defeated. They shall bring a curse upon their people,” Shihri said.

“We shall not leave them this time until we get to their own countries with the help of Allah.”

It was the first clear sign since the U.S. and French navies thwarted recent pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden that al Qaeda is trying to take advantage of anti-Western sentiment, and a ready supply of well-armed young men with access to boats and maritime skills, in the restive country.

The “first clear sign”…. ah, those that require smoking guns to substantiate logic must now be feeling rather foolish at their optimism that AQ and their affiliated jihad movements would never stoop to piracy and blemish their pure cause.

In fact, according to one maritime intel source cited in the article, the talking heads have been wrong for about nine months now… noting that the links between the pirates and AQ-linked groups has been on the rise since then. Not that it stopped the same ol’ talking points from the media, mind you. Facts never do.

Shihri is, of course, another of those Gitmo grads (released in Nov 2007 to Saudi Arabia, and showed up in Yemen as an AQ leader) that needed to be let go after six years detention. As appears the norm, the evidence of his movements came up against a wall, as he repeatedly denied being involved with terrorists.

Al-Shihri was stopped at a Pakistani border crossing in December 2001 with injuries from an airstrike and recuperated at a hospital in Quetta for a month and a half, according to the Defense Department. Within days of his release, he became one of the first detainees sent to Guantanamo.

Al-Shihri allegedly traveled to Afghanistan two weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, provided money to other fighters and trained at an urban warfare at a camp north of Kabul, according to a summary of the evidence against him from U.S. military review panels at Guantanamo Bay.

An alleged travel coordinator for al Qaeda, he was also accused of meeting extremists in Mashad, Iran and briefing them on how to enter Afghanistan, according to the Defense Department documents.

Al-Shihri, however, said he traveled to Iran to buy carpets for his store in Riyadh. He said he felt Osama bin Laden had no business representing Islam, denied any links to terrorism and expressed interest in rejoining his family in Saudi Arabia.

Apparently the level of evidence required to try such scum as Shihri is higher than those ACLU lawyers care to admit. We are led to believe it’s a bunch of victims held at Club Gitmo, picked up off the street doing daily errands.

Tim Sumner had an interesting post on the Free Republic a couple of days ago, stating the pirates were acting as taxi/shuttles for al Shabab weapons and terrorist fighters… (or would that also be AQ weapons and terrorist fighters?) Additionally they were splitting some of their ransom monies with al Shabab.

If none of these business ties with terrorists…. er, overseas contingency operations… can change the BS talking head rhetoric of “criminals driven by economics”, perhaps the outright call by AQ today will.

The Liberty Sun sustained damaged from rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons when Somali pirates attempted to seize her. The ship is carrying food aid for CARE and the World Food Programme, and headed for Mombassa.

There were no injuries and the families of the crew members have been notified.

The USS Bainbridge, which had rescued the Maersk Alabama, was on site within hours, although the pirates had already left by the time the warship got there.

Nor have they been deterred, seizing two Egyptian fishing vessels, the Greek freighter M.V. Irene and a Togo-flagged freighter named the Sea Horse. They also attacked a Liberian freighter, the Safmarine Asia, with the same method as the Liberty Sun…. and lost another fish there.

Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, said pirate attacks this year had risen to 78, with at least 19 ships hijacked and more than 300 crew members still in pirates’ hands. Each boat carries the potential of a million-dollar ransom.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States can’t end Somali piracy by itself and noted that 16 nations have warships in the region, which is roughly four times the size of Texas.

When Mullen was asked today whether the United States had considered attacking the pirate strongholds in Somalia, the admiral told ABC’s “Good Morning America”: “I’ve asked and we’ve been doing this. We’ve initiated a review on the Joint Staff to look broadly and widely and deeply at the overall strategy.”

Secy of Defense, Robert Gates, doesn’t see the need to beef up the military attacks, saying those decisions are being made “moment by moment”.

On another front, Secy of State, Hillary, is attempting to push other nations to build naval forces against the piracy.

“This could escalate violence in this part of the world, no question about it,” said Vice Adm. William Gortney, the 5th Fleet commander in the region.

~~~

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, “There is no purely military solution to” the piracy plague.

“What we’re trying to do is work with a number of countries in the region and around the world to help bring some political and economic stability to Somalia,” said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.

Clinton was looking to convene the international contact group of European and African states on the unrest in East Africa.

What other navies? Just how many of these Euro and African nations have naval forces of any significant size??

What did Senator Obama do about piracy when he was a Senator and Democrats controlled Congress? Nothing. He didn’t even go to the committee hearings on it.

* July 11, 2006 – Somalia: U.S. Government Policy and Challenges
* July 17, 2007 – Democratic Developments in Sub-Saharan Africa – Moving Forwards or Backwards
* August 1, 2007 – Exploring the U.S. Africa Command and a New Strategic Relationship with Africa
* September 27, 2007 – The United Nation’s Convention on the Law of the Sea
* March 11, 2008 – Evaluating U.S. Policy Options on the Horn of Africa

But Obama’s been consistent. He’s always claimed that he’s not just about words. He’s about action, and “words mean something.” What exactly his pledge to stop privacy off the coast of Somalia means I don’t know, but it didn’t stop the Somali pirates who seized 3 more ships since he made his remarks.

It seems like the best defense against Somali pirates anymore isn’t the USN (recall that the American crew had to rescue themselves from the pirates), but rather mother nature’s armada of dolphins.

The White House said Monday that President Obama’s loud silence during last week’s standoff with Somali pirates who hijacked a U.S. cargo ship and held the captain hostage was necessary in such a tense situation.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president, who came under fire over the weekend for staying mum on the drama, did not want to make the situation “even potentially more dangerous by putting the president out there for the captives to see.”

C’mon, the pirates were 150′ away from one of the most sophisticated naval ships ever built, and we’re supposed to believe they had an uninterruptable live- video link to CNN…one that couldn’t be jammed by a BILLION dollar warship literally a stone’s throw away?

The reality is that Obama
1) was clueless
2) was indecisive
3) was too busy picking out a puppy (decisions are tough things)

Iran
-President Obama campaigned on the promise to “talk” to Iran, and made the world expect that simply talking to the Iranians would make the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism (which is actively attacking Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan as you read this) stop making their nuclear bomb factories. He tried backdoor communications. He tried writing a letter. He sent a video to the Iranian people. He tried UN communications. He’s even trying direct communications in the UN negotiations. None of this has worked one bit. Iran now boasts it has 7000 centrifuges up and running, and the Israelis are saying that if Obama doesn’t get some sort of result soon….they’ll attack Iran on their own. Such an attack would no doubt bring a retaliation from Iran, and US forces are literally, physically under caught in the crossfire of ballistic missiles, airstrikes, and commando operations. Talk might work, but it’s time to start talking fast.

Afghanistan
-President Obama has sent a few more troops there, but only half as many as were originally going to go. Sec Defense Gates says that making Afghanistan a secure & stable ally in the war on terror is an objective the US cannot meet. SO, Obama has sent more diplomats instead. He also went to Europe (as promised during his campaign) to get NATO to send more troops, but he failed.

Pakistan
-Obama’s stepped up covert operations inside Pakistan, killed hundreds of civilians with Predator drone missile attacks, and put the nuclear armed nation of 170million people on the verge of collapse.

Thailand
-President Obama has done nothing to stave off the collapse of that Southeast Asian nation, and it is in the midst of collapsing.

Somalia
-Somalia effectively collapsed years and years ago. Since then piracy has become its biggest source of GDP. Recently, the long-ignored problem of Somali piracy hit home when an American-flagged cargo ship was seized. The crew-not confident that they’d be saved by the US Navy, Obama Admin diplomatic talks, or the UN forces in the area-rescued themselves. The Captain was taken hostage, and President Obama chose to vote PRESENT rather than give an order to rescue the hostage from the 4 teenage tribesman/pirates. Instead, his vague order was to take action only if the hostage was in imminent danger (this after the Captain had tried to escape and been shot at, but apparently being shot at isn’t imminent danger). Thankfully, 4 US Navy SEAL Team snipers fired in unison and made truly remarkable shots. The issues was closed, and now the dazed and confused Obama Admin policy regarding Somali pirates has shifted to chest-thumping bragging, credit stealing, and impotent threats to attack pirate bases on shore.

North Korea
-North Korea was kind enough to give a full 6 weeks of daily warnings that it was going to launch an ICBM in direct violation of multiple UN resolutions. President Obama said that words have to mean something. He said that a rogue regime cannot be allowed to flaunt, dismiss, and ignore the will of the United Nations. Sadly, his words meant nothing to the North Koreans, so they launched their missile while the Obama Admin in effect did nothing and failed to stop or even dissuade the illegal act.

Mexico
-Like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, and other emerging crisis’, Mexico is also on the verge of collapse. Again, the Obama Administration has in effect done nothing to curb this. However, there was talk of immigration reform in the United States which would allow Mexican refugees from a collapse to come here to the United States where jobs are plentiful, and the economy can support the influx of millions of poverty stricken, jobless, homeless people.

UPDATE: At the time of my posting, the Congressman was int he air, and his DC offices were not sure of his destination. Per an All Africa news story, Congressman Payne’s plane diverted and has landed safely in Nairobi.

Breaking news this AM… Congressman Donald Payne felt the need to fly down to Mogadishu to “talk” about Somali piracy… only to be forced to turn around after Somali terrorists… er, “overseas contingency operations”… fired mortars at the plane.

Somali insurgents fired mortars toward U.S. Congressman Donald Payne’s plane during a visit to the Somali capital in Mogadishu.

The New Jersey Democrat was not injured, his spokeswoman Kerry McKenney told FOX News.

“One mortar landed at the airport when Payne’s plane was due to fly and five others after he left and no one was hurt,” Abukar Hassan, a police officer at Mogadishu airport, told Reuters.

McKenney said Payne, who chairs the House subcommittee on Africa, felt it was important to go to Mogadishu and see first-hand what was happening there.

His trip comes a day after U.S. sea captain Richard Phillips was rescued from four Somali pirates off Africa’s eastern coast.

“All we know is his plane was fired on and of course we feel it was in retaliation,” McKenney told FOX News.

She said Payne was traveling with bodyguards but she has not been able to speak to him directly because his plane was in the air.

Payne arrived early Monday in what is believed to be the first visit by a senior U.S. politician to Mogadishu in years, Reuters reported.

The visit was reportedly expected to last a few hours and was to include a meeting with the Somali foreign minister to talk about piracy and how the U.S. could help the government there.

It was not immediately clear if the meeting took place.

Another update on Payne’s reason for visiting from the above UPDATE linked All Africa article:

According to Congressional and administration officials, Payne was discouraged by the State Department and U.S. intelligence agencies from visiting the Somali capital, which has not had a visit from an American official in many years. Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer visited Baidoa, a city in south-central Somalia, in 2007.

Payne decided to make the journey to press for a peaceful solution to the unrest that has dominated Somalia for three decades. Payne, who was elected to Congress in 1988, chairs the House of Representatives Subcommittee Africa and Global Health and is the point-person on Africa for the Congressional Black Caucus.

In the wake of the US confrontation, and the pirate’s threats, will that not-so-clear link between Somali jihad groups that enjoy haven in chaotic Somalia become more overt? Will the jihad movements team up with their “fisherman/pirate” friends officially now? We can only wait and see. What is not so clear is just with whom these so-called “pirates” deal when getting their weaponry.

**UPDATE APRIL 13th: Blackfive has the skinny from yesterday on how the rescue went down. What was also of interest is that Blackfive also states that the reporting that POTUS Obama, giving the order to use military force for the rescue is misleading.

The officials say Obama ordered the Defense Department to use military resources to rescue Richard Phillips from a lifeboat off the Somali coast.

He did affirm the military’s authorization to use force if the captain’s life was in danger, but they already would have had that authorization as part of their standard rules of engagement. If there are innocents about to be slaughtered the same reasoning that authorizes self defense also covers an imminent execution unless the ROE specifically forbid it.The AP is making it sound like there was an active rescue ordered by the President. It was not, there was an imminent threat and the local commander gave the order to fire. Good on Obama for ensuring their authorization was clear, but let’s also be clear that he did not authorize or order an active rescue attempt.

Certainly if this ability to use force to save innocents in “imminent danger” is already the norm for ROE, then the POTUS is to be congratulated for not giving a specific order countermanding that policy – or asking the military to stand down. In which case, his blessing for a rescue may have been a moot point in the scheme of things, as it was the expected path of procedures. I’m personally not up on this military protocol, so I’ll leave any further commentary to the experts genuinely in the know. END UPDATE

According to a FOX news report I just heard, one sniper had a clear head shot of one pirate thru the lifeboat window, and the other two were catching some air thru the opening.

“They were pointing the AK-47s at the captain,” Vice Adm. William Gortney, head of the U.S. Naval Central Command, said in a Pentagon briefing from Bahrain.

Gortney also said Washington had rejected ransom negotiations with the pirates. “The United States government’s policy is to not negotiate,” he said.

But he said military members had been in hostage talks with the pirate crew, and the talks grew “heated” before the commander on the scene ordered the shots that killed three pirates holding Phillips in a lifeboat.

“If he was not in imminent danger, they were not supposed to take this sort of action, they were supposed to let the negotiation process work it out,” Gortney said.

“The on-scene commander took it as the captain was in imminent danger and then made that decision (to kill the pirates), and he had the authorities to make that decision, and he had seconds to make that decision.”

“Our authorities came directly from the president. And the number one authority for incidents, if we were going to respond, was if the captain’s life was in immediate danger,” Gortney said.

Bravo to Bainbridge Commander, Frank Castellano, on the split second call and assuming responsibility… and huge kudos to American sniper accuracy.

A US Navy handout photo shows Maersk Alabama captain Richard Phillips standing alongside commander Frank Castellano (L), commanding officer of USS Bainbridge after being rescued by US Naval forces off the coast of Somalia. Photograph: US Navy/EPA

But while the family and Americans celebrate Phillips safe return, and the rest of the Maersk Alabama crew arrives at it’s Kenyan destination without further incidents, the Somali pirates are steaming, promising revenge.

Somali pirates threatened revenge on Sunday after two separate hostage-rescue raids by foreign forces killed at least five comrades, raising fears of future bloodshed on the high seas.

The latest raid by U.S. forces on Sunday that saved an American hostage and one by France last week have upped the stakes in shipping lanes off the anarchic Horn of Africa nation where buccaneers have defied foreign naval patrols.

“The French and the Americans will regret starting this killing. We do not kill, but take only ransom. We shall do something to anyone we see as French or American from now,” Hussein, a pirate, told Reuters by satellite phone.

“We cannot know how or whether our friends on the lifeboat died, but this will not stop us from hijacking,” he said.

UPDATE APRIL 13TH: CNN reports today any French or American captives in future hostages will be killed.

The pirates told a Somali journalist that they were angered by the U.S. action, as well as a French raid Friday that killed two pirates and one hostage and freed four hostages.

“We have decided to kill U.S. and French sailors if they happen to be among our future hostages,” said Abdullahi Ahmed, a member of a pirate group based at Harardhere, a coastal town in central Somalia.

END UPDATE

While hostages have proven to be lucrative business, fetching top dollar, heretofore brutal treatment by the pirates was confined to beatings. Most certainly, the stakes have been raised now that pirates know the French and Americans will indeed act with force when given the chance.

As I mentioned in my post a couple of days ago, the unusual chain of events leading to this escalation may burst the bubble on previous tolerance towards piracy… altering the playbook for both pirates, and ships under assault, forever.

“The pirates will know from now that anything can happen. The French are doing this, the Americans are doing it. Things will be more violent from now on,” said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme.

“This is a big wake-up to the pirates. It raises the stakes.”

~~~

“Killing three out of thousands of pirates will only escalate piracy,” said Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, spokesman of the moderate Islamist group Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca.

Considering that Osama bin Laden has been focusing his thrust on Somalia in his latest video tape call to jihad, one has to wonder what else it will escalate. Yusef from Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca’s warnings are noted since they can be considered the “good guys”…. sorta… to the more hardline, AQ affiliated Al Shabaab Muslim organization in Somalia. The two groups have been warring for control of various cities, with Al Shabaab beheading two sheiks in late March – days after OBL’s call for jihad, advocating violent overthrow of the moderate Islamic President, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.

Thus far, there is no evidence of the Somali pirates being an official, or unofficial arm of the global jihad movements harbored in Somalia. But one has to wonder – former fishermen turned pirates constantly need arms and speedboats to continue to finesse their operation. They have lots of cash. So who are these “fishermen” go to people when purchasing their pirate supplies? Somehow, I’m pretty sure it’s not the local bait shop…

Yes, the rules have changed. And if ships flying American or French flags haven’t been armed before, they may consider doing that now. Both are in the pirates’ sights. Why can’t the crew function both as a crew, plus be given self-defense/anti-piracy/weapons training (as was case of the crew of the Maersk Alabama)?. Why have a separate security contractor? If the ship is under assault, surely some of the crew can function as a defense unit while others perform ship defensive maneuvers.

One thing is certain. This particular battle is over, and a new one is about to begin. Because vengeful pirates also have nefarious friends who supply their arms… and it could be those that see this as an additional chance to assail Americans, French and westerners in general.

Below, a video of the USS Bainbridge DDG 96 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in action… with a a H/T to Boston Maggie. The Bainbridge was commissioned just a few years ago, on Nov 12th, 2005. This ol’ former Navy wife is proud as punch!

The captain of the Maersk Alabama was freed Sunday after being held captive since Wednesday by pirates off the coast of Somalia, a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation told CNN.

The official said Capt. Richard Phillips is uninjured and in good condition, and that three of the four pirates were killed. The fourth pirate is in custody. Phillips was taken aboard the USS Bainbridge, a nearby naval warship.

Earlier Sunday afternoon Maersk Line Limited, owner of the Maersk Alabama, said the U.S. Navy informed the company that it had sighted Phillips in a lifeboat where pirates are holding him.

Phillips was spotted another time earlier in the day, the Navy said.

A man who answered the door at Phillips home in Underhill, Vermont, told CNN’s Stephanie Elam that the family has known the news for hours. He said details would have to come from Virginia, apparently referring to the home base of Maersk Line Limited, based in Norfolk, which owns the ship.

On Saturday, the FBI launched a criminal investigation into the hijacking of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship by Somali pirates, two law enforcement officials told CNN. The probe will be led by the FBI’s New York field office, which is responsible for looking into cases involving U.S. citizens in the African region, the officials said.

The Maersk Alabama reached port in Mombasa, Kenya, on Saturday. Crew members aboard the freed cargo ship described how some of their colleagues attempted to “jump” their pirate captors.

A scuffle ensued and one of the sailors stabbed a pirate in the hand in the battle to retake the container ship, one of the sailors told CNN.

Apparently the Captain jumped overboard again but this time there were Navy SEALS in the water who then took the pirates out. Good job Navy!

They’ve seen Somali pirates seize ships carrying hazardous materials-materials so toxic that entire villages were wiped out and the UN suspected WMD! Our readers have read about ships carrying a dozen Soviet-built main battle tanks seized by Somali pirates. They’ve even read about a supertanker being taken. Now the pirates have attacked an American-flagged vessel. The crew fought back (like Americans on Flight 93 fought back). The Captain was taken by the 4 surviving pirates, and they left in a lifeboat.

Luckily, we have President Obama in the White House. His “talks without preconditions” foreign policy can’t possibly fail (oops, the boat carrying a negotiator was fired on and driven back by the 4 pirates). His reputation as a man of conviction, courage, and fearlessness no doubt will scare the pirates into letting go of the heroic American Captain (oops, the 4 pirates in the lifeboat said their not afraid). Surely the 4 pirates will hand over their hostage any time now, right?

How strong is the Obama Admin foreign policy?
It’s so strong that 4 twits from a village in Somalia, armed with 4 rifles can prove the entire Administration’s foreign policy (based on “Smart Diplomacy”) to shame, invalidation, and impotence.

No. Why would they? Obama’s paralyzed. He has no idea what to do, and no will to do it. This is an epiphany moment when he’s got to realize that “talks without preconditions” just don’t work. It’s time he listened to the speeches he reads on his teleprompter, “Words have to mean something.” A threat from a man who has no courage or willingness to pull a trigger is not a threat.

Here’s a simple solution:
Have a SEAL swim up to the lifeboat, put some holes in it to make it leak uncontrollably, and make it sink. You can’t swim and fire an AK47, and we know the Captain can swim (he’s already tried to get away, but there was no one there to pick him up). It’s real simple, but President Obama and his entire Administration are taking the Jimmy Carter response to hostage taking: do nothing ’cause doing anything can be risky. Well here’s a newsflash…when it comes to bad guys (and I think it’s safe to put a Somali pirate in that category), doing nothing is doing something; it’s emboldening, it’s heartening to them. It’s the same as surrendering to your own prison.

C’mon Mr. President, step up. Be a man. Be a leader. Be a Washington, a Lincoln, or more specifically a Jefferson, and get tough on pirates. It’s time your words meant something (of course, that’s the problem with your entire Presidency so far, isn’t it?).

Yet this was on the radar for quite some time as inevitable. As I noted in my Dec 19th post, even John Kerry was advocating “cautious” hot pursuit on the heels of the UN Security Council giving it’s blessing for any and every willing and able country to wage war on the sea thugs… at sea, in the air, and with boots on Somali ground.

At the time of my December posting, I wondered what then Pres-elect Obama had planned for Somali pirates. Perhaps he put it to the back of his mind, hoping it would happen to anyone other than Americans, and focusing on other issues. But the US POTUS has no luxury to ignore such events… and now the time has run out to turn the cheek on the unchecked piracy.

Unlike previous seizures of ship, the unfolding of this particular event differs in ways beyond it’s American connections. The series of events have created a standoff like no other, and brought the piracy issue to what may be the breaking point.

First the crew – trained in combating piracy without arms (???… like, why no arms???) fought back, and regained control of the ship. The crew captured one scumbag, money grubbing mercenary/pirate, while the pirates held the Captain. Negotiating a trade with human filth never involves honor, so it’s no surprise that Captain Richard Phillips ended up trading his own safety for that of his 19 crewmembers.

Now, the situation is four cockroaches with one feisty and brave maritime captain in a lifeboat that is surrounded by US warships, thwarting any efforts of pirate reinforcements to come to the rescue.

The Bainbridge, backed by drones and surveillance aircraft, was standing guard a few hundred yards from the lifeboat, which had run out of fuel. The frigate USS Halyburton and the assault ship USS Boxer, armed with about two dozen helicopters and attack planes, sailed to the scene yesterday.

According to Bloomberg’s account today, the Bainbridge is constantly monitoring images from a drone flying over the lifeboat.

Despite the constant feed, Capt. Phillips attempted escape was unsuccessful as one pirate dove after him, hauling him back into the lifeboat.

However the pirates have been exceptionally busy this past week, and according to one pirate mouthpiece, they’ve called the calvary. Other seized vessels under control of the pirates are steaming towards to the scene…. along with their captive crew members.

Mohamed Samaw, a resident of the pirate stronghold in Eyl, Somalia, who claims to have a “share” in a British-owned cargo ship that was hijacked on Monday, said that four foreign vessels held by pirates were heading towards the lifeboat. The ships include a seized Taiwanese fishing vessel and a German freighter carrying a total of 54 captured crew members from China, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines, Tuvalu, Indonesia and Taiwan.

“The pirates have summoned assistance – skiffs and mother ships are heading towards the area from the coast,” a Nairobi-based diplomat said. A Somali in contact with a pirate leader said that the captors wanted a ransom and were ready to kill Captain Phillips if they were attacked.

Their strategy appears to be to link up with fellow pirates and take Captain Phillips to Somalia, counting on the presence of the other hostages to deter the warships from an attack.

“They had asked us for reinforcement, and we have already sent a good number of well-equipped colleagues who were holding a German cargo ship,” said a man claiming to be a pirate from the lair of Haradhere. “We are not intending to harm the captain, so we hope our colleagues would not be harmed as long as they hold him.”

This now means the pirates, some of their most recent booty and hostages, are now all eyeballing the US warships somewhere hundreds of miles off the Somali coast.

Obviously these seized cargo vessels are utterly useless against heavily armed warships. Nor do the pirates, no doubt enjoying the national spotlight on their standoff, appear to fear the US naval forces.

Despite the odd picture of three warships and a lifeboat, and several pirate controlled cargo ships on the perimeter, the IBD has an op-ed today, commending the Obama admin’s aggressive actions.

Obama’s response was a resolute and overwhelming one that’s likely to demonstrate to bad actors everywhere that he’s not about to hand-wring or go to the United Nations, but show that the U.S. will come after its own with the full force of its military and security apparatus.

First, he ordered the USS Bainbridge after the pirates. As the naval destroyer shadowed the 20-foot dinghy of pirates and their hostage with an obviously prepared contingency plan, a P-3 Orion surveillance plane circled above.

Advanced communication equipment caught everything the pirates said and did on video. Then FBI negotiating crews moved in, offering the pirates their only chance to get out alive by freeing their hostage.

No ransoms. No bargains. No surrender. Nothing like the past ships they’d taken over. Just the prospect of overwhelming force, to help concentrate pirate minds.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, the Obama administration maintained tight radio silence, giving the pirate networks intently monitoring his response nothing to go on.

Obama refused to answer reporters’ questions about his plans, even as some in the media howled.

State Department spokesman Robert Woods was splendidly bland, saying “we are working to do what we can,” annoying the reporters in his briefing, too.

For the pirates, that leaves nothing but a Navy ship shadowing their every move and surveillance aircraft circling overhead as their sole information about U.S. intentions.

In a delicate hostage situation, this entire picture shows probably the most effective course. The professionalism and collective knowledge of the U.S. government’s best practices in a hostage crisis is clearly at work. It’s not force first, but the threat of force, with the saving of life paramount.

Most obvious in this is Obama’s leadership, today’s version of speaking softly and carrying a big stick, the only policy that has really worked for the U.S.

In one way, I agree. On the other hand… much depends on what happens next. The “threat” of force only works well when the other side doesn’t call the bluff. And in this case, what is the US Navy to do? Fire on the lifeboat and other pirate-occupied and unarmed cargo ships?

Or do they end up watching the ransom getting paid, thereby suggesting that the US military and government actually *do* negotiate with terrorists … er, excuse me “criminals”.

Ironically, the French won’t be having that problem. French commandos freed a yacht from piracy with a battle that resulted in the deaths of two pirates, and one hostage. This is the second such action against these pirates launched by Sarkozy… and so far they are batting a 1000, and taking prisoners.

Until yesterday, the only other boat to be freed by force from pirates was a yacht liberated by French naval commandos in September.

Somali pirates seized 43 boats last year and at least 11 so far this year. Roger Middleton, a researcher at Chatham House, a London-based foreign policy institute, estimates pirates have earned up to $80 million from ransoms.

Yesterday’s rescue raid by the French special forces came after pirates made threats against their five hostages and tried to navigate toward the Somali coast, French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office said in a statement.

“France refuses to give in to acts of piracy and takes steps to avoid that its citizens are taken ashore as hostages,” the statement said.

The Tanit sailboat, en route to the tourist island of Zanzibar, was hijacked April 4 by Somali pirates. Four hostages, including a 3-year-old boy, are safe. Three pirates were taken prisoner, the French military said.

Tho successful twice with aggressive response, the French commandos ocean theatre was small compared to the moment we find ourselves in now. For US commandos to pull off the same success, the casualty rates of hostages, and fallout of property loss of private cargo ships, could be much higher.

It’s hard to say how this will play out. Especially since so few could predict it would escalate to this status now. But it may be time for Obama to revisit those defense budget cuts, ensuring those faster Naval vessels designed for this purpose aren’t part of the cuts… because it’s obvious they are going to be needed for some time to come.

Other links:

Maritime President: Time’s Running Out For Pirates

Military’s big guns face unusual foe in pirate standoff

Somali pirates sail German ship to standoff scene

After maintaining his silence for two days, President Obama will soon make his first public statement about the pirate attack upon an U.S.-flagged vessel off the Horn of Africa. After several inquiries and a few well-placed bribes, Exurban League has received an early transcript of the President’s remarks:

OBAMA: Good evening. As you know, early yesterday, Somali-based pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama, a freighter carrying relief supplies to Kenya. While we do not yet know all the details, the Alabama’s crew re-took control of the vessel and forced the pirates off the ship.

Since the pirates are still holding the captain, I have sent FBI negotiators to facilitate his safe and speedy release. I assure his friends and family that I will not stop until this man-made disaster is resolved in a peaceful, tolerant and ecologically-sound manner.

Obviously, this incident has raised many concerns among Americans. There have been calls for justice and even violence against the misguided perpetrators. But such an emotional reaction has led to the disparagement of entire groups with which we are unfamiliar. We have seen this throughout history.

For too long, America has been too dismissive of the proud culture and invaluable contributions of the Pirate Community. Whether it is their pioneering work with prosthetics, husbandry of tropical birds or fanciful fashion sense, America owes a deep debt to Pirates.

The past eight years have shown a failure to appreciate the historic role of these noble seafarers. Instead of celebrating their entreprenuerial spirit and seeking to partner with them to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.

Some of us wonder if our current Overseas Contingency Operation would even be needed had the last administration not been so quick to label Pirates as “thieves,” “terrorists” and worse. Such swashbucklaphobia can lead to tragic results, as we have seen this week.

To address this issue, I have instructed Vice President Joe Biden to create a cabinet-level Czar of Pirate Outreach and Buccaneer Interrelation. In addition, June 1-7 has been designated as Pirate Awareness Week, during which all federal buildings will fly the Jolly Roger and sponsor sensitivity training. Thankfully, my American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will fund free grog and hard tack for all attendees.

Finally, to all pirates listening to international broadcasts, shortwave services and ship-to-shore radio, let me say this:

Ahoy, me regret arr relationship has set sail in a scurvy manner. Arr people share many mutual ‘alues and concerns on t’ raging main. Perchance, could ye handsomely release the cap’n o’ the ship and I assure that no harm will come t’ ye or ye hearties. Let us smite t’ reset button and launch our seabond on a new pegleg. Savvy? Godspeed t’ ye and t’ ye beauties. Aye, me parrot concurs.

Drop over to ExUrban League and give Jon a pat on the back for that one! True blogging gold!

Something tells me it won’t be long before Obama gives a speech very similar to the one above!

Hours after pirates commandeered a United States-flagged container ship with 20 American crew members off the coast of Somalia on Wednesday, the pirates and crew appeared to be in a standoff, with the ship under control of its crew once again but the skipper a captive of the pirates.

There were conflicting reports about the drama unfolding on the container ship, the Maersk Alabama — the first ship with an American crew to be seized by pirates in the Horn of Africa, one of the most notoriously lawless zones on the high seas. By late afternoon Washington time, when it was night off Somalia, the situation was unresolved, although there had apparently been no bloodshed.

Several American warships were headed for the area. The vessels reportedly included a destroyer, the U.S.S. Bainbridge, which can steam at more than 30 knots and can launch helicopters. Based on early reports that the closest ships were some 345 miles from the scene at the time of the hijacking, they could be expected to arrive in the area by late Wednesday night, Eastern time, or daylight Thursday off Somali.

At about noon Eastern time, some 12 hours after the hijacking, a Pentagon official speaking on condition of anonymity said that “it is our understanding that the crew has taken back control of the vessel.” But as the hours went by, it became clear that the situation was far from resolved, as a senior American military official said the skipper had been taken off his ship while the captors tried to negotiate a ransom.

There were reports that the crew had been able to disable the ship around the time that the pirates came aboard, preventing them from going anywhere with their prize. Later, there were reports that while the crew had been able to capture one pirate and regain control of the ship, at least three pirates were holding the captain hostage in a small boat near the vessel.

That was from a few hours ago…the latest from CNN (I know, I know….take it with a grain of salt) says the pirates are holding the Captain on a 28 foot lifeboat. Why are they in a lifeboat? Because the idiots sank their own boat after coming aboard the US ship. After some negotiations the US crew agreed to exchange a pirate prisoner they had overpowered for the Captain and surprise, surprise…the pirates reneged on the deal.

Something else interesting, the US crew apparently disabled the ship when the pirates came aboard and then hid in the steering gear room for 12 hours. The pirates got frustrated because they couldn’t find them, and while the pirates have AK-47’s a US warship will be in the area in a few hours. Something tells me those AK-47’s won’t cut it.