Question Of The Day: What Should Be Done With The Somali Pirate In US Custody?

Release him? I don't think so.
Why even bother to capture him in the first place? Maybe we should let him go out to a movie and a Broadway show with Jill Niccolini?
Most Americans do not enjoy seeing the individual that is in custody smiling and laughing on the news clips. If released how hard would he be laughing.
We, America, need to show strenght to gain respect throughout the world and to rebuild our own patriotism that we no longer have.
People in need use desperate measures to gain publicity or support, but to kill innocent people is not justified nor should it be condoned!

He needs to be treated as the terrorist that he is and sent to Gitmo. Putting him in one of our prisons would be like sending him to a country club. Three square meals a day and a toilet, things I'm sure he has never had before. Also, they need to have someone knock that smile off his face.

The tricky point in this matter... he was captured while under a flag of truce. I believe he should be released. We can not put him on trial for all the wrongs in that part of the world.

They should prosecute him to the fullest!
If the USA would focus more on feeding our own country, Our ships wouldnt be such a risk.
What wonders me is since post 911 and all our heigthen surcurity, why wasnt this ship armed w/ soliders? or some kind of protection? Why was it so easy to take over an American ship???
Our goverment needs to be more responsable!

He should walk the plank

I don't think he should be released. Did he think of releasing the captain when they took him by force? They were ready to kill the captain so now its his turn prosecute him to the fullest. This mess of being pirates need to stop make an example out of him for good.

Treat him like a pirate..........hang him.

Of course he should be prosecuted! If he was American and committed these same crimes, he would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law regardless of what is mom might say. In fact, if it was an American that committed these crimes he would be hung twice -- in the country the crime was committed in and in America!

Try him as and adult... done deal... why question this? If other countries would stop paying the ransoms and instill some fear into these pirates, they'd have second thoughts.

Well piracy has been around forever and the ones that were caught werebrought to justice as should these new day pirates. If they want to be pirates they should be tried and hung from the nearest yardarm

While I don't condone piracy, and certainly some are just in it for stealing, this is the reason 70% of the Somali people support the pirates:

"In an April 13 Huffington Post article, Canada-based Somali hip hop artist and activist K’naan explained the other side: “Already by [1992], local fishermen in the coastline of Somalia have been complaining of illegal vessels coming to Somali waters and stealing all the fish”, he said.

“And since there was no government to report it to, and since the severity of the violence overshadowed every other problem, the fishermen went completely unheard.”

Dumping waste

K’naan added: “A Swiss firm called Achair Parterns, and an Italian waste company, [Progresso], made a deal with [Somali warlord] Ali Mahdi, that they were to dump containers of waste material in Somali waters.

“These European companies were said to be paying warlords about $3 a ton, whereas to properly dispose of waste in Europe costs about $1000 a ton.”

After the December 2004 tsunami “washed ashore several leaking containers, thousands of locals in the Puntland region of Somalia started to complain of severe and previously unreported ailments, such as abdominal bleeding, skin melting off and a lot of immediate cancer-like symptoms.”

K’naan said: “It was months after those initial [1992] reports that local fishermen mobilised themselves, along with street militias, to go into the waters and deter the Westerners from having a free pass at completely destroying Somalia's aquatic life.”

Kudos to Tod G. While many are quick to judge, many do not realize the reasons behind piracy. As perfectly put by Tod, these people are starving, dirt poor, and their country is being ravaged by industrialized nations, such as Italy, Switzerland, and the US. I am not saying piracy is ok, but please let's analyze the real problem here!

Claudia... who cares what their problem is... do you condone theft at gun point? Would you be happy if someone pulled you over at gun point and demanded money as so often happens? There are ways around things... theft is not the way, especially by lethal means. We are not talking about sneaking into someone's backyard and stealing some fresh tomatoes from your garden... we are talking about possibly lethal attacks.
We do not judge or analyze the reason behind a scenario like this. We only care about the aftermath... so what is there to analyze? Wrong forum, wrong time and situation for that. If you feel that bad for them... send them money and food... don't wait for some innocent citizen to die because you feel sorry for the pirates. I don't condone genocide, ravaging, starving nations, etc.. but violence will not get you help...

Who's to say he's even a pirate? The American media? I didn't vote because I'm unaware of the true story here. The media tells us they're pirates, but we don't know they're pirates. We know what's told to us. I read a blurb that said these guys don't consider themselves pirates, but environmentalists....(insert joke)....

However...they did just hold the Captain of that boat hostage...while letting his crew go...lol, only then to be slaughtered by an American SEAL team, but...do they really sound ruthless? They compromised, negotiated, but they don't sound like ruthless pirates of lore we've come to identify "pirate" with....just food for thought...