http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091007/ap_on_re_af/piracy





"Somali pirates in two skiffs fired on a French navy vessel early Wednesday after apparently mistaking it for a commercial boat, the French military said. The French ship gave chase and captured five suspected pirates."



Well that wasn't such a good idea, was it?

Part of me feels bad for some of these guys. They have no government, no jobs, very little food to feed their families. They're offered money, handed an automatic weapon, and jump aboard a boat with hopes of feeding their kids back home.



The other part thinks the US Navy should just go pirate hunting.

They're lucky it was the french... I wonder if they returned fire. I would hope so. lol how do you mistake a warship with a commerical boat? Dont the big guns give it away?

maybe they are french big guns?

Yeah, maybe it wasn't a mistake at all. The pirates are upping the ante and they wanted to take a navy vessel. Who better to target than the French? Do the French Navy even have guns, or is it more of a social club?

french probably have no guns on the ship, I painted a brand new 46' Sea Ray that was going to Africa, I joked it was going to be on the news as a pirate ship! He wanted black but I talked him into a very dark blue.

Say what you want about the French, but when a french boat was taken over by pirates, before it even hit the news the news release said "French special forces boarded pirated ship this evening, all pirates were killed and the crew was released un harmed" when an american ship gets boarded by pirates we go about it for days, tricking them into lifeboats, snipers, starving them out, etc, etc ... Which method would you prefer if you were aboard a pirated boat? Bobbing around for days without food wondering if you captures will kill you or you'll be saved or waking up to find all your captures throats slit and being woken from your slumber by someone saying "Votre commande du bateau a été restaurée"



LOL sorry couldn't resist.



All kidding aside though, did anyone watch the documentary about the american captain they saved from the life boat? Three seal snipers laying on the foredeck for hours picked off 3 pirates in a bobbing lifeboat SIMULTANEOUSLY, amazing!

I'd like to see that documentary, when I heard the news report of the snipers, it blew my mind.

I believe it was on discovery "siege at sea" or something to that effect. it has a really good interview with the snipers, like i say to anyone that has done any long range shooting with a scope you know this is an absolutely amazing accomplishment. They drew all three pirates into view in the cockpit of this dinghy/lifeboat and they all at the same time hit them. We're talking 3 guys moving, inside of a moving boat being shot by three guys laying on the foredeck of a moving boat, they had to be in a spot where they could not be seen by the pirates, so they were pretty hidden, they laid there for hours. That is some serious sniper work, one shot, one kill.

that is amazing. the french probably are faster, cause they only have a 30 hour work week, they don't have time to sit around like a cork in a bathtub! you know how big the fine is if they clock extra hours?