(Image source: CBS)
BY MALLORY PERRYMAN
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“Four American hostages that had been held captive by Somali pirates have been killed.” (MSNBC)
“Apparently gun fire was heard aboard that pirated vessel.” (CNN)
“The Orange County couple’s yacht was hijacked as it was sailing in the Indian Ocean on a trip to deliver Bibles.” (KCBS)
Somali pirates fatally shot four American hostages after hijacking their yacht, the Quest, off the coast of Oman.
MSNBC reports- the tragic turn of events happened as U.S. military vessels tailed the yacht- trying to negotiate a deal.
Jim Miklaszewski: “US military officials say that all 15 of those pirates have been killed or captured themselves. Over the past couple of days, military and an FBI negotiating team had been talking to the pirates trying to convince them to release those hostages.”
CNN’s Kyra Phillips points out what most media outlets focused on- pirates are usually out for treasure- not murder. She asks world reporter Zain Verjee….what’s changed?
Zain Verjee: “That is the question everyone in the maritime security is asking. The answer is that there is a fear that Islamic extremism has now crept into piracy. ..You see Al-Shabab has taken control of most of Somalia and it is also dealing with the pirates, arguing with the pirates for more money and there’s basically a power struggle going on.”
A power struggle…maybe. A blogger for LA Weekly speculates- the pirates’ motive could be more obvious- writing the American boaters...
“...may be paying for the recent U.S. Federal court sentencing of [a] Somali pirate…who was handed 34 years in prison just two days before the O.C. couple was targeted. “
That blogger also points out- a Somali pirate told an Associated Press reporter Americans would suffer quote “regrettable consequences” for the sentence.
On Fox News, Brian Kilmeade talked with a retired Navy captain who says- the Quest should never have been in a pirate zone in the first place. He points out- the US is spending a lot of money trying to negotiate with pirates- money that’s just fueling the trade.
Ret. Capt. Chuck Nash: “You run the risk when you go through there, especially if you’re a small sailing vessel like the Quest because they see money there.”
Brian Kilmeade: “And if you pay off these guys to get these people back that could all feed into the war on terror and it could end up coming back against our troops.”
Ret. Capt. Chuck Nash: “You know Brian, I wish more people would start thinking that way.”
Finally, a Wired reporter writes- pirates may continue this trend of killing or torturing hostages in order to be taken more seriously. And that’s something the US can’t afford to deal with.
“… if the world’s governments perceive pirates as a serious threat…then the governments’ ‘cure’ for piracy could end up being worse than the ‘disease.’ Today’s low-intensity ‘war on piracy’ could morph into something akin to the unending, politically charged, super-expensive ‘war on terrorism.’”
The commander of US naval forces in the region says this incident is the deadliest one he can recall involving US citizens held by pirates. According to the Piracy Reporting Center- pirates took more than 1100 hostages in 2010.
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