Handcuffed with a chain wrapped around his waist and about a dozen federal agents surrounding him, the slight teen seemed poised as he passed through the glare of dozens of news cameras in a drenching rainstorm. His left hand was heavily bandaged from the wound he suffered during the skirmish on the cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama.
A law enforcement official familiar with the case said Wali-i-Musi (pronounced wahl-ih-MOO'-sih) was being charged under two obscure federal laws that deal with piracy and hostage-taking. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the charges had not been announced.
The teenager was flown from Africa to a New York airport on the same day that his mother appealed to President Barack Obama for his release. She said her son was coaxed into piracy by ''gangsters with money.''
''I appeal to President Obama to pardon my teenager; I request him to release my son or at least allow me to see him and be with him during the trial,'' Adar Abdirahman Hassan said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from her home in Galka'yo town in Somalia.
The boy's father, Abdiqadir Muse, said the pirates lied to his son, telling him they were going to get money. The family is penniless, he said.
''He just went with them without knowing what he was getting into,'' Muse said in a separate telephone interview with the AP through an interpreter.
Right, because bringing an RPG and a ak-47 weren't a tip off.
The lifeboat the Captain was held in by the Pirates, anyway it looks like he will tried as an adult.
Oh, the poor fella; give him a break. He was only trying to survive a hardship. Lets try to rehabilitate him. We should probably start with locking him up for a few years, but first, lets make sure he knows he is in America. TV, 3 squars a day, rec time and of course the opportunity to go to college and earn a degree. All on taxpayers credit. All this, of course, unless his terrorist buddies decide to attack the federal building where he is being held. He may be Somalian but he has "friends" all over the world who don't need much of an excuse to do us harm. Once he is out, he will use his degree to fight US aggression (the US was the aggressor in the rescue of Phillips) and will probably walk away quite wealthy after all the lawsuits are settled out of court (liberal ass kissing at its worst). This is only one scene to play out. The other is more realistic. We (the US) should start by strafing the coast of Somalia, followed by naval bombardment. Then the Marines should go in and clean up the mess. There are NO INNOCENTS to be considered. Anyone living along the Somali coast is more than likely in cahoots with the pirates and should suffer the consequences of their relationship with the crimminals.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteCNN and other news sources have labeled the pirate an "alledged pirate." He is not "alledged" nor is he a suspect. He was caught in the act of participating in a crime. He is guilty of a number of crimes but they remain unspecified at the moment and we have not decided what the penalty will be. He is guilty and has been since the day he was captured. The correct penalty should have been immediate execution.
I agree - but can you imagine the negative feedback from those bleeding heart liberals if he was executed; after all he does have rights and must be treated humanely (yeah, right)
ReplyDeleteWhy don't they just save the money and let him go now? That's likely to be the outcome in this country with its screwed-up legal system (formerly known as 'justice' system). Now he has a name. Soon he will be portrayed as a good boy by his parents, will become an instant cult figure, and probably end up with his own reality TV show
ReplyDeleteGreat another waste of taxpayers money. Like we have a surplus at this time. Now we'll have to drag his court appearances and trial out over a year, provide him with an attorney and a translator. All to have him either get off or be found guilty. Either way he comes out a winner. He'll either get to return home or go to prison where he will be provided with meals and a place to sleep for the rest of his life. If he is found guilty what do we as US citizens get out of his conviction. He should have been shot and killed like his friends and it would have saved everyone a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteYup,, should have flipped him overboard after the other 3 were tapped.
ReplyDeleteHe's smiling because he now gets three hot meals each day and a roof over his head. America should be careful or soon the Pirate will be labeled as the victim as being misunderstood and not really being his fault that he's the Pirate because of his upbringing...etc, etc...
ReplyDeleteAlleged pirate? Give me a break. Maybe he was just a Somali tour guide.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about him smiling: he's thikning "Damn, hot shower and a warm dinner! And there's an episode of Lost coming up!"
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, you gotta wonder if he knows well enough to play this right. Smart move is to plead out to a lesser charge, throw himself on the mercy of the court (citing his age, the fact that he was living in a harsh environment where it's literally kill or be killed, and that he and his fellow pirates didn't kill anybody), see about getting maybe 3-5 years in a minimum federal facility, study English, sell his memoirs (he might get a better deal than Dubya at this point) and then once out of jail star in a new Reality TV show "Pirates R Us" and rake in the millions.