# Navy Seals rescue Cap't Phillips **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880 "2009-04-12T20:12:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/61 "2009-04-13T20:47:44Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > How do you shoot with such accuracy when you are on a moving ship aiming at a target on a moving boat? Just amazing, and well done. [Related thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=513945). ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/62 "2009-04-13T21:21:12Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > [Related thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=513945). Thank you for that! In that thread there’s a link to [this CNN video](http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/04/13/lawrence.pirates.rescue.tic.toc.cnn), which gives additional information and more importantly (for me, because I’d been trying to visualize the scene) a computer graphic of how the pirates’ boat was being towed, and a photo of the boat itself. Plus, [here’s a video](http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/04/13/lawrence.pirates.rescue.tic.toc.cnn) of the statement given by Captain Phillip’s wife Andrea (as read by a proxy after Andrea’s initial statement). It’s nice that she not only thanks President Obama but more importantly also reminds people that there are other people still being held hostage and those families need support too. And [here’s an article](http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/13/somalia.rescue.breakdown/index.html) with additional information. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/63 "2009-04-13T21:23:54Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I turned it briefly to Fox News last night, and they were going with an “Easter Miracle” narrative. I thought the SEALs deserved the credit, but apparently Goddidit. I could only stomach a minute or two of it before I had to change the channel. Easter _Seals_. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/64 "2009-04-13T21:48:30Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Thank you for that! In that thread there’s a link to [this CNN video](http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/04/13/lawrence.pirates.rescue.tic.toc.cnn), which gives additional information and more importantly (for me, because I’d been trying to visualize the scene) a computer graphic of how the pirates’ boat was being towed, and a photo of the boat itself. Wow, that’s what lifeboats look like these days? Looks like [something out of Star Wars](http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/5/5f/StormIV_btm.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/65 "2009-04-13T21:51:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told The Associated Press from one of Somalia’s piracy hubs, Eyl, that, “our friends should have done more to kill the captain before they were killed. This will be a good lesson for us.” > > “From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages),” he said. I don’t get the logic here. If you kill them, how are they hostages? Is he saying they should have killed him during mid-negotiations just to show us they meant business? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/66 "2009-04-13T21:55:05Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > I don’t get the logic here. If you kill them, how are they hostages? Is he saying they should have killed him during mid-negotiations just to show us they meant business? Maybe something like a [dead man’s switch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_man%27s_switch) that’ll ensure the Cap’n dies if any of them do? (For example, a hand-held button that must be constantly held down or a bomb will detonate. If the holder is shot, boom. At least that’s the theory… I’m not sure if the body will actually release the grip upon death.) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/67 "2009-04-13T21:57:38Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I turned it briefly to Fox News last night, and they were going with an “Easter Miracle” narrative. I thought the SEALs deserved the credit, but apparently Goddidit. I could only stomach a minute or two of it before I had to change the channel. The Fox front page is currently listing a story that Obama is considering attacking Somali pirate land bases. Sounds like a great idea. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/68 "2009-04-13T22:30:48Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Sadly, I think the total number of sailors being held is something like 260. Sorry, I missed a zero. I knew it was over 200, but I had no idea there were that many. How sad for them and their families. Those men sail with cheaper companies, their work environment and compensation is much worse than where my husband works, and this is what they get in return. Too bad they’ll be forgotten in about, what? 15 minutes? ---
**Author:** ![Spurious\_George](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Spurious\_George](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spurious_George)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/69 "2009-04-13T22:44:46Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Well hopefully the international community will join together to come up with a long term game plan to combat these pirates. > > This raised the stakes on both sides. Ugh. It seems like the international community may have created the pirates, [by fishing in their waters and dumping nuclear waste on their shores](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/you-are-being-lied-to-abo_b_155147.html), since there’s effectively no Somali government to stop them. ---
**Author:** ![Henrichek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5daacb/32.png) [@Henrichek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henrichek)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/70 "2009-04-13T22:54:01Z")
This is bad news. I had hoped that Obama would do better in the struggle against global warming than his predecessor, instead he starts out in the opposite direction by authorizing the killing of pirates. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/71 "2009-04-13T22:59:38Z")
What? That’s sarcasm, right? ---
**Author:** ![Lungfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@Lungfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lungfish)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/72 "2009-04-13T23:12:50Z")
It is a reference to the belief that Pastafarians have that as the number of pirates decreased, the average global temperatures increased as illustrated by this graph: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FSM\_Pirates.png](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FSM_Pirates.png). ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/73 "2009-04-13T23:13:30Z")
It’s a commonly known fact that the frequency of pirating is inversely proportional to the progression of global warming. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/74 "2009-04-13T23:18:00Z")
I found this cartoon [funny](http://www.theweek.com/cartoons/index/95332/Barack_Obama_takes_on_the_Somali_pirate_hostage_crisis). ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/75 "2009-04-14T00:29:17Z")
> [@Lungfish](#): > > It is a reference to the belief that Pastafarians have that as the number of pirates decreased, the average global temperatures increased as illustrated by this graph: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FSM\_Pirates.png](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FSM_Pirates.png). Ah, _laugh_ Got it. Thanks (and to **Ichini Sanshigo** too). That is a funny cartoon **Lakai**. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/76 "2009-04-14T02:30:54Z")
What was pretty badass was that the SEAL team apparently was delvered by parachuting into the water near the destroyer. Then after taking out the pirates, they shimmied down the tow line to the lifeboat. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those SEALS swam up the toilet and killed a pirate while he was taking a crap. Mind bottling. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/77 "2009-04-14T03:00:59Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > they shimmied down the tow line to the lifeboat. I thought that sailors took an inflatable over to the life boat and brought him back. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/78 "2009-04-14T04:08:25Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Out of curiosity, does anyone know what Limbaugh, _et al_ have been saying today? I don’t expect that they would admit they were wrong or give Obama any credit, but how are they trying to spin it? This is what I gleaned happened: Limbaugh, who can occasionally be self-aware, realized that he’d look like the douche he is if he came right out and said anything against President Obama, so he went the opposite direction and praised him to the hilt, but in a winkwinknudgenudge way that would tell his listeners “Look, I hate Obama as much as you do, but they’re listening and so I’m being over the top on purpose. YOU know how I really feel, and I know how I really feel, so let’s have some fun.” Unfortunately, most of his listeners were too stupid to realize he was being facetious in his praise, and he got a lot of callers that sounded hurt and betrayed by Limbaugh’s praise. The freepers who had been [blasting](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2227635/posts) Obama all day (week, month, year) even got a [dopey thread](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2228329/posts) going regarding Limbaugh’s praise, though at least some of the freepers got what Limbaugh was doing. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/79 "2009-04-14T16:36:14Z")
Wow. So we conservatives can’t do anything right, can we? Noted for future reference. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880/80 "2009-04-14T17:02:02Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Wow. So we conservatives can’t do anything right, can we? > > Noted for future reference. It might be helpful if you pointed out something that Rush Limbaugh, or any other of the current bunch of conservatives, got right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seals-rescue-capt-phillips/492880.md?page=5)