Yeah I can't believe the revenge thing. I had to read that 3x to believe it. Essentially, "We never kill anyone, we just kidnap them and threaten to kill them. (We were ever only joking about that killing part, fellas. Thx for the millions, anyway-- we planned to give it all back. Ha-ha. But not now)"
I give kudos to President Obama. He didn't give the go code just once but, twice on this evolution. I'm pleasantly surprised and full of joy. Scary enough........it actually was like something out of the movies. It usually doesn't go down like this in real life. For you shooters out there, can you imagine taking that shot? Your boat is rising and dropping along with the target boat at different intervals....on a calm sea it's almost impossible. It's the stuff legends are made of. Absolutely outstanding.
We were discussing that earlier at work. Especially at that angle, and the sea was supposed to be pretty damn choppy. insane.
Not only that, but all three snipers took their shots at the exact same time. The chances of all three having a clear shot, especially through a small window on the lifeboat, seems pretty dang small. Impressive.
Considering those particular seals specialized as Snipers. I dont think it would be too much of a difficult shot, IMO the distance was the only thing i would have been concern about. Advance units are regularly trained and target practice from choppers. From the fan tail it was nice high ground but at that distance, they probably had to raise up the gun angle making shooting little difficult because it can create instability. And the oscillation on water usually dont vary much, so tracking works good for experienced snipers. There is a SOP for simultaneous shot, mostly T of two, but it varies depending on the environment/team. I would have given my right arm to be standing on the fantail with eyes. No matter how many times you see that, it just never gets old.
Absolutely. considering the years of practice, the advance weapons, and the stupidity of the teenage hijackers, this was probably an easy kill even in rough waters. I hope this doesn't turn into some sort of conspiracy theory but it probably will. These were professionals against four complete amateurs. It was a turkey shoot, period.
I want to see a picture of the guys face who was the only one who didnt get shot right after he saw 3 of his friends heads explode at the same time. I would lay down a pretty penny to say its a funny ass picture.
You can bet they were all shot at the same time, so that there wouldn't be time for a survivor to shoot the hostage. The lesson to be learned is by us. We whacked the hornet's nest, so we should expect the swarm of angry hornets stinging everyone within range. Sure we have a really big hammer in the US Navy, but what we need is bug-spray and protective clothing. Translation, the freighters and trawlers really ought to be armed with snipers and rocket launching crews, and folks (like the idiots in the yacht who ignored REPEATED warnings by the French Navy to NOT SAIL INTO THESE WATERS to sail on and get caught, endangering their lives and the lives of the French Specialists who rescued most of them, except for the chief idiot who died in the crossfire) need to avoid sailing into trouble areas without armed escort. Right now, I'm leaning toward thinking all US-Flagged vessels should be required to house at least a squad of Marines, if they are sailing anywhere near the coast of Africa.
Ah i missed this part "A fourth pirate, believed to be in his late teens, had surrendered earlier by jumping in to a small craft delivering food to the lifeboat." I was under the assumption that he was on the craft when the 3 shots were taken.
You don't use bug spray on wasps. i like the marines idea but it would never fly. whats the deal with these ships not being armed at all? I would think a handful (3, 4?) of private security guys would make a big difference no? eh, its been fine so far. the only "problem" has been jubal locking shit then doing the same thing himself i dunno why we need so many mods, we arent THAT rowdy are we?
I thought there was some kind of international treaty against arming non-military ships on the sea? I know some ships have employed non-lethal weapons like water canons before to ward of pirate attacks I mean, it's not like no one has ever thought to have armed security on ships before
And they respond by hijacking more ships? I still say this situation requires some massive response. A small task force could settle this within a day or two, and it would make for some great live fire training.
The thing about escalation is that if overwhelming force was used against a pirate skiff, then you start playing a psychological game. Say if the pirates tried to go after a vessel and it opened up with a couple of .50 cal machine guns and a few rpg's and completely annihilated the skiff and all pirates aboard. It's not like a land-based conflict in which word will somehow get out, or there'll be one survivor who tells everyone else about it. All anyone will know about it on shore is that one pirate ship that went out didn't return. And if that increased in frequency then it'd have a pretty big psychological effect, wouldn't it?
I think they're talking about once they got on-board because after all, it's not piracy until they try to board the ship. (there may be other definitions as to what "piracy" is so don't quote me on this [ie: forcing another vessel off its desired course, etc]).
Really? So if a ship sees a small speedboat with a bunch of heavily armed Somalians heading after it, that doesn't constitute piracy and the ship can't defend itself until they try to board it or open fire on it? I guess that'd probably prevent a few misunderstandings, but it still kinda sucks.
