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Pirates Vow "No Mercy" On Future American Captives
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 13, 2009
Modified Apr 13, 2009
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far right
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 13, 2009
Modified Apr 13, 2009
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With the U.S. Navy's rescue of an American container ship captain—and the killings of three Somali pirates who were holding him hostage—other pirates are promising to retaliate. One told the AP, "From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them [the hostages]. [U.S. forces have] become our No. 1 enemy." Another said, "Every country will be treated the way it treats us. In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying," while a third said, "Next time we get American citizens... they [should] expect no mercy from us."
The rescue mission's dramatic details are being recounted in papers today: Vice Admiral William Gortney said Captain Richard Phillips' life seemed to be in "imminent danger"—President Obama had authorized using force against the pirates in that case. The NY Times described:
Two of the captors had poked their heads out of a rear hatch of the lifeboat, exposing themselves to clear shots, and the third could be seen through a window in the bow, pointing an automatic rifle at the captain, who was tied up inside the 18-foot lifeboat, senior Navy officials said.
It took only three remarkable shots — one each by snipers firing from a distance at dusk, using night-vision scopes, the officials said. Within minutes, rescuers slid down ropes from the Bainbridge, climbed aboard the lifeboat and found the three pirates dead. They then untied Captain Phillips, ending the contretemps at sea that had riveted much of the world’s attention. A fourth pirate had surrendered earlier.
Adm. Gortney acknowledged, "This could escalate violence in this part of the world, no question about it."
The crew of the Maersk Alabama container ship thanked the Navy for rescuing Phillips, who had offered himself as a hostage after the crew regained control of the ship, but the crew's chief mate added, "We'd like to implore President Obama to use all of his resources to increase the commitment to end the Somali pirate scourge… It's a crisis." BBC News said the "remaining question surrounding the Maersk Alabama is how its crew of merchant seamen managed to fight off Somali pirates equipped with AK-47s," but the "crew refused to provide an answer because they said the techniques they used were being kept secret to help other ships resist pirate attack."
However, there's a debate on whether maritime crews should be armed. The managing director of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association told the NY Times that ships with weapons might be attractive to those who want to steal weapons; plus, "If we arm our crews with light machine guns, [pirates] can probably buy heavy machine guns. And if we buy light rocket launchers, they can buy heavy ones."
Tagged
Captain Richard Phillips
navy
pirates
somali pirates
us navy
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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