Monday - November 29, 2010

the french take action while brits dither?  surely not.

I had mentioned the other day, on the subject of nutcase happenings, the idea that a couple of Somali pirates have relations here in the UK, and that one already had a wife and kids here.  He said he wants to come here under asylum. No doubt they’d grant him his wishes and provide benefits as well under European human rights and the rest of that BS.

Drew also posted something on the subject and made the very accurate observation that the Chandler couple were selling their story, “a bit at a time.”
Oh boy are they ever.  It’s been in every paper every day for the last week.  And the Mail has been laying out their saga not just full page but double pages open center.  I was getting bored with it to be honest. But something in today’s version really caught my attention, and I suspect BMEWS regulars and others may be surprised by this as well.

According to the couple, the people that the pirates feared most if they can be believed, are the French and their Navy.  They say in their latest installment, that when captured the pirates kept shouting, what nationality? What nationality?  It transpires, according to them, that the pirate worry was that they had captured a French couple.  That’s the claim anyway.  Apparently the French have shown themselves only too happy to engage the enemy and haven’t the health and safety concerns of others.  If that is true, then Bravo France!

Why didn’t the navy save us? The Chandlers reveal how they were captured by pirates under the gaze of British patrol

By David Jones

Moments after storming aboard Paul and Rachel Chandler’s yacht, the pirates’ leader began haranguing them with one question that was clearly of vital importance to him.

‘Nationality? Nationality?’ he shouted repeatedly in thickly-accented English, as the couple were taken below decks at gunpoint.

Amid the chaos of the assault, the British red ensign that had ­fluttered proudly from the Lynn Rival’s stern had been torn down, and they quickly realised that the gang chief, Bugas, was terrified that they might be French.

Six months before their kidnap, when another band of Somali pirates hijacked a yacht from Brittany cruising in the same stretch of ocean, French commandos had staged a ruthless rescue operation.

Sanctioned by the French Defence Minister, Herve Morin, it was a show of force designed to send out a message to the pirates — that one nation, at least, was no longer prepared to stand by and let them plunder the seas with impunity.

So when the Chandlers assured Bugas they were British, his relief was immediately obvious.

‘The pirates don’t mess with the French any more,’ says 60-year-old Paul. ‘Their forces are too gung-ho.

‘But I think they see the other ­Western navies who patrol the area as a bit of laughing stock.

‘They know that if they have just one hostage at gunpoint, then these navies — with all their might — are impotent.’

Since we now know that the ­Chandlers were kidnapped under the compliant gaze of the Wave Knight, a Royal Navy supply ship armed with cannon and machine guns and ­carrying 25 Royal Marines, the pirates’ ­contempt is all too understandable.

But two crucial questions have ­lingered since the supply ship’s ­inglorious role in this nightmarish saga was first revealed.

Should the Admiralty have adopted the same tough stance as the French and ordered the Wave Knight to attack?

And if they had, would the Chandlers have been spared a 13-month ordeal which saw them flogged, mentally ­tortured and threatened with death?

Told today for the first time, the Kent couple’s gripping, first-hand account of their capture on October 23 last year finally provides the answers to these questions — questions which have cast a long shadow over the Royal Navy’s proud reputation.

If you’re interested in the entire, tiresome story here’s the link. However ..... here’s the part I think you should see the link for. I’ve edited for space.
Isn’t it interesting?  Empty threat after empty threat.

At this point, Bugas (the pirate leader) seized the radio and ordered the couple to pack their bags ready to decamp to the Kota Wajar. (pirate mother ship)

As they did so, the radio crackled to life again and they heard the British ship threaten the pirates aboard the ­captured cargo vessel.

WK: Kota Wajar. You are in my security area. Alter course to the north please.

[There was no reply to this warning, and indeed the Kota Wajar failed to respond to any of Wave Knight’s entreaties. This was because, the Chandlers later learned, the pirates on board were beating the container ship’s skipper — one of 21 crew members being held hostage — over the head with a water bottle].

WK: Kota Wajar, you are threatening my security. Alter course to the north. Please acknowledge.

Once again, Bugas forced Paul back on to the radio to tell the British ship to stop its threats.

LR: EU warship, this is sailing yacht Lynn Rival.

WK: Lynn Rival, I am under attack from a previously pirated ship. I will come back to you

[From his position below deck, Paul could not see or hear gunfire, but the Ministry of Defence told the Daily Mail the pirates onboard the Kota Wajar opened fire on the Wave Knight with their machine guns.

Under the military Rules of Engagement, the British vessel could now have launched a deadly assault against them, but did not do so because of the 21 crew held hostage on the cargo ship.]

WK: Kota Wajar, you are threatening my security. Alter course towards north ­immediately or I may take action.

LR: We are very frightened. We have been told we will be killed if you do not stand off.

WK: Kota Wajar, you are threatening my security. Alter course towards north ­immediately or I may take action which may include the use of lethal force.

LR: Our captors say they will kill us if you don’t stand off. We are terrified!

At this point, apparently satisfied he had bought them enough time to evacuate, Bugas ordered Paul to turn off the radio and ram his beloved yacht into the stern of the Kota Wajar.

This was to get them close enough to climb the rope ladder that had been lowered by pirates on the high-sided container ship.

His ploy worked, and the Chandlers were transferred to Kota Wajar while the crew of the Wave Knight looked on.

It was, indeed, a fiasco. As a patriot and a seafarer, Paul is reluctant to criticise our Navy, but as he remarks — what was the point of the ship being there if it couldn’t help them?

Here’s what a few Brits have had to say on the subject.

How ridiculous - this couple took to the radio to beg the Navy not to intervene, yet now claim they wanted them to and were ‘happy to die’. And they seem to also forget that they videoed pathetic messages through the year begging for money to be raised for their release because otherwise they’d die.

Now that they’re home, they’ve suddenly transformed themselves into heroes who would have laid down their lives raither than have Britain pay one penny for their rescue.

I can understand their cowardice when captured, but to now try and spin themselves into heroes is a disgrace.

- A. Wright-Burke, London Bridge,
######################################################

You can just imagine what would have happened in the Navy had helped.

* Human Rights Lawyers crawling out of the woodwork lead by Tony Blairs wife.
* Social Services saying its the Pirates that are the real victims and all should be given homes in the UK.
* Millions of £ in Compenastion for Hurt Feelings to the Chandlers had the rescue attempt failed.

Don’t forget that the Afghan High-Jackers are still in the UK and we can’t deport criminals.

We real are a country lead by invertebrates

- James 001, The west coast of nowhere,

#####################################################

It’s not up to the Royal Navy, paid for the taxpayers, to rescue any idiots who chose to sail into these pirate infected waters. Since they were stupid enough to do that, then they should face the consequences of their own making. They should now be glad that they are now home and making lots of money selling their stories, instead of blaming anyone else.

- mari, london,

The Chandlers claim that they were not in fact sailing within the danger zone.  ???

Posted by peiper     on 11/29/2010 at 11:51 AM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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