No U.S. Military Response To Surge In Piracy, Says Mattis
By Idrees Ali (Reuters) The United States is closely watching a recent increase in piracy off the coast of Somalia, a senior U.S. military official said on Sunday as Defense...
Updated: January 3, 2009 (Originally published September 30, 2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNAThG3mvkY
Read the full story at CNN.com | LINK
Also, see just how close the US Navy is monitoring the situation | LINK
In related news the NY Times finally got an interview with the Pirate Spokesman.
Q. Tell us how you discovered the weapons on board.
A. As soon as we get on a ship, we normally do what is called a control. We search everything. That’s how we found the weapons. Tanks, anti-aircraft, artillery. That’s all we will say right now.Q. Were you surprised?
A. No, we weren’t surprised. We know everything goes through the sea. We see people who dump waste in our waters. We see people who illegally fish in our waters. We see people doing all sorts of things in our waters.Q. Are you going to sell the weapons to insurgents?
A. No. We don’t want these weapons to go to anyone in Somalia. Somalia has suffered from many years of destruction because of all these weapons. We don’t want that suffering and chaos to continue. We are not going to offload the weapons. We just want the money.Q. How much?
A. $20 million, in cash. We don’t use any other system than cash.Q. Will you negotiate?
A. That’s deal making. Common sense says human beings can make deals.Q. Right now, the American Navy has you surrounded. Are you scared?
A. No, we’re not scared. We are prepared. We are not afraid because we know you only die once.
You can read the full interview HERE.
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