France frees yacht; hostage killed

PARIS - France’s navy stormed a French sailboat held by pirates off the Somali coast Friday in an assault triggered by threats the passengers would be executed, but one hostage was killed in the operation, French Defense Minister Herve Morin said.

Two pirates also were killed. Four hostages, including a small child, were freed.

In a break with French government policy, authorities proposed a ransom but the pirates rejected the offer, Morin said. Three pirates were taken prisoner.

A grim-faced Morin said that “negotiations were leading nowhere, and the boat was approaching the coast.” He said French President Nicolas Sarkozy gave the order to attack.

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France frees yacht; hostage killed

OK, so I am going to say something I never would have imagined me saying, KUDOS to the French for their courage and tactics, and for their ability to take this pirate crew down and save most of the hostages. For far too long we have criticized the French, called them *surrender monkeys* and so forth. It now appears that the French government may well have more intestinal fortitude than our own government.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - An American captain held hostage by four Somali pirates tried to swim for his freedom but was recaptured Friday, and officials said the high seas hostage drama escalated as both pirate ships and U.S. warcraft sailed to the scene. Pirates recapture US hostage after escape attempt

We’re talking 4 pirates, out of food, out of gas and probably short, or out of water, looking down the guns of a U.S. Navy destroyer. Excuse me, but we have highly trained individuals that are supposed to be the very best in the world at resolving these types of situations. Those individuals are the U.S. Navy SEALs. Why in the hell have they not been given orders to take this 4 man pirate band down? I am fairly certain that 4 SEALs on the railing of a Navy destroyer, after dark, with night vision sight acquisition gear could take out all 4 pirates in less than a second.

For crying out loud, 4 Somali bilge rats are standing off the U.S. Navy. Obama and Company are making us the laughing stock of the world.

President Barack Obama, who is getting regular updates on the standoff, declined to answer questions about it Friday for a second straight day. Pirates recapture US hostage after escape attempt

He can’t respond just yet. He has to decide how many billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars we’re going to send to Somalia, and then there’s that other decision that has to be made. You know the one, right? Do we surrender the Navy Destroyer to these pirates too?

I am not criticizing our Navy personnel, our military can and will DO the job, but they have to have a Commander in Chief that has the balls to lead and allow them to DO the job. We do NOT have that CiC in one Barry Soetoro, aka, Barack Hussein Obama.