US Navy saves Iranian sailors from pirates

[Riot]

"US Navy Frees Iranians From Pirates - US to Iran 'How do you like them apples?"

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/0...es?via=siderec

In the last week or so the Iranian navy has repeatedly been boasting of its capabilities and threatening to attack the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis if it attempts to pass through the Strait of Hormuz again. They've threatened to shut down all traffic of crude oil through the Strait, and Iran's parliament is debating a measure that would require the US Navy to get permission before passing through the international waterway.

Cue today's story

http://abcnews.go.com/...

[bigrun]

The Iranian sailors left the ship with a hug and wearing USS Kidd caps...nice touch...

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by bigrun

The Iranian sailors left the ship with a hug and wearing USS Kidd caps...nice touch...

Again one must remember that our beef isn't with the Iranian people but their idiot government.

[DaTruth]

It is nice that we saved the Iranian fisherman. Too bad our Navy doesn't take a more aggressive approach against pirates preying on merchant vessels and pleasure craft.

Well it's totally o.k. To bomb their country now.

Or, better still, have Israel do it. Some itchy trigger fingers with Iran squarely in their sights.


Ocala Mike

[clyde]

You fools...that Iranian Fishy Ship.




That is the Iranian Armada!!

[Danzig]

you'd think irans tremendous naval force could have saved their own folks-i mean, that juggernaut has enough force to keep us out of the gulf, to close the strait of hormuz...

anyway, glad they were rescued.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by Ocala Mike

Or, better still, have Israel do it. Some itchy trigger fingers with Iran squarely in their sights.


Ocala Mike

Israel will do the dirty work, just like they did against Iraq in 1981.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

It is nice that we saved the Iranian fisherman. Too bad our Navy doesn't take a more aggressive approach against pirates preying on merchant vessels and pleasure craft.

Navy Seals kill Somali Pirates, Captain Richards Rescued
By LEE FERRAN
April 13, 2009

At least one former SEAL was not surprised that each of the three Somali pirates was killed with just one shot, despite the fact that they were on a rolling sea and the Navy snipers had to make a successful "head shot," something he said is "extremely difficult."

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by Riot

That definitely showed the pirates about who is boss. The only pirates that you see today are played by Johnny Depp. Of course, for those who elevate symbolism over long term results, taking out a few Somali pirates is sufficient.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

That definitely showed the pirates about who is boss. The only pirates that you see today are played by Johnny Depp. Of course, for those who elevate symbolism over long term results, taking out a few Somali pirates is sufficient.

I'm not sure why you say our navy doesn't aggressively go after pirates. Our navy aggressively patrols international waters off the coast of Africa and the Sea of Hormuz just to look for pirates, and aggressively engages them when found. The above isn't the only instance.

Why do you think we do not do that? It doesn't make sense. Our navy deliberately and aggressively goes after pirates constantly, they patrol certain international waters just to keep merchant vessels safe from pirates.

U.S. Navy frees ship from suspected Indian Ocean pirates
PIRACY
March 06, 2011|By the CNN Wire Staff

The USS Bulkeley helped rescue an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean from suspected pirates on Saturday.

A U.S. Navy ship came to the rescue of an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean on Saturday after four suspected pirates climbed aboard.

The Japanese-owned MV Guanabara reported it was under attack Friday afternoon 328 nautical miles southeast of Oman, the Navy said. The Guanabara had 24 crew members aboard.

The warship USS Bulkeley, assigned to the Combined Maritime Forces' CTF-151 counter-piracy mission, was directed to intercept the Guanabara, supported by the Turkish warship TCG Giresun of NATO's counter-piracy task force.

After Guanabara's master confirmed to the Bulkeley that his crew had taken refuge in the ship's citadel room, or secure compartment, the Bulkeley's specialist boarding team climbed aboard Saturday, detained the four men and secured the vessel, the Navy said.

There was no exchange of fire at any time during the operation, and an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter supported the boarding team from the air, the Navy added.

Officials said they are still deciding what to do with the suspected pirates. The U.S. Navy did not disclose the nationalities of those detained or where they were being taken.

"Through our mutual cooperation and shared coordination, CTF-151 and our partner organizations has prevented the kidnapping of legitimate mariners who sought only to go peacefully about their business," said CMF's counter-piracy commander, Commodore Abdul Alheem. "Today, there will be a merchant ship sailing freely that would not be doing so were it not for the efforts of CTF-151."

The Combined Maritime Forces is a naval partnership of 25 member nations including the United States that works to disrupt piracy and armed robbery and improve security in international waters off the Middle East.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by Riot

I'm not sure why you say our navy doesn't aggressively go after pirates. Our navy aggressively patrols international waters off the coast of Africa and the Sea of Hormuz just to look for pirates, and aggressively engages them when found. The above isn't the only instance.

Why do you think we do not do that? It doesn't make sense. Our navy deliberately and aggressively goes after pirates constantly, they patrol certain international waters just to keep merchant vessels safe from pirates.

So our navy aggressively goes after pirates, yet sea piracy remains a huge problem for merchant and pleasure vessels off the coast of Africa and the Sea of Hormuz? That doesn't say much about our navy, as well as the naval forces of other world powers, does it?

[Riot]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

So our navy aggressively goes after pirates, yet sea piracy remains a huge problem for merchant and pleasure vessels off the coast of Africa and the Sea of Hormuz? That doesn't say much about our navy, as well as the naval forces of other world powers, does it?

Kinda like how police departments across the country aggressively go after criminals, but yet, criminals remain. Guess our police departments suck. If they were any good, all the criminals would be gone.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

So our navy aggressively goes after pirates, yet sea piracy remains a huge problem for merchant and pleasure vessels off the coast of Africa and the Sea of Hormuz? That doesn't say much about our navy, as well as the naval forces of other world powers, does it?

i think it's strait of hormuz, oman sea...at any rate, there's a lot of ocean out there. we don't have our fleet out there at all times; that would be impossible.
typically a ship does a six month cruise in a 3 year period. they have shorter times at sea at other times. but saltwater and time at sea is hard on a ship-they have to re-fit, perform maintenance, and of course you have to take the sailors into consideration.
so, take the number of ships and do the math to see how often a portion is at sea. also consider that a part of that number is assigned to a carrier to form a battle group-they sail when she sails. that group in turn is part of a fleet-the fifth in bahrain for example. and of course part of each fleet is submarines.
so, take that number, and then look at the sheer amount of water to be covered. it's a difficult task. we're spread thin, with plenty of places we have to patrol.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by Riot

Kinda like how police departments across the country aggressively go after criminals, but yet, criminals remain. Guess our police departments suck. If they were any good, all the criminals would be gone.

I don't know why I even bother responding to you, oh mistress of propaganda.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by Danzig

i think it's strait of hormuz, oman sea...at any rate, there's a lot of ocean out there. we don't have our fleet out there at all times; that would be impossible.
typically a ship does a six month cruise in a 3 year period. they have shorter times at sea at other times. but saltwater and time at sea is hard on a ship-they have to re-fit, perform maintenance, and of course you have to take the sailors into consideration.
so, take the number of ships and do the math to see how often a portion is at sea. also consider that a part of that number is assigned to a carrier to form a battle group-they sail when she sails. that group in turn is part of a fleet-the fifth in bahrain for example. and of course part of each fleet is submarines.
so, take that number, and then look at the sheer amount of water to be covered. it's a difficult task. we're spread thin, with plenty of places we have to patrol.

I copied sea of Hormuz from Riot. You know that she is always right.

The U.S. Navy either goes after pirates aggressively or it doesn't. I don't think it does. We don't need naval vessels to track suspected pirates; we can depend on our eyes in the sky to do that. It isn't like the pirates are taking over vessels and disappearing, as they are holding the vessels and crew captive for ransom, although in one instance they killed Americans as retaliation for a pirate receiving a lengthy prison sentence.

Who knows why we don't treat sea piracy as seriously as we should. Our government doesn't take our illegal immigration problem as seriously as it should either, so why should I expect it to devote the resources and personnel to a problem a world away.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

The U.S. Navy either goes after pirates aggressively or it doesn't. I don't think it does.

Who knows why we don't treat sea piracy as seriously as we should.

You don't "think" the US Navy goes after pirates aggressively? You don't "think" we treat sea piracy seriously? Fine.

Got any, you know, actual evidence for that opinion? Or is it true just because you think it? Why do you think we do not do that?

We are part of a 25-nation anti-sea piracy organization, with some of our naval troops devoted to this international cause. So please, tell us why your opinion has any basis in example. Because you just saying it doesn't make it true.

And don't get me wrong: I'm not saying your opinion is wrong or not true. I'm just saying it doesn't seem to be backed by any obvious evidence. As I asked you before, why do you hold that opinion?

Our government doesn't take our illegal immigration problem as seriously as it should either,

Yeah. More illegals have been kicked out in the past three years than in the entirely of the Bush administration.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

I copied sea of Hormuz from Riot. You know that she is always right.

The U.S. Navy either goes after pirates aggressively or it doesn't. I don't think it does. We don't need naval vessels to track suspected pirates; we can depend on our eyes in the sky to do that. It isn't like the pirates are taking over vessels and disappearing, as they are holding the vessels and crew captive for ransom, although in one instance they killed Americans as retaliation for a pirate receiving a lengthy prison sentence.

Who knows why we don't treat sea piracy as seriously as we should. Our government doesn't take our illegal immigration problem as seriously as it should either, so why should I expect it to devote the resources and personnel to a problem a world away.

well, for one, it's not a priority for us. honestly, have the pirates really affected americans? i don't think they have. in the grand scheme of things, i'd imagine it's far down our list of things to do. those countries affected more have capabilities to go over there-it doesn't seem high on their list either.
like i showed above, we do have limited resources. we have to choose which battles to fight.
obviously if we had a naval presence right there, the pirates would stay on shore. once we leave, they'd be back out there. and we've got plenty of other things to handle as well.

as for illegal immigration, we've had that discussion on here before. and that all comes down to money. unless someone is paying cash under the table, it's not a big issue for the feds. social security benefits from all the money flowing in from undocumented workers and their employers-but they'll never collect that, will they? now, give them citizenship-and you've got future collectors. it's all about the money. it's always about the money.

[Riot]

I guess it's just that if the actuality doesn't feed the preconceived idea, you ignore it.
-----------------
Deportations from the United States increased by more than 60 percent from 2003 to 2008, with Mexicans accounting for nearly two-thirds of those deported.

Under the Obama administration, deportations have increased to record levels beyond the level reached by the George W. Bush administration with a projected 400,000 deportations in 2010, 10 percent above the deportation rate of 2008 and 25 percent above 2007.

Fiscal year 2011 saw 396,906 deportations, the largest number in the history of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Of those, 216,698 had been convicted of crimes, including:

* 44,653 convicted of "drug-related crimes"
* 35,927 convicted of driving under the influence
* 5,848 aliens convicted of sexual offenses
* 1,119 convicted of homicide