Gratulerer, USA!

For det par dager siden iverksatte amerikanske marinesoldater en aksjon mot pirater i Somalia og befridde to personer, en amerikaner og en danske, som var blitt holdt som gisler i flere måneder. Gislene overlevde, de amerikanske soldatene overlevde, og gisseltagerne ble drept. Dette var altså en vellykket aksjon, og vi gratulerer. Vi vil også bemerke at vi ikke har sett noen artikler eller innslag om denne aksjonen i noen norsk avis eller i noen nyhetsending på norsk TV.

Vi siterer derfor fra Reuters: ”Military helicopters ferried elite troops to the pirate camp in scrubland close to Haradheere, a major pirate base in central Somalia, Washington’s Germany-based Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement.

“All nine captors were killed during the assault,” it said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed no American soldiers were killed in the operation.

The Danish Refugee Council said Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, were now at a safe location. Media reports said they had been flown to neighboring Djibouti, home to the only U.S. military base in Africa and France’s largest base on the continent.

Somali pirate gangs typically seize ships in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and hold the crews until they receive a ransom. The kidnapping of the aid workers in Galkayo was an unusual case of a pirate gang being behind a seizure on land.

U.S. and French forces have intervened to rescue pirate hostages at sea, but attacks on pirate bases are very rare.

The U.S. raid was unlikely to deter pirates who rake in tens of millions of dollars each year in ransoms.

Danish Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal earlier said the poor health of one hostage had led Washington to take action and said the rescue operation did not necessarily pave the way for further copycat missions.

People involved with the hostages had said earlier this month Buchanan was suffering from a possible kidney infection.

“About 12 U.S. helicopters are now at Galkayo. We thank the United States. Pirates have spoilt the whole region’s peace and ethics. They are mafia,” Mohamed Ahmed Alim, leader of the Galmudug region, told Reuters.

He was speaking from Hobyo, a pirate base north of Haradheere, where he said he was negotiating the release of an American journalist seized on Saturday, also from Galkayo.

Pirates and local elders say the American journalist and a number of sailors from India, South Korea, the Philippines and Denmark are being held by pirate gangs.

A British tourist kidnapped from Kenya on September 11, 2011 is also still held captive in Somalia.

America’s NBC News, citing U.S. officials, said two teams of U.S. Navy SEALs (special forces) landed by helicopter and rescued the hostages after a gun battle with the kidnappers.

The freed hostages were then taken by helicopter to an undisclosed location.

Obama was overheard congratulating Panetta, apparently for the success of the operation, as Obama entered the House of Representatives chamber on Tuesday for his annual State of the Union speech.

“Leon. Good job tonight. Good job tonight,” Obama said.” (sitat slutt).

DLFs syn er, som vi har redegjort for flere ganger tidligere, at de land som har skip som blir angrepet, må sette inn tilstrekkelige militære styrker slik at de kan eliminere denne trusselen. Vi gratulerer USA og de soldatene som var involvert, og håper at det blir flere slike aksjoner fra USAs side. Vi kan ikke vente at noen andre land eller organisasjoner (FN, EU) vil kunne gjøre noe tilsvarende, så det er USA vi må sette vår lit til.
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http://stemdlf.no/node/4854
http://stemdlf.no/node/3374
http://stemdlf.no/node/4725

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/25/us-somalia-hostages-idUSTRE80O...