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Originally posted by schrodingers dog
reply to post by Blade The Hunter
Man, you sound like the badass SWAT commander in a bad cop movie.
You know, the one that always gets everyone killed.
I think it is a good thing that every other possibility was studied before taking the lives of these pirates, who are poor people, from a starving third world country, trying to make ends meet for their families. I don't expect you to understand this, or even respond by anything other than " Oh, so we should feel sorry for the pirates ?
www.msnbc.msn.com...
The capture of aid workers has long been a common problem in Somalia, often motivated by kidnappers demanding ransoms. There is no indication that such kidnappings are linked to a recent surge in piracy off Somalia. But the lucrative ransoms pirates have received from ship owners may have emphasized the value of foreigners as hostages in a country where nearly half the population is dependent on foreign aid.
But not all attacks on aid workers are financially motivated. Some are political: the government has accused them of helping insurgents and the insurgents have accused them of being spies. According to the U.N., a total of 35 aid workers were killed in Somalia in 2008 and 26 abducted.
While remaining firm, America will favour diplomacy to force. This sends out a peacefull message, and a breath of fresh air to your allies, who were getting REALLY pissed off with the bigotted, holy warmongering, and shallow views of your former president, and those of the people he represented.
April 19, 2009
MOGADISHU, Somalia - About 25 masked gunmen armed with machine guns kidnapped two European aid workers in central Somalia on Sunday, aid workers and a witness said.
You know nothing of the somalian people and nothing of the hardship they endure. While you lay back in your comfortable sofa, these "raggies" are hacking their food out of a parched desert, which thanks to people who share your condescending views, is also a polluted wasteland. Their blood is the cement of your comfort. Dwell on that for a while. And show some respect.
In Harardhere, the pirates have become like so many Godfathers, building lavish homes, starting fly-by-night businesses, and launching operations involving well-organized networks of people who handle their food, weapons and other supplies. Analysts say the pirates, who operate from high-seas bases called "motherships" -- usually fishing trawlers they have captured -- receive help from people abroad who feed information about cargo ships' schedules in exchange for a cut of ransom.
The more famous pirates also employ entourages of locals, for whom piracy is part blessing, part curse. While pirate businesses have stifled local merchants and thwarted deliveries of food aid to the anarchic Horn of Africa nation, the pirates have also spread their millions around.
Locals say that onshore, the pirates are attended to by prostitutes, nurses, bodyguards and men who procure and deliver their precious khat, a mildly narcotic leaf chewed for its stimulant effects.
Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman
The problem here is not Obama taking credit, etc. It is the fact that people under his command were not clear of what his order was and were not sure how to proceed legally.
[edit on 20/4/2009 by Iamonlyhuman]
Originally posted by Ismail
Five. "Raggies" is a racist and offensive word. You know nothing of the somalian people and nothing of the hardship they endure. While you lay back in your comfortable sofa, these "raggies" are hacking their food out of a parched desert, which thanks to people who share your condescending views, is also a polluted wasteland. Their blood is the cement of your comfort. Dwell on that for a while. And show some respect.