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Somali pirates vow to kill American sailors
By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Associated Press Writer – 9 mins ago
MOMBASA, Kenya – Somali pirates vowed to hunt down American ships and kill their sailors Wednesday and French forces detained 11 other hijackers in a high-seas raid, raising tensions a day after an abortive attack on a U.S. freighter loaded with food aid.
Pirates fired grenades and automatic weapons at the Liberty Sun, but its American crew successfully blockaded themselves inside the engine room. The ship was damaged in Tuesday's attack but escaped and was heading to Kenya under U.S. Navy guard.
A pirate whose gang attacked the aid ship admitted Wednesday that his group was targeting American ships and sailors.
"We will seek out the Americans and if we capture them we will slaughter them," said a 25-year-old pirate based in the Somali port of Harardhere who gave only his first name, Ismail.
"We will target their ships because we know their flags. Last night, an American-flagged ship escaped us by a whisker. We have showered them with rocket-propelled grenades," boasted Ismail, who did not take part in the attack on the Liberty Sun.
The move comes after U.S. Navy sharpshooters killed three pirates Sunday to win the release of a hijacked American sea captain, Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama.
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Somali pirates vow to kill American sailors
So, what do you think is going to come out of all this?
Did the U.S. Navy do the right thing, killing those pirates who took the American captain, Richard Phillips, hostage?
Is this the beginning of rampant pirate brutality and bloodshed, on the modern-day high seas?
Should the U.S. and other nations form a coalition and wage open war on these pirates? Or can this pirate problem somehow be handled peacefully if not diplomatically?
What do you think about how the Obama administration is handling this problem, so far? How do you think the Bush administration would've handled it?