more news from the coastal african maritime entrepreneurs

back in april of 09, prior to having my own blog, i wrote about the capture of the maersk alabama by somali pirates. good buddy ski, over at global domination was kind enough to post it for me.

since then many other ships have been attacked, including 2 navy vessels, the USS ASHLAND and the USS NICHOLAS, both of which occurred in april of 10. the crews of these vessels had been on patrol off the east coast of africa, due to pirate activity, and were able to capture 11 somalis, which unfortunately were returned to the states to stand trial (at our expense).










18 months ago i opined that the problem was an act of war, and should be handled as such. the countess of cankle, secretary of state hillary clinton had a different opinion, saying that the acts of piracy were criminal. due to that, when the maersk alabama was seized, we sent an fbi negotiator, and a SEAL team, who eventually killed 3 of the 4. the countess formed her opinion on an 1820 ruling by the supreme court. i formed mine based on the fact that the UNITED STATES fought 2 wars against the barbary pirates 1801-1805, and again in 1815.

well, the news today proves that i am right again (something i've known all along). federal district court judge raymond jackson, today (8/17/10) threw out the charges of piracy that the government had leveled against the attackers of the ASHLAND. citing the 1820 supreme court decision judge jackson stated that, "The Government simply fails to cite one case in United States jurisprudence in which the defendant was criminally prosecuted for 'piracy in violation of the law of nations,' for conduct that fell short of robbery or seizure of a ship."

ok, so because they were shitty pirates with really poor eyesight, who fell asleep during the identify, friend or foe, portion of buccaneer school, they get a pass. makes sense to me. intent is not enough. we send the navy to that region due to pirate attacks, pirates attack a ship they believe is an unarmed merchant vessel, get their boat shot out from under them, captured, brought to the land of the golden PX, appointed attorneys at the expense of the taxpayers of the country who's naval vessel they attacked------and have the most serious charges against them thrown out , by a clinton appointed judge.

due to this ruling, the case against the attackers of the NICHOLAS is in jeopardy. oh, they still face a host of charges, but nothing which will keep them in prison for the rest of their lives if convicted.

so what have we got here? lots of money and effort spent by AMERICA to keep the seas free, at personal risk to our sailors and other service members, in an effort to catch "criminals" as defined by hillary, aided one could argue, in their criminal enterprise, by a judge appointed for life to the bench, by her husband bill the philanderer.

now, who does not think it would be better to handle things my way and hunt these bastards down, kill them and all who supply them with everything from toothpaste to tennis shoes, in furtherance of their evil ways?

don't worry boys, by the time this is over, our public defenders will make them give us our own shipping companies!!