NEWS: Pirates Attack Cruise Ship Off Somalia

Two armed pirate boats have attacked a US cruise liner 100 miles from the coast of Somalia. Allegedly the pirates fired a rocket propelled grenade and used machine guns to attack the Seabourn Spirit that is owned by Miami based Carnival Corp. The cruise ship is said to have been carrying approximately 151 passengers mostly from the US while a portion of the passengers were said to have been Australian and Europeans. Only one minor injury has been reported to one crew member and the ship managed to outrun the pirates.




This is a developing story and further details are not available at this time, other then the fact that ship has not lost its sailing ability and is continuing onto its destination.

I do however have some concern over this considering where this took place, I think that perhaps it is possible the individuals were not pirates but terrorists posing as pirates wanting to make an attack on US and Australian citizens. I say this only because their primary religion is Muslim based and I would not put it past them.

Admittedly, I could be wrong so this is just speculation on my part, but certainly a possibility knowing the radicals are fleeing Afghanistan and possibly Iraqi into African nations where it is believed they are now setting up new training bases.

Somalia

Why is the Bush administration worried about terrorism in Somalia?
Because Somalia is a chaotic, poor, battle-weary Muslim country with no central government. As Secretary of State Colin Powell has said, "terrorist activity might find some fertile ground there, and we don't want that to happen." Moreover, U.S. government officials say that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network supported Somali radical Islamists, organized training camps in Somalia, and threatened American troops in Somalia who were there on a U.N. humanitarian mission in the early 1990s.

Could Osama bin Laden or other al-Qaeda leaders hide in Somalia?
Conceivably. But they would have to get there first. And Somalia differs from Afghanistan in several key respects, experts say. First, while Somalia is about as big as Afghanistan, its landscape lacks Afghanistan's many natural hiding places. Second, Somalia is a more secular society where Taliban-style fundamentalism is unfamiliar. Third, Somalia's pragmatic, secular local authorities are well aware of the multimillion-dollar U.S. bounty on the heads of al-Qaeda leaders.

cfrterrorism.org...

[edit on 11/5/2005 by shots]

Originally posted by shots
I do however have some concern over this considering where this took place, I think that perhaps it is possible the individuals were not pirates but terrorists posing as pirates wanting to make an attack on US and Australian citizens. I say this only because their primary religion is Muslim based and I would not put it past them.

Admittedly, I could be wrong so this is just speculation on my part, but certainly a possibility knowing the radicals are fleeing Afghanistan and possibly Iraqi into African nations where it is believed they are now setting up new training bases.

Nice job trying to spin this report, but please post sources showing that this event was linked to terrorism...please post sources showing evidence of these "new training bases" in African nations...not that this couldn't happen, but it is a bit much to just throw this speculation in there right after this article, without any real basis for these statements.

To shots everyone is a potential Terrorist.

Originally posted by Shoktek
Nice job trying to spin this report, but please post sources showing that this event was linked to terrorism...please post sources showing evidence of these "new training bases" in African nations...not that this couldn't happen, but it is a bit much to just throw this speculation in there right after this article, without any real basis for these statements.

I never said it was tied to terrorists. I stated I suspected it might be tied to terrorists and clearly stated it was speculation on my part.

The cruise ship company said it wasn't terrorism -- but they probably have a vested interest in saying that, since an attempted terrorist attack would be bad for business.

Since the ship escaped, we'll probably never know for sure.

Originally posted by sardion2000
To shots everyone is a potential Terrorist.

Nope, not true it only happens when the individuals in question are known "Fanatic Muslim believers or Jihadists if you will.

If you go on the Goast Guard's and UN anti-piracy sites, this one one of the "world hot spots" for piracy.

Most people don't realize how incredibly fast cruise ships can be. They are faster by far than frieghters.

Back in WWII, the allies used them for troop transports, because they could outmanouver submarines, and outrun torpedos if fired at a distance.

If you look into a conspiracy no one even cares about anymore, it was the german torpedoing of the Lusitannia that brought the USA into WWI. A lot of people at the time said the cruiseliner would have needed to be going at half speed or quarter speed for a U-boat to have a chance at scoring a critical hit.

Conspiracy theorists at the time (my great grandfather was one) pointed out that England had instructed all liners to travel at top speed, and run a serpentine course in Irish sealanes, until they were within England's destroyer escort zone. Apparently Lusitannia was defying all of these orders when it was sunk.

Just pointing out that pirates, with experience attacking tramp frieghters, might have been pretty surprised by the ocean liner's performance capabilities, since they are built for speed rather than economy.

(not a seaman, just recalling isolated facts I've read, heard, etc.)

How do you know their primary religion is Islam? Did anyone bother to ask this to the pirates? I supose if it were a terrorist act they might have been after the ship to destroy it, this sounds like a case where the individuals on the ships attempted to seize the sea capabilities of the ship and loot.

The added quote about Somalia at the end does nothing more to fortify any real evidence of terrorists being involved...yes, you do state that all you said is speculation, but I just think it's taking things a bit far to post it immediately after a factual article, in an attempt to swing the real facts towards a persuasive argument...maybe just post the facts, and then post your conspiracy theories in a different thread...it is one thing for the person submitting the article to post their own take on the facts, but it's another thing to try to use those facts with their own opinion and will in order to persuade someone. This is not legitimate news reporting...

Well, according to prophesy at www.trumpetersmission.com, a catholic priest said that a ship would be attacked and that would be the beginning of the end.
I have AOL and for some reason it wont let me copy and paste.

I wonder...although that particular website did say there would be around 1000 casualties. Apparently, no such thing happened here.

Another misery, another day.

Cool, I didn't know that.

Any speculation on why the Lusitania was disregarding those orders?

Zip

There is only one way to deal with pirates:

Bring in the big ships.

Of course, Somalia has no government to speak of, so the task falls to the UN, and lo and behold, the USN.

my first reaction in rebulat of ` shots ` [ the OP ] is :

if the islamists are setting up terror training camps and other infrastructore in somalia - then carring out this attack is pretty stupid

at the risk of it being deleted - ` pissing on your own doorstep ` comes to mind

Oh well. . . there goes my plans for vacation next year on a luxury cruise I guess I will have to chance plans now.

Is not the first time that cruises has been targeted by pirates.

I hope they arent the pirates that exist hundreds of years ago, they must have some nice customs alongside with captain jack.

Originally posted by dgtempe

I have AOL and for some reason it wont let me copy and paste.

Just write down the url and type it out in a reply using the full url then we can find the page in question and I will cut and paste the text from this end

I.e,

www.trumpetersmission.com...

Originally posted by marg6043


Is not the first time that cruises has been targeted by pirates.

It also would not be a first for terrorists to attack a ship

the Achille Lauro comes to mind real fast.

[edit on 11/5/2005 by shots]

It's all related to the weather I have been informed by one of my workmates.

He passed this on.

www.venganza.org...

The question is,

Are there fewer pirates because the temperature is higher?

Or,

Is the temperature higher because there are fewer pirates!?

Hmmmm....

Zip

I probably should take this seriously...but...

It says Pirate's...

LMAO

I do however have some concern over this considering where this took place, I think that perhaps it is possible the individuals were not pirates but terrorists posing as pirates wanting to make an attack on US and Australian citizens.

Nope, Ol' Captain Jack doesn't look like a terrorist to me mate. LMAO

You do all know around Africa and Asia pirates still do exist? I highly doubt it is terrorists since this happens all the time...