4 Americans on hijacked yacht dead off Somalia
Updated 3:51 p.m. ET
A pirate fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. Navy destroyer shadowing a hijacked yacht with four Americans aboard Tuesday. Then gunfire erupted, the military said. U.S. special forces rushed to the yacht only to find the four Americans fatally wounded.
The experienced yacht enthusiasts from California and Washington are the first Americans killed by Somali pirates since the start of attacks off East Africa several years ago. One of the American couples on board had been sailing around the world since 2004 handing out Bibles.
PICTURES: 4 Americans on hijacked yacht dead off Somalia
Their deaths appeared to underscore an increasingly brutal and aggressive shift by pirates in their treatment of hostages.
Killing hostages "has now become part of our rules," said a pirate who identified himself as Muse Abdi and referred to last week's sentencing of a pirate to 33 years in prison for the 2009 attack on the U.S. cargo vessel the Maersk Alabama.
"From now on, anyone who tries to rescue the hostages in our hands will only collect dead bodies," he said. "It will never ever happen that hostages are rescued and we are hauled to prison."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton strongly condemned the killings, saying in a statement that the slayings were "deplorable" and underscored the need for international cooperation in fighting the scourge of piracy in waters off the Horn of Africa.
Pirates had hijacked the 58-foot yacht Quest south of Oman on Friday. Since then, four U.S. warships and sky-high drones shadowed the vessel's movement as pirates tried to sail it to the Somali shore. U.S. officials negotiated with the captors via radio.
On Monday, two pirates had peacefully come aboard the USS Sterett to negotiate with naval forces for the release of the hostages, and remained aboard overnight.
But at 8 a.m. East Africa time Tuesday, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired from the Quest at the USS Sterett, a guided-missile destroyer 600 yards away. The RPG missed and almost immediately afterward small arms fire was heard coming from the yacht, said Vice Adm. Mark Fox, commander of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
U.S. forces converged on the Quest in small boats and some pirates moved to bow and put up their hands in surrender.
A member of a U.S. special operations force killed one of the pirates with a knife, Fox said. A second pirate was also killed, and the bodies of two other pirates were discovered on board, bringing to 19 the total number of pirates involved. The U.S. military didn't say how those two died and it was not known if the pirates had fought among themselves.
There were no injuries to U.S. forces or damage to U.S. ships, Fox said.
The Quest was the home of Jean and Scott Adam, a couple from California who had been sailing around the world since December 2004 with a yacht full of Bibles. The two other Americans on board were Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, of Seattle, Wash.
Adam, in his mid-60s, had been an associate producer in Hollywood when he turned in a spiritual direction and enrolled in the seminary a decade ago, said Robert K. Johnston, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena and a friend of Adam's.
"He decided he could take his pension, and he wanted to serve God and humankind," he said.
Johnston and Adam worked together to start a film and theology institute. Adam also taught a class on church and media at the school.
Since 2004, the Adams lived on their yacht in Marina Del Rey for about half the year and the rest of the year they sailed around the world, often distributing Bibles in remote parts of the Fiji Islands, Alaska, New Zealand, Central America and French Polynesia, Johnston said.
Scott and Jane Adam documented their maritime missionary work on their website, S/V Quest Adventure Log.
"Great sailors, good people. They were doing what they wanted to do, but that's small comfort in the face of this," said Joe Grande of the Seattle Singles Yacht Club, where Riggle and Macay were members.
Pirates have increased attacks off the coast of East Africa in recent years despite an international flotilla of warships dedicated to protecting vessels and stopping the pirate assaults.
But the conventional wisdom in the shipping industry had been that Somali pirates are businessmen looking for a multimillion-dollar ransom payday, not insurgents looking to terrorize people.
"We have heard threats against the lives of Americans before but it strikes me as being very, very unusual why they would kill hostages outright," said Graeme Gibbon-Brooks, the head of Dryad Maritime Intelligence, adding that the pirates must realize that killing Americans would invite a military response.
President Barack Obama, who was notified about the deaths at 4:42 a.m. Washington time, had authorized the military on Saturday to use force in case of an imminent threat to the hostages, said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
Around Christmas the Quest joined the Blue Water Rally, an around-the-world race. But race organizers said the Quest recently left the race despite what Fox said were warnings about the dangers of sailing in Horn of Africa region.
The Blue Water Rally said in a statement Tuesday that though yachtsmen are discouraged from sailing in the region, the only other choices are to sail around the stormy and dangerous tip of South Africa or sail back across the Pacific.
The Adams were skilled and experienced sailors, having traveled from Panama in 2005 to Fiji in 2007 and Cambodia last year. They most recently sailed from Thailand to Sri Lanka and India, and were on their way to Oman when captured.
Johnston said that despite an adventurous spirit, the Adams were meticulous planners who knew the dangers they faced. The couple had sailed with a large flotilla to stay safe from pirates near Thailand earlier in the trip.
Motivated by million-dollar ransoms, pirates have become increasingly bold in their attacks despite a flotilla of international warships patrolling the waters off East Africa. The last time pirates kidnapped a U.S. citizen — during the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama — Navy sharpshooters killed two pirates and rescued the ship's captain.
But Tuesday's bloody events are apt to leave U.S. military planners in a quandary: Do they go after the pirates harder? Do they attack their bases on Somalia's ungoverned shores? One maritime expert said it's too early to tell.
"This is a first," said Gibbon-Brooks, the analyst. "We don't know if the situation is related to a straight execution. We don't know if it was related to an attempt to break free. We don't know if it was related to an accident."
Gibbon-Brooks said the killings were "extremely unwise" by the Somalis, and that the deaths threaten what has been a successful and lucrative business model.
Two days before the hijacking, a New York court sentenced a pirate to 33 years in prison for the 2009 attack on the Maersk Alabama, a U.S. cargo vessel. A pirate in Somalia told the AP last week that pirates were more likely to attack Americans because of the sentencing.
"It's a black day for us and also the Americans, but they lost bigger than us," a pirate who said his name was Bile Hussein said. "If they still want a solution and safety for their citizens in the oceans, let them release our men they arrested."
Only minutes before the military announced that the four Americans had died, a Somali pirate told AP by phone that if the yacht were attacked, "the hostages will be the first to go."
"Some pirates have even suggested rigging the yacht with land mines and explosives so as the whole yacht explodes with the first gunshot," said the pirate, who gave his name as Abdullahi Mohamed, who claimed to be a friend of the pirates holding the four Americans.
Pirates — who currently hold 30 ships and more than 660 hostages — typically win a multimillion ransom for releasing their captives, a huge sum that is shared among investors and pirates. The money is often spent on alcohol, drugs and prostitutes. One ransom paid last year was reported as $9.5 million. Most ransoms are worth several million dollars.
Given that typical financial motivation, Tuesday's killings left several unanswered questions, such as whether the pirates, being trailed by the Americans, believed there was no way to avoid spending years in a U.S. prison, or if the American forces spooked the pirates by approaching the yacht, or even if the hostages had tried to retake the yacht from the pirates.
The military said U.S. forces have been monitoring the Quest for about three days, since shortly after the Friday attack. Four Navy warships were involved, including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.
Mohamed, the pirate in Somalia, told AP that pirate leaders had been expecting the yacht to make landfall soon.
Five cars full of pirates were headed toward the pirate dens of Eyl and Gara'ad in anticipation of the Quest reaching land Monday, he said. Had the four reached land, they may have faced a long hostage ordeal like the 388 days that the British sailing couple Paul and Rachel Chandler spent in the hands of pirates. The two were released in November.
"This incident is a clear message and alarm that it's time the world community quickly steps up to stop these pirate criminal activities. They should be treated mercilessly," said Gen. Yusuf Ahmed Khayr, the security minister in the northern Somalia region of Puntland, a pirate haven.
The Adams ran a Bible ministry and had been distributing Bibles to schools and churches in remote villages in areas including the Fiji Islands, Alaska, New Zealand, Central America and French Polynesia.
At the Seattle Singles Yacht Club, friend Hank Curci said Riggle and Macay were carrying out a lifelong dream.
"Now that they're gone it's just difficult for us to accept because it's like having a family member killed," he said.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- S. Korea: N. Korea launches short-range missiles
- U.K. police announce new leads in missing girl case
- Photos of the Week 21 Photos
- Drone technology myths, facts and future feats
- Plane catches fire on Moscow runway Play Video
- Russia strikes back after expelling alleged U.S. spy
- U.N. panel: Sanctions delaying NKorea nuke program
- Dramatic video appears to show 747 crash in Afghanistan
I'm glad that they cleared the air there. That makes it a lot easier. There's a designated shipping lane through the area. All that is needed is that all boats travelling that lane must have a marine radio and they simply register with the military authorities when they arrive at the lane. Then they wait until a sufficient number of boats has accumulated into a flotilla, and then a military warship escorts the flotilla through the area. If the military detects a boat approaching the flotilla they just blow it up.
In my opinion these yachtsmen shouldn't have been in the area in the first place. This was a pleasure cruise of theirs and that area is full of pirates.
Somalis have a life expectancy of 50 years. Most will live on less than a dollar a day. Within this economy, being involved in piracy gives an economic advantage comparable to that of the financial oligarchs of the northern hemisphere.
There is considerable doubt as to whether they are murderers as well:
"American officials said it was unclear whether they had been executed or killed in the pirates' cross-fire."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41753342/ns/world_news-the_new_york_times/
And those dumb tourists in their half million dollars boat, did not CARE about what the US has done to Somalia. They are Americans, rulers of the world and the seven seas. Everyone in the world is uupposed to step aside when Americans come through. You know we have the complete respect of the entire world, right?
Especially when our citizens cant even tell you what freaking ocean Somalia lies on after reading a 1000 word story in which the Indian Ocean is mentioned several times. yep, thats a people I would respect.
IMAO!!!
His government fell 1991 and those exclusive deals became worthless in the absence of a viable government to enforce those claims.
Bush senior sent in the marines to protect corporate oil interests. Their behavior was one of the murkiest blots on US military history culminating with the botched delta force attempt to capture Mohamed Aideed. This in turn resulted in the massacre of nearly 1000 Somalis (a significant number were US held female and child hostages ) and lead to the reprisal killing of 18 Americans.
Somalia has not had an overall government since.
You keep saying the same things, copying each others' posts and labeling each others political position like you are in love. This thread is actually for people who have comments about the topic. You guys just keep going at each other like two dogs in heat. If anyone else agrees, then great. If you don't-well I guess I really don't care. It just needed to be said. You guys need to get a life. Now-I am going to go to bed, because I have a life.
It's so nice to know you are able to determine who is a contributing member of society!
"The end, justifies your means, no matter what."
A superpower does not negotiate with stateless barbarism -- nor accord those practicing it any particular standing -- if for no other reason than *it has no need* to do so.
Let us also recognize that the Somali pirates are not savages, in the traditional sense. They are not ignorant, "innocent" heathens like the indigenous headhunters of the bush. They understand the world is round; the existence of a 24-hour global electronic media; and the omnipresence of the American hyperpower.
And while it is true that the pirates' calculus would be different were we to have a man like Reagan in the White House again -- rather than the current occupant, who leaps at every opportunity to prostrate himself before foreign potentates -- the Somalis must SURELY KNOW they're nonetheless playing with fire.
Furthermore, you rail against the calls here for summary execution, which you describe as advocating murder. But history is replete with codes which demanded such treatment in these contexts. And, at the risk of offending your delicate sensibilities, if our military officers had STANDING ORDERS to carry out such executions, well then, "lawlessness" and "murder" (yes, your favorite word again) would never enter the equation, would it. (So obvious, isn't it. Why do I have to point this out?)
You emphasize the need for process. Do you think Napolitano and Holder can solve this problem? Do you want TRIALS? Should Marines be reading this loathsome, murderous lot their Miranda rights? Should WARRANTS have to be served?
Some might even call your prescription an effort to milk the situation, and prevent a permanent solution. (Is that below the belt?)
I remind you that since the Second World War, America has entered a number of major conflicts, and definitive victories have eluded us in just about ALL of them.
A major reason for this is people like YOU. Because the requisite level of force to secure undeniable victory is unthinkable to weak-willed, modern liberals like yourself -- and thus politically impossible to wield -- the enemy is heartened; conflicts rage for years; America slowly bleeds from a thousand cuts; and ultimately, the number of casualties ON BOTH SIDES potentially exceeds what a massive onslaught from the inception would have resulted in.
These failures of ours are not without cost to the "victors", either: witness the nightmarish conditions in North Korea and Indochina following our withdrawal. Arguably, I remind, liberals are complicit.
But let me educate you, as your understanding of armed conflict is pathetically inadequate: it is not only NATION-STATES which can wage war. May I introduce the phrase? It exists for a reason: NON-STATE ACTORS. And militaries the world over have confronted such entities SINCE THE DAWN OF HISTORY. The Somali pirates -- AND THEIR SUPPORT STRUCTURES ON THE MAINLAND -- are excellent candidates for such treatment.
By the way, you might be pleased that *I don't necessarily support* summary execution for these pirates. Not out of principle, mind you, but only because I suspect they would be worth MORE TO US alive than dead (at least in the short term).
In closing, it must be wonderful to be so convinced of your moral superiority. But that compassionate, oh-so-principled attitude of yours currently keeps hundreds of *MY FELLOW WESTERNERS* captive in wretched squalor, PRAYING for a chance of salvation -- and amazingly, all for the sake of people who WOULD CUT YOUR DAMN LIBERAL THROAT wide open *on a moment's notice*, had they only the chance; and protecting people for whom NORMAL, mentally healthy Americans care *not one whit*.
I will say it again:
May God save America from liberals.
@ The Glider
"A superpower does not negotiate with stateless barbarism -- nor accord those practicing it any particular standing -- if for no other reason than *it has no need* to do so."
---
My how you can bloviate! You're like a Wagner opera, full of words and crescendos, chest-beating and posturing, yet signifying nothing at all.
America has a responsibility as the leader of democracy in the free world, to adhere to the rule of law. It is what defines us from those societies which change laws at a whim to suit their particular purpose. Although we are not perfect at it, we have a long standing and honorable tradition of trying to do just this.
"Let us also recognize that the Somali pirates are not savages, in the traditional sense. They are not ignorant, "innocent" heathens like the indigenous headhunters of the bush. They understand the world is round; the existence of a 24-hour global electronic media; and the omnipresence of the American hyperpower."
---
What does this have to do with anything? You just threw this is for filler no doubt.
"And while it is true that the pirates' calculus would be different were we to have a man like Reagan in the White House again -- rather than the current occupant, who leaps at every opportunity to prostrate himself before foreign potentates -- the Somalis must SURELY KNOW they're nonetheless playing with fire."
---
Up until this point, I have shown restraint, but seeing as how you simply refuse to re-evaluate yourself and educate yourself on the topic at hand, I will oblige you and expose you for the ignorant loudmouth you are.
For your information, you understand nothing about the piracy situation in the Gulf of Aden. Furthermore, you are obviously unaware of Combined Task Force 151. Right now, at this moment, and for many years now, there has been a designated multi-national military patrolled route of passage through the Gulf of Aden. CTF 151 operates in the Gulf of Aden and off the eastern coast of Somalia covering an area of approximately 1.1 million square miles.
CTF 151 is a multinational task force established in January 2009 to conduct counterpiracy operations under a mission-based mandate throughout the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) area of responsibility to actively deter, disrupt and suppress piracy in order to protect global maritime security and secure freedom of navigation for the benefit of all nations.
CTF 151 has previously been commanded by the U.S. Navy, the Korean Navy and the Turkish Navy. The command staff is comprised of personnel from a number of coalition countries, and it manages daily operations from onboard the TCG Gokceada.
Pakistan Navy Cdre. Abdul Aleem currently commands CTF 151
As I stated before, it's a multinational problem affecting international shipping routes. It is not an American problem nor is the solution for America to act unilaterally in a capricious manner. Obviously, you've never heard of joint operations before. Figures.
"Furthermore, you rail against the calls here for summary execution, which you describe as advocating murder. But history is replete with codes which demanded such treatment in these contexts. And, at the risk of offending your delicate sensibilities, if our military officers had STANDING ORDERS to carry out such executions, well then, "lawlessness" and "murder" (yes, your favorite word again) would never enter the equation, would it. (So obvious, isn't it. Why do I have to point this out?)"
---
I challenge you to provide any specific example whereby military commanders on the United States were authorized and in fact directed to indiscriminately bomb and kill civilian populations as a response to the actions of a small group of lawless brigands. You won't be able to. There is no justification for such actions.
"You emphasize the need for process. Do you think Napolitano and Holder can solve this problem? Do you want TRIALS? Should Marines be reading this loathsome, murderous lot their Miranda rights? Should WARRANTS have to be served?"
---
You never miss an opportunity to display your ignorance do you? I don't suppose you've ever heard of a little thing called Admiralty and Maritime Law or the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea? No, that would require educating yourself. They deal with specifically how this problem can be dealt with lawfully.
---
Below the belt? Oh that's totally expected from dimwits like you. You have no facts or knowledge to back up your hot air, so all you have left is schoolyard behavior.
"I remind you that since the Second World War, America has entered a number of major conflicts, and definitive victories have eluded us in just about ALL of them."
---
Again, this has nothing to do with the situation in the Gulf of Aden. More hot air from you.
"A major reason for this is people like YOU. Because the requisite level of force to secure undeniable victory is unthinkable to weak-willed, modern liberals like yourself -- and thus politically impossible to wield -- the enemy is heartened; conflicts rage for years; America slowly bleeds from a thousand cuts; and ultimately, the number of casualties ON BOTH SIDES potentially exceeds what a massive onslaught from the inception would have resulted in."
---
Your good at political correctness. Why hide behind euphemisms like "requisite level of force to secure undeniable victory" when you can just say what you really mean; wanton slaughter and potential genocide.
America bleeds, but it is from the anachronistic mutterings of people like you. You understand nothing about how a military force contends with a highly mobile and readily undistinguishable enemy, leta alone who to act as a police force.
I doubt you've spent one day in the uniformed service of this nation. It clearly shows.
"These failures of ours are not without cost to the "victors", either: witness the nightmarish conditions in North Korea and Indochina following our withdrawal. Arguably, I remind, liberals are complicit."
---
More hot air. Again, nothing to do with the issue at hand.
Furthermore, your constant tossing around of incorrect labels only further demonstrates your naivet? of the facts.
"But let me educate you, as your understanding of armed conflict is pathetically inadequate: it is not only NATION-STATES which can wage war. May I introduce the phrase? It exists for a reason: NON-STATE ACTORS. And militaries the world over have confronted such entities SINCE THE DAWN OF HISTORY. The Somali pirates -- AND THEIR SUPPORT STRUCTURES ON THE MAINLAND -- are excellent candidates for such treatment.
---
You couldn't educate me about anything. I'm quite convinced that you couldn't think you way out of a paper bag. Furthermore, as I stated about, CTF-151 is working to resolve the situation, but then again, you didn't know this otherwise you would make such supremely stupid statements.
"By the way, you might be pleased that *I don't necessarily support* summary execution for these pirates. Not out of principle, mind you, but only because I suspect they would be worth MORE TO US alive than dead (at least in the short term)."
---
No doubt, given your propensity for barbarisim. I bet you'd volunteer for the job of Grand Inquisitor!
"In closing, it must be wonderful to be so convinced of your moral superiority. But that compassionate, oh-so-principled attitude of yours currently keeps hundreds of *MY FELLOW WESTERNERS* captive in wretched squalor, PRAYING for a chance of salvation -- and amazingly, all for the sake of people who WOULD CUT YOUR DAMN LIBERAL THROAT wide open *on a moment's notice*, had they only the chance; and protecting people for whom NORMAL, mentally healthy Americans care *not one whit*."
---
Compared to you, a common garden snail is morally superior. No amount of rational thought and explanation will sway you from your bloodlust.
"I will say it again: May God save America from liberals."
---
How trite. I prefer to think that education will save us from another generation of brain-dead individuals like you.
Nothing you have said has any value. You have no knowledge of the matters you are babbling about, and your bloodlust is evident. God save us all from dangerous people like you.
-------------------------------------------
did the seals swim to somalia? did your gps just guess at where you were? were the drones used in iraq and afghanistan a product of the model remote control toy industry?