Kerry to Hold Hearings on Chasing Pirates

[sandrakae]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/29/kerry-hold-hearings-chasing-pirates/

Is it just me or is this article by Fox news dripping with sarcasm. It sounds like the writer is making fun of Senator Kerry. The un-professionalism on this site is unbelievable.

[madokie]

1. Fuck fox news

The people I know who get their news from fox thinks that two shoes and shitstain were/are heros for saving us from all them terrorist. go figure

[ProSense]

2. It's an AP article, and I don't detect any sarcasm. It's a serious issue

Chinese navy off on historic anti-piracy mission

by Peter Harmsen Peter Harmsen – Fri Dec 26

BEIJING (AFP) – An anti-piracy task force of the Chinese navy set sail Friday for Africa, state media said, in the nation's first potential combat mission beyond its territorial waters in centuries.

The three vessels, decorated with coloured ribbons, flags and flowers, weighed anchor at the Yalong Bay naval base on south China's tropical Hainan island at 1:50 pm (0550 GMT), heading for Somalia, the Xinhua news agency said.

"It's the first time we go abroad to protect our strategic interests armed with military force," said Wu Shengli, commander of the Chinese Navy, in a ceremony to see off the approximately 1,000 sailors, according to Xinhua.

"It's the first time for us to organise a naval force on an international humanitarian mission and the first time for our navy to protect important shipping lanes far from our shores."

more

U.S. hopes U.N. resolution ups cooperation in piracy fight

By Mark Abramson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, December 29, 2008

U.S. officials are searching for other means to combat piracy beyond a recently passed U.N. resolution authorizing using military might to address the problem on shore.

U.N. Resolution 1851, unanimously approved by the Security Council earlier this month, authorizes striking at Somali-based pirates with ground, air and naval forces before they take to the seas to hijack commercial ships for ransom.

The resolution, which expires on Dec. 16, 2009, calls for the United Nations to be notified before any attack on pirates is launched while they are ashore.

"It will also enhance cooperation, develop judicial arrangements with regional and victim states to prosecute, and enhance financial intelligence to get after the pirates’ money," said Jun Bando, the U.S. State Department’s maritime security coordinator and liaison to the Africa Command.

"What we are trying to do is have a better understanding of how these ransom monies are moving so we can disrupt the flow," Bando said.

more

On edit: the Swift Liars crap was irrelevant though.

[karynnj]

4. Not only was the SB liar stuff unnecessary,

in their "factual"paragraph before it they, accept the SBVT version - even though NONE of the SB liars were there and the other surviving skipper, Rood, currently a Chicago Tribune editor, completely backed Kerry. The VC was not a teenager and he was not fleeing, but had his weapon pointed at the boat, having run back and then taken a different position. In addition, that was not why Kerry got the silver star - his action likely saved American lives that would have been lost had they continued going as they normally did.

Kerry cites the right event in pointing out the danger of following them onshore, especially when they do not what is there - Mogadishu. He balances that concern with the danger the pirates represent.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. It's you-- if they didn't mention the Swiftboat Liars...

there would be nothing at all negative about Kerry. The article mentions them, for some unknown reason, but makes it fairly clear that they are full of it.

[karynnj]

6. I wish they would have made it clearer that the liars lied

None of the SB liars were there. There were two other boats. One of the skippers, who was Kerry's best friend in Vietnam and whose widow headed the Patriot group that Kerry friends set up to defend veterans from similar attacks, said that her husband's version of what happened was similar to the Navy's version. The third skipper, a Chicago Tribune editor in 2004, wrote his version - which also backed the Navy's version. ( http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0408220342aug22,0,7550103.story )

The SB liars succeeded in saying it was them vs Kerry - but it was them versus the Navy's official record. They did not have a shred of proof backing their story contradicting the official record.

Here, in the paragraph before the SBVT claim they give an account that is close to the SBVT, not the official record. It would be nice - now 4 years after the election - for the AP to give more weight to the official record than to people known to have lied on many things - and whose motive was obvious. The continued credibility given to the liars is a continued attack on a man who risked his life while Bush and Cheney thought theirs too precious.

[scheming daemons]

5. Why chase the Pirates? They haven't had a winning season since 1992....

;-)

[Starry Messenger]

7. Well, it is Fox.

I guess sniping at Kerry is all they have left for now. Personally, I like the image of Kerry chasing pirates. And I'm glad he's taking on this issue. Of all the bizarre ways our world has gone to hell, the resurgence of piracy is the most surreal.

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. Actually, it is an Associated Press Article

[Starry Messenger]

9. That's interesting, too.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11716.html

I used to think of AP as an unbiased (as far as anything can be) news source--it seems they have gotten interested in editorializing the news.

[karynnj]

10. They've been awful since at least 2004

which is really bad as many smaller papers use them as the sole source for news outside their area - and bigger papers have been using them increasing more often. (UPI is worse and I think it is owned by the moonies)