Homeland Security on guard for 'right-wing extremists'

(Compiler's note: A must read article.)

Returning U.S. military veterans singled out as particular threats

from WorldNetDaily

WASHINGTON – A newly unclassified Department of Homeland Security report warns against the possibility of violence by unnamed "right-wing extremists" concerned about illegal immigration, increasing federal power, restrictions on firearms, abortion and the loss of U.S. sovereignty and singles out returning war veterans as particular threats.

The report, titled "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," dated April 7, states that "threats from white supremacist and violent anti-government groups during 2009 have been largely rhetorical and have not indicated plans to carry out violent acts."

However, the report goes on to suggest worsening economic woes, potential new legislative restrictions on firearms and "the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks."

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The report from DHS' Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines right-wing extremism in the U.S. as "divided into those groups, movements and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups) and those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."

"[T]he consequences of a prolonged economic downturn – including real estate foreclosures, unemployment and an inability to obtain credit – could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities similar to those in the past," the report says.

It adds that "growth in these groups subsided in reaction to increased government scrutiny as a result of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and disrupted plots, improvements in the economy and the continued U.S. standing as the pre-eminent world power."

"Proposed imposition of firearms restrictions and weapons bans likely would attract new members into the ranks of right-wing extremist groups as well as potentially spur some of them to begin planning and training for violence against the government," the report continues. "The high volume of purchases and stockpiling of weapons and ammunition by right-wing extremists in anticipation of restrictions and bans in some parts of the country continue to be a primary concern to law enforcement."

Most notable is the report's focus on the impact of returning war veterans.

"Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right-wing extremists," it says. "DHS/I&A is concerned that right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize veterans in order to boost their violent capacities."

The report cites the April 4 shooting deaths of three police officers in Pittsburgh as an example of what may be coming, claiming the alleged gunman holds a racist ideology and believes in anti-government conspiracy theories about gun confiscations, citizen detention camps and "a Jewish-controlled 'one-world government.'"

It also suggests the election of an African-American president and the prospect of his policy changes "are proving to be a driving force for right-wing extremist recruitment and radicalization."

The report also mentions "'end times' prophecies could motivate extremist individuals and groups to stockpile food, ammunition and weapons. These teachings also have been linked with the radicalization of domestic extremist individuals and groups in the past, such as the violent Christian Identity organizations and extremist members of the militia movement."

"DHS/I&A assesses that right-wing extremist groups' frustration over a perceived lack of government action on illegal immigration has the potential to incite individuals or small groups toward violence," the report continues.

The report states the DHS will be working with state and local partners over the next several months to determine the levels of right-wing extremist activity in the U.S.

Last month, the chief of the Missouri highway patrol blasted a report issued by the Missouri Information Analysis Center that linked conservative groups to domestic terrorism, assuring that such reports no longer will be issued. The report had been compiled with the assistance of DHS.

The report warned law enforcement agencies to watch for suspicious individuals who may have bumper stickers for third-party political candidates such as Ron Paul, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin.

It further warned law enforcement to watch out for individuals with "radical" ideologies based on Christian views, such as opposing illegal immigration, abortion and federal taxes.

Chief James Keathley of the Missouri State Patrol issued a statement that the release of the report, which outraged conservatives nationwide, prompted him to "take a hard look" at the procedures through which the report was released by the MIAC.

"My review of the procedures used by the MIAC in the three years since its inception indicates that the mechanism in place for oversight of reports needs improvement," he wrote. "Until two weeks ago, the process for release of reports from the MIAC to law enforcement officers around the state required no review by leaders of the Missouri State Highway Patrol or the Department of Public Safety."

"For that reason, I have ordered the MIAC to permanently cease distribution of the militia report," he said. "Further, I am creating a new process for oversight of reports drafted by the MIAC that will require leaders of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Department of Public Safety to review the content of these reports before they are shared with law enforcement. My office will also undertake a review of the origin of the report by MIAC."

Snipers Kill Pirates, Save Captain

With Hostage in 'Imminent Danger,' Navy Seals Shoot Three Captors, Detain a Fourth

By SARAH CHILDRESS and PETER SPIEGEL

U.S. Navy Seal sharpshooters brought a five-day hostage standoff to an abrupt end Sunday with a hail of bullets that killed three pirates holding the captain of an American-flagged cargo ship.

The Navy acted after concluding Capt. Richard Phillips was in "imminent danger," said Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of naval forces in the Middle East.

He told a Pentagon news conference that the USS Bainbridge was towing the lifeboat holding the pirates and a tied-up Capt. Phillips into calmer waters while negotiating with the pirates. He said sharpshooters, positioned at the stern about 80 feet from the lifeboat, saw the heads and shoulders of three pirates onboard, one of them pointing an AK-47 machine gun at the back of Capt. Phillips.

The Navy officer in charge of the operation ordered the pirates to be fired upon, he said.

In Mombasa, Kenya, the crew of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama celebrated word of the rescue of their captain, who they said had offered himself as a hostage four days earlier to help them fend off the pirates. In Washington, President Barack Obama hailed the captain's courage as "a model for all Americans." Mr. Obama, who had given standing orders Friday for the Navy to rescue Capt. Phillips if the danger escalated, spoke with him by phone Sunday after he was freed.

Mr. Obama said the U.S. is "resolved to halt the rise of piracy." But Vice Admiral Gortney also said that the rescue ending in the pirates' deaths could ramp up violence in the increasing wave of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia, in which crews and pirates have seldom been harmed. "This could escalate violence in this part of the world, no question about it," he said.

Adm. Gortney said U.S. officials had hoped to resolve the standoff peacefully, and that a fourth pirate had been on the Bainbridge as part of hostage negotiation talks. But Adm. Gortney said tensions escalated between the pirates and negotiators. "It got heated and the on-scene commander interpreted hostile intent," Adm. Gortney said. The fourth pirate, now in Navy custody, may face criminal charges in the U.S.

Attacks in the region started to soar last year, as Somali pirates -- long active in these waters -- started venturing farther from shore and going after bigger game. In just a few months, they have morphed from an obscure and seemingly antiquated annoyance for shipowners into a serious threat to one of the world's most important shipping lanes.

The hostage drama started Wednesday, when a small band of pirates swung grappling hooks and climbed ropes from their skiff onto the Maersk Alabama, a container ship then ferrying food aid to East Africa. The American crew of 20 managed to wound the apparent leader of the pirates in the hand with an ice pick and regain control, with the pirates retreating to their lifeboat holding Capt. Phillips, a 53-year-old mariner from Underhill, Vt. Interviews with a handful of crew members over the weekend provide a rough outline of events.

Just before 7 a.m. Wednesday, the skiff with four pirates sped up from behind the vessel. Crew member ATM Reza saw them fire into the air as they leapt aboard the ship. Many of the crew members scrambled into a designated safe room aboard the vessel. William Rios, a crew member from Manhattan, was one of them. "It was a nightmare," he said.

On the bridge, the pirates held four sailors, including Mr. Reza, at gunpoint. Mr. Reza said he volunteered to take one of the pirates -- a scrawny man who he said identified himself as Abdul Mohamed -- down to the engine room. When they got there, he thrust an ice pick into the man's hand, in an account corroborated by other crew members. The crew bound the pirate's hands and feet with rope.

In Norfolk, Va., it was half past midnight Wednesday morning when executives at Maersk Line Ltd., a U.S. subsidiary of Danish shipper A.P. Møller-Maersk AS, first got word their ship had been taken. Maersk, one of the biggest shippers for the U.S. government and the Pentagon, set up a crisis center and huddled with U.S. officials. Military commanders dispatched the Bainbridge, an American destroyer, then 300 miles away.

Aboard the Maersk Alabama, the balance of power had tilted in the crew's favor. They didn't have guns like the pirates, but the crew greatly outnumbered the four attackers. The crew demanded the other pirates leave the ship, crew members said, but the pirates had scuttled their own small boat. They demanded an escape boat, fuel and food.

Amid the standoff, Capt. Phillips offered himself as a hostage to safeguard the crew. "They agreed, and we agreed," said crew member Andrew Brzezinski. "They promised to let go of the captain when we sent back the hostage."

Once the pirates settled into the lifeboat, the crew released their hostage. But the pirates refused to let Capt. Phillips free. "They wanted us to follow them to Somalia," said Mr. Brzezinski.

As dawn approached Thursday morning, the Bainbridge was in visual range of the Maersk Alabama and its lifeboat. The Navy dropped off provisions and extra batteries for the radio the lifeboat was using to communicate with the Navy ship.

Later that day, Maersk Alabama got under way, at the Navy's suggestion, the company said, and headed for Mombasa. Several crew members were upset at abandoning their captain. "I can't describe my feelings" about it, said Mr. Brzezinski.

On Friday, Capt. Phillips jumped out of the lifeboat and managed to swim a few yards toward the nearby destroyer. The pirates went in after him and managed to haul him back in, according to an account by a Somali go-between, reached by cellphone. A U.S. Navy official said the pirates fired shots at Capt. Phillips before retrieving him. The Navy didn't intercede at that point.

Over the weekend, the USS Boxer, a massive amphibious assault ship, and the USS Halyburton, a guided-missile frigate, joined the Bainbridge in the vicinity of the lifeboat.

Late Saturday, Bernard Odemba, a harbor captain in the Mombasa port, boarded the Maersk Alabama to help pilot the vessel in. He said the crew "were still suspicious" about other boats approaching the ship. "Whenever they saw any kind of boat...I had to calm them down."

Late Saturday evening, as the Maersk Alabama docked in Mombasa, about seven crew members clad in blue overalls and hard hats watched from the railings. A few waved and one pumped his fist as the ship approached. Several credited the captain they were forced to leave behind.

"He's a hero," said Ken Quinn, one of the ship's officers, who had been woken by the pirates when they boarded the ship. He shouted to reporters from the railing as the vessel pulled in. "The whole crew misses him...we owe the captain our lives."

As news of the captain's rescue leaked out late Sunday, the ship's horn blared three times. Shortly afterward the crew unfurled a big American flag and shot off a red flare that popped and lingered overhead.

—Alex Roth, Philip Shishkin, Chip Cummins, Evan Perez and Yochi Dreazen contributed to this article.

Tainted Chinese drywall shows up in Katrina homes

One of my favorite radio shows

Click on the title above and listen to a timeless sample of a Quinn & Rose Show broadcast.

You'll hear yet another example of why today's gov't wants talk radio gone from the airways. And we simply can not let that happen.

Monday through Friday, Quinn & Rose can be heard on XM radio from 6am - 10am EST.

And you thought it was only Rush, Hannity and Levin.

Official: US sea captain freed in swift firefight

(Compiler's note: And the honor of the United States
and our U.S. Navy is still intact! Now destroy the "pirate
nests" and the negotiating "negotiating elders" from which
they came and the problem will be solved till a new generation forgets
what it means to attack any part of these United States.)

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY and LARA JAKES

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) - An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday in a swift firefight that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, the ship's owner said and a U.S. official said.

A senior U.S. intelligence official said a pirate who had been involved in negotiations to free Capt. Richard Phillips but who was not on the lifeboat was in custody.

Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was safely transported to a Navy warship nearby.

Maersk Line Limited President and CEO John Reinhart said in a news release that the U.S. government informed the company around 1:30 p.m. EDT Sunday that Phillips had been rescued. Reinhart said the company called Phillips' wife, Andrea, to tell her the news.

The U.S. official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. A Pentagon spokesman had no immediate comment.

When Phillips' crew heard the news aboard their ship in the port of Mombasa, they placed an American flag over the rail of the top of the Maersk Alabama and whistled and pumped their fists in the air. Crew fired a bright red flare into the sky from the ship.

A government official and others in Somali with knowledge of the situation had reported hours earlier that negotiations for Phillips' release had broken down.

___

Jakes reported from Washington. Associated Press writers who contributed to this report include Mohamed Olad Hassan and Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu, Somalia and Michelle Faul and Tom Maliti in Nairobi, Kenya.

Click here and here for additional information.

Somali Pirates a Far Cry From Buccaneers of Old

NAIROBI, Kenya -- They've been described as "noble heroes" by sympathetic Somalis, denounced as criminals by critics. But the adjective most used to describe the men holding an American captain off the Horn of Africa is "pirate" _ a word that conjures images of sword-wielding swashbucklers romanticized by Hollywood.

The 21st century reality, though, is a far cry from that. There are no treasure-laden islands or Blackbeards in this part of the world, no wooden schooners flying skull and crossbones flags.

Instead: a vigilante movement that years ago tried to defend Somali shores morphed into full-blown pirate scourge _ after fishermen on defense stumbled upon an astoundingly lucrative bounty waiting to be had on their doorstep: around 25,000 ships, most unarmed, transiting the Gulf of Aden each year.

Picture ragged Somali fishermen armed with rocket launchers, GPS systems and satellite phones. Picture tiny skiffs cruising the coast of a war-infested nation crawling with gunmen. Picture bandits with sunglasses in worn shirts firing machine-guns at cruise ships, scampering aboard captured trawlers with crude ladders.

And most of all, picture ransoms, huge ransoms.

"I think when most people think of pirates, they think of Johnny Depp and the Pirates of the Caribbean," said security consultant Crispian Cuss of the London-based Olive Group. But these guys are "just fishermen paid to act as pirates by warlords and armed gangs who have taken over a lawless state."

The plight of an American captain, seized from the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama and held by Somali pirates since Wednesday on a drifting lifeboat out of fuel, is only one of the latest examples of a problem that has plagued the region for years.

The American, Capt. Richard Phillips, Underhill, Vt., is believed to have been the first U.S. citizen taken by pirates since 1804, when U.S. Navy Commodore Stephen Decatur battled the infamous Barbary pirates off the northern coast of what is now Libya, dispatching U.S. Marines to the shores of Tripoli.

The modern piracy scourge in the Horn of Africa was borne from the ashes of Somalia's government, overthrown in 1991.

Since then, Somalia has suffered nearly 20 years of anarchy, chaotically ruled by rival clans backed by pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns. Its nominal government controls barely a few blocks.

With no coast guard to defend its shores, Somalis began complaining that vessels from Asia and Europe were dumping toxic waste in their waters and illegally scooping up red snapper, barracuda and tuna. The rampant illegal fishing began destroying the livelihoods of local fishermen.

According to memo prepared last month by the staff of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, Somali clans began resorting "to armed gangs in an attempt to stop the foreign vessels. Over time, these gangs have evolved into hijacking commercial vessels for ransom as an alternative source of income."

Attacks in the Gulf of Aden and along Somalia's coast have risen dramatically, from 41 in 2007 to 111 in 2008, according to the International Maritime Bureau. Since January, pirates have staged at least 66 assaults and currently hold more than a dozen ships and more than 200 foreign crew members.

According to the House memo, pirates operating off Somalia earned $30 million in ransom through the seizure of 42 vessels in 2008. Other estimates put the figure to $80 million.

The memo cited one captured pirate as saying pirates only take 30 percent of ransoms _ on average $1 million to $2 million per boat.

Twenty percent goes to group bosses, 30 percent is spent on bribing local officials, and 20 percent goes for capital investment like guns, ammunition, fuel, food, cigarettes. (Cuss said pirates were becoming more sophisticated and in the last two months have, for the first time, begun launching nighttime attacks, possibly indicating pirates have obtained night-vision goggles).

U.S. officials have found no direct ties between East African pirates and terror groups, but the illegal trade is believed backed by an international network of Somali expatriates who offer funds, equipment and information in exchange for a cut of ransoms.

The House memo said Somali buccaneers operate in five well-organized groups, drawing members from large clans, which are extended family networks. Cuss said the industry is "controlled big players _ warlords and criminal gangs who recruit local fishermen and take a lion's share of the profits."

Andrew Mwangura of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Program described the pirates as "desperate people taking desperate measures to earn a living."

Today, they number around 1,500, up from around 100 five to seven years ago, Mwangura said.

"They're earning a lot of money and everyone wants to join," Mwangura said. "They're getting new recruits every day."

On the ground in Somalia, some pirates are seen as "flamboyant middle aged men," said Mahad Shiekh Madar, a car salesman living in the northeastern port town of Bossaso on the tip of Africa's horn. "They always travel in a beautiful four-wheel-drive luxury cars and look like people who are working for a big business company."

Abdulahi Salad, a 43-year-old former pirate in central coastal village of Gaan, said pirates were "different from the ordinary gunmen in Somalia. They are not thin, and they have bright faces and are always happy."

Indeed, they are often regaled for bringing wads of cash into impoverished communities.

A local elder in Gaan, Haji Muqtar Ahmed, said "being a pirate is not shame ... it is believed to be a noble profession."

Ahmed said people there used to make a living fishing, "but now the only livelihood they have is the income from the piracy."

U.S. Supreme Court: Ginsburg Shares Views on Influence of Foreign Law on Her Court, and Vice Versa

.... “I frankly don’t understand all the brouhaha lately from Congress and even from some of my colleagues about referring to foreign law,” Justice Ginsburg said in her comments on Friday.

The court’s more conservative members — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr., Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas — oppose the citation of foreign law in constitutional cases. ....

WRAPUP 8-Ship reaches Kenya; pirate lifeboat drifts toward land

WRAPUP 3-U.S. warships track hostage-holding pirates

U.S. warships tracked a boatload of gunmen holding a U.S. ship's captain hostage off the Somali coast on Sunday and unidentified military helicopters flew over the pirate lair of Haradheere.

.... Phillips is just one of about 270 hostages from around the world being held by pirates, who have targetted vessels from oil tankers to luxury yachts.

'GIVE' creating youth brigades?

(Compiler's note: Must read)

Service corps expansion gives opponents shivers

By Bob Unruh

Supporters of an Americorps expansion plan pending in Congress laud its efforts to "leverage" federal dollars to boost state, local and other resources to "address national and local challenges," while critics say its fine print secretly would create an "Obama-styled army of community

organizers modeled after Saul Alinsky's 'Peoples Organizations.'" So which is it?

In an era in which Congress can approve thousands of pages of legislation spending hundreds of billions of dollars without reading the proposal, there seems to be no definitive answer on what some of the vague language of H.R. 1388 means.

But there is enough in the "GIVE Act," now awaiting a conference committee in Congress after being approved by both the U.S. House and Senate, to cause critics to shiver.

For example, it certainly imposes a requirement for public service on some people, even though its original much-feared study on mandatory service for all was moved to another bill during congressional debate.

"The Audacity of Deceit" exposes exactly who Barack Obama is. He isn't pedaling "change you can believe in" – he's planning to uproot American culture and replace it with the failed, secular, socialist policies of the past.

The latest version includes a "National Service Reserve Corps" whose members have completed a "term of national service," "has successfully completed training" and "complete not less than 10 hours of volunteering each year."

It also raises First Amendment issues over its limitations on what various corps participants are allowed to do.

For example, it states those in an "approved national service position" may not try to influence legislation, engage in protests or petitions, take positions on union organizing, engage in partisan political activities, or, among other issues, be "engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of proselytization."

But probably the biggest red flag for many is how the proposal fits into the overall picture painted by President Obama when he described to a Colorado Springs audience a "National Civilian Security Force" that he wants as big and well-funded as the U.S. military – a staggering suggestion that would involve hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

WND reported when the bill began its quick trip through Congress, and its original language called for a study of how best to implement a mandatory national service program for citizens of the United States.

Later the language was dropped from that bill, only to appear at the same time in another legislative proposal.

Judi McLeod wrote for Canada Free Press that the bill simply would turn everyone into a community organizer.

"Everybody means the roughly seven million people called to public duty in the $6 billion National Service effort," she said. "But members pressed into the service of the one million-strong Youth Brigade, sanctioned by 'Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE),' will have none of the freedoms of the community organizer who started it all.

"There's no room for God in Obama's long promised Youth Brigade, no room to protest, petition, to boycott or to support a strike, and loopholes to give its mandatory membership a pass," she wrote. "Obama's plan requires anyone receiving school loans, among others to serve at least three months as part of the brigade."

She also describes one section with a program to introduce "service learning" as "a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency."

The plan suggests raising the participation in such programs from 75,000 now to 250,000.

Gary Wood at Examiner.com said it's part of Obama's plan to set up national service. He noted the explanation offered by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel: "It's time for a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us. We propose universal civilian service for every young American. Under this plan, all Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 will be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service."

Gary Lester, writing at All American Blogger, put into words the worst fears of opponents.

"Hitler knew that if you control the youth, you control the future. I wrote about him in 'The Threats to Homeschooling: From Hitler to the NEA.' As I noted in that article, Hitler said: 'The Youth of today is ever the people of tomorrow. For this reason we have set before ourselves the task of innoculating our youth with the spirit of this community of the people at a very early age, at an age when human beings are still unperverted and therefore unspoiled,'" he wrote.

He cited the Hitler Youth's launch in the 1920s. In 1933, the participants totaled 100,000, and in 1939 the membership was compulsory for those over 17. Two years later, the membership was compulsory for those over 10, and it included 90 percent of the nation's youth.

He also cited concerns it would steer volunteers away from churches, politicize charity and focus on the "education" of participants.

"The legislation will, in many circumstances, force our children to participate in charitable activity as part of school – and that activity may well be chosen by or approved by a bureaucrat," he suggested.

At Washington Watch one forum participant warned, "Our republic is under attack as never before."

Said another, "This is social engineering at the very least, and could be the first step towards the reinstitution of slavery! Take heed, the New World Order (aka 'Change') draws nigh!"

WND reported when Obama delivered his Colorado Springs mandate and a copy of the speech provided online apparently was edited to exclude Obama's specific references to the new force.

The video of his statements is posted here:

As the presidential campaign advanced last year, another video appeared that for many crystallized their concerns over such a "corps." It shows a squad of young men marching and shouting praises to Obama. The video is embedded here:

Congress also is considering a "public service academy, a four-year institution that offers a federally funded undergraduate education with a focus on training future public sector leaders."

Joseph Farah, founder and editor of WND, used his daily column first to raise the issue of a "national civilian force" and then to elevate it with a call to all reporters to start asking questions.

"If we're going to create some kind of national police force as big, powerful and well-funded as our combined U.S. military forces, isn't this rather a big deal?" Farah wrote. "I thought Democrats generally believed the U.S. spent too much on the military. How is it possible their candidate is seeking to create some kind of massive but secret national police force that will be even bigger than the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force put together?

"Is Obama serious about creating some kind of domestic security force bigger and more expensive than that? If not, why did he say it? What did he mean?" Farah wrote.

Could Iran Have Nukes in 60 Days?

.... No sooner had the U.S. administration of Barack Obama announced Wednesday that it will be taking part in talks with the Islamic Republic of Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany, to discuss Iran's nuclear program, the very next day the Iranians announced they had reached the hallmark point of running 7,000 centrifuges, an important stepping stone on the way to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power. ....

U.S. Made Nuclear Deal with United Arab Emirates Despite Its Record as Transshipment Point for Weapons-Related Material to Iran

The United States has concluded a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) despite that country’s record as a transshipment point for weapons-related material to Iran. ....

Negotiations Break Down in Standoff With Pirates

(Compiler's note: If we didn't already know specifically where these pirates came from ashore, we do now .... piracy is NOT a crime situation but a military one and must be handled as such. May I strongly suggest that this situation and the possibility of any future pirate attacks can be taken care of in one coordinated action followed by total obliteration of the sources. Our U.S. Navy took more direct action in the days of the wooden ships under sail.)

Reporting was contributed by Serge F. Kovaleski from Underhill, Vt.; Mark Mazzetti from Washington; Liz Robbins from New York; and employees of The New York Times from Somalia.

....Maersk Alabama, a 17,000-ton cargo vessel, pulled into port at 8:30 Saturday evening in Mombasa, Kenya, with its 19 remaining American crew members ..... the crew was not allowed to leave the ship because the F.B.I. — whose New York office has been charged with investigating the seizure — considered the vessel a crime scene.....

....On Saturday, a group of Somali elders from Gara’ad, mediating on behalf of the pirates, spoke by satellite phone to American officials, according to Abdul Aziz Aw Mahamoud, a district commissioner in the semiautonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia. The elders proposed a deal in which the pirates would release Captain Phillips, with no ransom paid, and that the pirates would then be allowed to escape.

But Mr. Abdul Aziz said that the Americans insisted that the pirates be handed over to Puntland authorities, and the elders refused. By noon local time, the Americans cut off communications with the elders, he said. ....

.... The four pirates, according to the district commissioner, were split between two clans, one from southern Somalia and one from Puntland. ....

....Not far from the Phillips home, at the Wells Corner Market, an owner, Laura Wells, said: “If the Navy is going to do something, they better do it now, because they cannot let him get to shore. Once he gets to shore, he is lost, because we don’t know where he would be taken.”....