Somalia Pirates seize US-flagged cargo ship

[Sea Skimmer]

Rational people - seeing an outcome with the ship retaken by a US crew; all US personnel including hostages alive, well, and free; 75% of the pirates dead and the remainder in US custody - would conclude that there is no profit in pirating US ships and leave them alone.

Of course, there are a lot of irrational people in the world, and no doubt some of them are pirates.

Doesn’t work that way, just one ransom payment is millions of dollar’s which is enough for the pirate warlords to hire an awful lot of minions to attack an awful lot of other ships. One more success, another five-ten million dollars, rinse and repeat. They by no means need to succeed every time or even more then one in five or ten times for this to work out. Profit is relative when the alternative is eating dirt in a mud hut.

[MKSheppard]

Let's just send a couple of B-2s with SDBs over Somalia to plink every noticeable small craft we can find in their rivers and harbors.

[Lonestar]

a. No... really? The USN has to obey a civilian authority? Gee Wally! I never would have guessed that! Thanks for that moment of enlightenment.

So, why were you specifying the USN instead of the government? When you name the service like that, you seem to be jumping in with the "WHY DOESN'T THE NAVY DO THIS???" crowd.

[Broomstick]

SOMALI pirates have threatened revenge after two separate hostage-rescue raids by foreign forces killed at least five comrades, raising fears of future bloodshed on the high seas.

Criminals don't like to be told to stop being criminals. This is not news.

"The French and the Americans will regret starting this killing. We do not kill, but take only ransom. We shall do something to anyone we see as French or American from now," Hussein, a pirate, told Reuters by satellite phone.

OK. Well, if you don't mind killing French and Americans then you will understand when they come back to avenge THEIR friends' killing, will you? Oh, wait - that's right, these assholes practice double standards: they can do whatever the fuck they want and the rest of us have to take it.

"We cannot know how or whether our friends on the lifeboat died, but this will not stop us from hijacking," he said.

I guess you guys have a death wish, then.

Sea gangs generally treat their captives well, hoping to fetch top dollar in ransoms. The worst violence has been an occasional beating.

"An occasional" beating is NOT treating someone well.

Killing three out of thousands of pirates will only escalate piracy," said Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, spokesman of the moderate Islamist group Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca.

OK, then - how many of them do we have to kill to stop this?

After a wane in business early this year, pirates have struck back. They presently hold more than a dozen vessels with about 260 hostages, of whom about 100 are Filipino.

Sadly, it is unlikely that anyone gives a flying fuck about the Filipinos and other impoverished third-world sailors outside of their immediate families. Governments don't want to protect them, the families can't afford the ransom, and the Seals aren't going to rescue them.

Doesn’t work that way, just one ransom payment is millions of dollar’s which is enough for the pirate warlords to hire an awful lot of minions to attack an awful lot of other ships. One more success, another five-ten million dollars, rinse and repeat. They by no means need to succeed every time or even more then one in five or ten times for this to work out. Profit is relative when
the alternative is eating dirt in a mud hut.

Oh, please - did you miss this?

Piracy is lucrative business in Somalia, where gangs have earned millions of dollars in ransoms, splashing it on wives, houses, cars and fancy goods.

The guys doing this aren't the ones living in mud huts and eating dirt. They never were - they had to have the money to get the boats, guns, and ammo to do this. The dirt-eating poor are still eating dirt, because these shitheads treat their own as badly as they treat sailors.

[MKSheppard]

OK, then - how many of them do we have to kill to stop this?

All of them. But remember. Pirates are enemies of all humanity, and thus not human beings.

We can use all the banned weapons like crossbows against them!

[Broomstick]

>cough< Since when are crossbows banned? Got one hanging on the wall in my bedroom.

[bilateralrope]

"The French and the Americans will regret starting this killing. We do not kill, but take only ransom. We shall do something to anyone we see as French or American from now," Hussein, a pirate, told Reuters by satellite phone.

The more times they do this, the more they increase support for retaliation. Especially when they make a mistake in identifying the hostages and piss off another country.

[Lonestar]

>cough< Since when are crossbows banned? Got one hanging on the wall in my bedroom.

The Pope Banned 'em.

[Broomstick]

Oh, the Pope - like we heathens have ever paid attention....

[Darksider]

All of them. But remember. Pirates are enemies of all humanity, and thus not human beings.

We can use all the banned weapons like crossbows against them!

Out of sheer morbid curiosity, and knowing that you're definitely the person to ask about this, Is there any chance we could use other weapons that might be considered excessive when targeting these pirates?

Is there any one large tortuga-style pirate hub that we could glass out of existence with a well placed tactical nuclear strike, or are they too spread out for that?

[Stuart Mackey]

All of them. But remember. Pirates are enemies of all humanity, and thus not human beings.

We can use all the banned weapons like crossbows against them!

Out of sheer morbid curiosity, and knowing that you're definitely the person to ask about this, Is there any chance we could use other weapons that might be considered excessive when targeting these pirates?

Is there any one large tortuga-style pirate hub that we could glass out of existence with a well placed tactical nuclear strike, or are they too spread out for that?

There is a Tortuga style hub...its called Somalia.

[ray245]

Sadly, it is unlikely that anyone gives a flying fuck about the Filipinos and other impoverished third-world sailors outside of their immediate families. Governments don't want to protect them, the families can't afford the ransom, and the Seals aren't going to rescue them.

You do know that shipping companies are the ones who paid the ransom most of the time right? Even if the sailor is from a third world nation?

[Sea Skimmer]

Oh, please - did you miss this?

Are you trying to prove my point for me? These people have nothing but money from piracy, and you damn well think a couple of them dead on one boat matters one bit? That wont stop a single one, and nor should it considering how violent the place is on land already. Getting guns and a boat was an near irrelevant startup cost, you can get a gun for almost nothing and boat is easily obtained through armed force. We already had articles posted on how the villages that are behind this have become boom towns. The amazing thing is simply that it took so long for it to get this bad.

[Duckie]

Oh, Obama pays the ransom all right ^^- a longer story with more human interest than was posted before. We should have put some bets on what.

Navy kills 3 pirates to save US captain
President authorizes action by snipers on destroyer; Ship's crew, Vermont family, Mass. Maritime rejoice

This story was reported by Brian Ballou, Eric Moskowitz, and John Drake of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent John Guilfoil. It was written by Eric Moskowitz.

With the Vermont captain of a cargo ship intercepted off the Somali coast in "imminent danger" of death, Navy snipers killed three pirates holding him hostage on a lifeboat yesterday in an operation authorized by President Obama, according to a top Navy official.

A pirate was seen pointing an AK-47 assault rifle just after dark at Captain Richard Phillips when the commander of the nearby USS Bainbridge gave the order for sharpshooters on the destroyer to open fire at the lifeboat bobbing on the Indian Ocean, Vice Admiral William E. Gortney said at a press conference

As the news spread around the world, the captain's friends, family, and crew from the waters off Somalia to the base of Vermont's Mount Mansfield celebrated his rescue yesterday with cheers, tears, and the clarion blast of a ship's whistle.

Gortney, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, said the White House gave "very clear guidance and authority" for the military to take action if Phillips was in danger.

The 53-year-old captain was at the helm of the 508-foot Maersk-Alabama when pirates attacked the unarmed cargo ship laden with food aid bound for Kenya early last Wednesday more than 300 miles off the coast of Somalia. Phillips and his 20-member crew thwarted the siege but pirates took him as a hostage and were reportedly seeking $2 million in ransom.

Phillips endured nearly five days in the cramped lifeboat in a sweltering Somali heat before the Navy freed him yesterday about 7:20 p.m. local time, 12:20 p.m. in New England, where family and friends of the Winchester native anxiously awaited the news on a cold, sunny Easter Sunday.

Phillips's crew has called him a hero, and Obama - who spoke with Phillips and his wife yesterday - said the captain was "a model for all Americans."

But Phillips directed credit to the Navy.

"I'm just the byline. The real heroes are the Navy, the Seals, those who have brought me home," Phillips said in a phone call to John Reinhart, president and CEO of Maersk Line Ltd., according to the Maersk executive.

In a choppy video released by the Navy, a lively, grinning Phillips thanked US officials after clambering aboard. He was transferred from the Bainbridge to the nearby USS Boxer, an 844-foot amphibious assault ship, for a medical exam. Gortney said Phillips was in good health and had suffered no apparent injuries, despite being "tied up inside the lifeboat" for much of the ordeal.

Arrangements were being made last night for Phillips's return home to Vermont.

Late last week, Phillips attempted to escape. He dove into the sea in an attempt to reach the Bainbridge but returned to the lifeboat after a pirate opened fire and watched on Saturday as pirates turned away a small Navy craft with gunfire.

Sometime over the weekend, when the pirates had begun to run out of food and water, supplies were sent to the lifeboat on a small boat from the USS Bainbridge. One pirate whose hand had been gashed when Phillips was taken hostage asked for medical treatment and was taken to the Bainbridge. A Justice Department official told CNN that federal prosecutors would be reviewing the case to determine whether that pirate would be prosecuted in the United States.

Yesterday when the pirates were running low on fuel, they accepted a tow from the Bainbridge. After night fell, the snipers aboard the Bainbridge saw two pirates partially emerging from the hatch of the lifeboat and through a window saw the third pirate aim at the back of Phillips, who was tied up.

It was then that the snipers, with night-vision scopes attached to their high-powered rifles, took aim and hit all three pirates.

With word of Phillips's rescue, members of his crew on the Maersk-Alabama whistled, cheered, and pumped their fists in the air. They unfurled an American flag from the ship's railing and fired a pair of red flares into the sky.

In Bourne, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy celebrated the release of Phillips, a 1979 graduate, by blasting the whistle on the USTS Kennedy, its training vessel, and sounding the bell above Blinn Hall on the edge of the Cape Cod Canal.

And in Underhill, the Vermont village where the captain lives with his wife, Andrea, several members of his family emerged from their house, smiles stretched across their faces, but made no comment. With their vigil over, they embraced in the blustery weather, separated from the media by a white picket fence tied with yellow ribbons.

Through a spokeswoman, Andrea Phillips thanked rescuers for their work and the nation for its thoughts and prayers.

"This is truly a very happy Easter for the Phillips family. Andrea and Richard have spoken; I think you can all imagine their joy and what a happy moment that was for them," said Alison McColl, speaking outside Phillips's house. "They're all just so happy and relieved. Andrea wanted me to tell the nation that all your prayers and good wishes have paid off because Captain Phillips is safe."

In Mombasa, Kenya, where the Maersk-Alabama has been docked since Saturday, the FBI has treated the ship as a crime scene and detained the crew to interview them about the first pirate attack in recent history on a vessel flying the US flag. A dozen crew members went to the deck to speak with reporters.

"We made it!" said ATM Reza, a crewman from West Hartford, Conn., who called his wife yesterday to say he may rethink his chosen career.

"He managed to be in a 120-degree oven for days," another crew member said of Phillips. "It's amazing."

Mass. Maritime president Richard Gurnon said he was relieved and happy for Phillips's family. "It doesn't get better than this. This is exactly the way we wanted this to end."

Gurnon said, "He was the good shepherd. He willingly exchanged his life for the lives of his flock his crew."

In a statement released at the Mass. Maritime press conference, Captain Joseph Murphy, the father of second-in-command Shane Murphy, hailed Phillips as a hero.

"I have made it clear throughout this terrible ordeal that my son and our family will forever be indebted to Captain Phillips for his bravery," said Murphy, who teaches at the academy and whose son is a graduate of the school. "If not for his incredible personal sacrifice, this kidnapping and act of terror could have turned out much worse."

A Mass. Maritime spokesman said last night that Shane is expected back by tomorrow and possibly today.

Reinhart, the president and CEO of Norfolk, Va.-based Maersk Line Ltd., issued a statement saying the company shared the jubilation of the Maersk-Alabama's crew and eagerly awaited the return of Phillips and all the crew members in the coming days.

"We are all absolutely thrilled to learn that Richard is safe and will be reunited with his family," Reinhart said, expressing gratitude "to the Navy, the FBI, and so many others for their tireless efforts to secure Richard's freedom."

Phillips's home sits less than a mile from Underhill Center, a small cluster of shops and brick-and-clapboard buildings at the heart of this former logging community of about 3,000.

Easter Sunday in Underhill began yesterday morning with uncertainty, as 200 somber residents made their way into St. Thomas Church for the service, with the fate of Phillips weighing on their hearts and minds.

After a children's choir sang "Christ Has Risen," the Rev. Rick Danielson delivered a brief sermon focusing on Jesus Christ rising, and on good triumphing over evil, speaking of "terrorists, pirates, and the wicked."

Danielson asked parishioners to say a prayer for Phillips and a prayer for his family. Afterward, they filed out in silence.

A few hours later, the town breathed a collective sigh and celebrated with the relief and joy spreading quietly on a day of snow flurries and subfreezing temperatures, in a town unused to media attention.

"It's definitely a miracle, and we're very blessed to have him coming home," said Rick Witham, co-owner of the Underhill Country Store, where a sign of support for Phillips was displayed outside. "To see him coming home safe to his wife and kids, and just being able to have a happy ending to this whole thing, is just amazing."

Stephen Walkerman, chairman of the Underhill Board of Selectmen, said town officials would await word on Phillips's return date before planning for a homecoming celebration.

"There's been a great outpouring of support for Captain Phillips's wife," he said, adding that "it's somewhat ironic that a small town in rural Vermont has suddenly been thrust into the national spotlight."

As the sun began to set yesterday evening, McColl emerged a second time from the Phillips home, about 16 miles east of Burlington, to give a statement. She said Andrea Phillips and her family were ecstatic but needed time to regroup after the long, draining experience.

McColl, who witnessed a joyous phone call between Phillips and his wife, said the captain's "trademark sense of humor" must have been on display from the other end of the line, given Andrea's laughter.

"If you guys could have seen her light up when she talked to him, it was truly remarkable," McColl said.

Earlier in the day, Phillips had received a note from his wife after he reached the safety of the Bainbridge, according to Gortney, the vice admiral.

"Your family is saving a chocolate Easter egg for you," she wrote. "Unless your son eats it first."

Globe correspondent Jenara Gardner contributed to this report.

Glad to see this turned out well. Props to Obama for not pussying out on a hard decision.

[Darth Wong]

It must be hard to take an accurate shot while you're on a boat which is presumably pitching with the waves, and you're shooting at a moving person on another boat which is also presumably pitching with the waves.

[Falkenhayn]

At the risk of raising Shep's ire, isn't an MEU almost ideally designed for this sort of work? That is, punitive attacks on Pirate anchorages? I don't see many Pirate forces that could stand off 2200 marines, not that they'd need the whole battalion (...though it's more like a regiment).

Then again, they threatened France as well, and the Foreign Legion is formidable, though I doubt the logistics would work out. A Franco-American punitive expedition, though...haven't seen one of those since the Boxers.

[Broomstick]

Sadly, it is unlikely that anyone gives a flying fuck about the Filipinos and other impoverished third-world sailors outside of their immediate families. Governments don't want to protect them, the families can't afford the ransom, and the Seals aren't going to rescue them.

You do know that shipping companies are the ones who paid the ransom most of the time right? Even if the sailor is from a third world nation?

Right, and the insurance companies reimburse the shipping companies - but with insurance premiums rising how long do you think that will last? My stands - the governments don't rescue the sailors and the families usually can't, which leaves the owners of the companies. Depending upon the generosity of a corporation is pretty scary from my viewpoint.

None of the third-world sailors that are held hostage get coverage on the evening news or hailed as heros, even if they are held a lot longer than this American ship captain. They're treated "well, except for an occasional beating". Treat someone from the first world like that everyone gets up in arms and sends in the troops. A Filipino? Just be cool, dude, and don't piss off your captors... we'll get the money together eventually and enjoy your stay in Somalia.

Are you trying to prove my point for me? These people have nothing but money from piracy, and you damn well think a couple of them dead on one boat matters one bit? That wont stop a single one, and nor should it considering how violent the place is on land already. Getting guns and a boat was an near irrelevant startup cost, you can get a gun for almost nothing and boat is easily obtained through armed force. We already had articles posted on how the villages that are behind this have become boom towns. The amazing thing is simply that it took so long for it to get this bad.

My point is that it wasn't the bottom of the barrel in society who got the ball rolling on this. It had to be planned and organized from the initial foray. Someone on the bottom of the social heap in Somalia is not going to be able to do that. This "oh, the poor, starving people - no wonder they turned to piracy" is bullshit, just as much as the notion that people in the US only rob banks because they're poor and starving. They do it because they're criminals. Even these days most Somalis are not pirates, it's not inevitable. Piracy is not OK and it's not excusable.

[ray245]

Sadly, it is unlikely that anyone gives a flying fuck about the Filipinos and other impoverished third-world sailors outside of their immediate families. Governments don't want to protect them, the families can't afford the ransom, and the Seals aren't going to rescue them.

You do know that shipping companies are the ones who paid the ransom most of the time right? Even if the sailor is from a third world nation?

Right, and the insurance companies reimburse the shipping companies - but with insurance premiums rising how long do you think that will last? My stands - the governments don't rescue the sailors and the families usually can't, which leaves the owners of the companies. Depending upon the generosity of a corporation is pretty scary from my viewpoint.

The issue of piracy is one of the first issue that shipping company is concerned with. A company that failed to take the safety of its employee into account when their industry isn't that safe to begin with will only lose its attractiveness as a company for people to join.

Even then, when a company has more to lose when its crews and ships are killed and damaged in a firefight, and do not wish to navy to attack their captured vessel, should the government override the Companies wishes?

Especially when you cannot accuse the shipping company of not taking care of their employees?

Also, this is assuming that in the long run, the issue of piracy in Somalia will not decrease like the Straits of Malacca due to increased naval presence in the long term.

[FSTargetDrone]

It must be hard to take an accurate shot while you're on a boat which is presumably pitching with the waves, and you're shooting at a moving person on another boat which is also presumably pitching with the waves.

And in the dark, no less. True, they have night vision aids, but still.

[Burak Gazan]

The Stupid Shall be Punished blog has some info up on it now. Apparently the seas were growing rougher, and Bainbridge offered to tow them to calmer waters. The pirates accepted, and the tow line was shortened up to about 75-80 feet. Makes for a much easier shot from the fantail at that range....

[FSTargetDrone]

Wouldn't the Bainbridge's wake cause the lifeboat in tow to bob up and down?

Kind of cool how the one SEAL slid down the tow line afterwards:

...Meanwhile, one of the pirates, estimated to be between 16 and 20 years old, asked to come aboard the Bainbridge to make a phone call. He had been stabbed in the hand during an altercation with the crew of the Maersk Alabama and needed medical care. "He effectively gave himself up," a senior military official said. The Navy then allowed that pirate to speak with the others in hopes that he could persuade them to give up.

The three other pirates, however, showed signs of growing irritation, as the Bainbridge, 18 miles from shore, towed the lifeboat further out to sea, the senior military official said. "They had no promise of money, clearly no passage. The one ticket they had was the captain," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record.

"In the last discussion, they said, 'If we don't get what we want, we will kill the captain,' " the official said.

Soon afterward, two pirates moved to one of the hatches of the lifeboat and stuck their heads out. The third pirate advanced toward the captain and pointed his AK-47 straight at Phillips's back, the rifle touching it or inches away, the official said.

U.S. military observers thought that Phillips was about to be shot. SEAL snipers, who were positioned on a deck at the stern of the Bainbridge, an area known as the fantail, had the three pirates in their sights. The on-scene commander gave the snipers authority to fire.

"As soon as the snipers had a clear shot at the guy who had the rifle, they shot him and the other two in the hatches," the senior military official said.

A member of the Special Operations team slid down the tow line into the water and climbed aboard the lifeboat. Phillips was then put in a small craft and taken to the Bainbridge.

[ray245]

AP

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The killing of three Somali pirates in the dramatic U.S. Navy rescue of a cargo ship captain has sparked concern for other hostages and fears that the stakes have been raised for future hijackings in the busy Indian Ocean shipping lane.

Sunday's rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips followed a shootout at sea on Friday by French navy commandos, who stormed a pirate-held sailboat, killed two pirates and freed four French hostages. The French owner of the vessel was also killed in the assault.

The two operations may have been a setback for the pirates, but they are unlikely to quell the brigands, who have vowed to avenge the deaths of their comrades.

Experts indicated that piracy in the Indian Ocean off Somalia, which transformed one of the world's busiest shipping lanes into one of its most dangerous, has entered a new phase with the Navy SEAL rescue operation of Phillips.

It "could escalate violence in this part of the world, no question about it," said Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.

The International Maritime Bureau said Monday it supported the action by the U.S. and French navies, but cautioned it may spark retaliatory moves by pirates.

"We applaud the U.S. and the French action. We feel that they are making the right move, although the results sometimes may be detrimental," said Noel Choong of the IMB's piracy center in Kuala Lumpur.

He did not elaborate, but for families of the 228 foreign nationals aboard 13 ships still held by pirates, the fear is revenge on their loved ones.

"Those released are lucky, but what about those who remain captive?" said Vilma de Guzman, the wife of Filipino seafarer Ruel de Guzman. He has been held by pirates since Nov. 10 along with the 22 other Filipino crew of the chemical tanker MT Stolt Strength.

The U.S. rescue operation "might be dangerous (for) the remaining hostages because the pirates might vent their anger on them," she said.

So far, Somali pirates have never harmed captive foreign crews except for a Taiwanese crew member who was killed under unclear circumstances. In fact, many former hostages say they were treated well and given sumptuous food.

The pirates had operated with near-impunity in the Gulf of Aden north of Somalia, and more recently in waters south of the country after a multinational naval force began patrolling the Gulf.

Choong said there have been 74 attacks this year with 15 hijackings as compared to 111 attacks for all of last year.

The modus operandi of the pirates is simple: Board unarmed or lightly armed merchant ships, fire shots in the air or at the hull to intimidate the crew, divert the ships to hide-outs on the Somali coast and wait for the owners to pay millions of dollars in ransom.

But the game changed last week when the pirates boarded the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama. In an act of courage, Phillips offered himself as hostage in return for the safety of his crew.

The pirates transferred the 53-year-old Phillips, a Vermont native, to a lifeboat. But the pirates had not counted on the U.S. military's resolve. After a five-day standoff during which a small U.S. flotilla tailed the lifeboat, Navy SEAL snipers on a destroyer shot and killed three pirates and plucked an unharmed Phillips to safety. A fourth pirate surrendered.

The comrades of the slain pirates immediately threatened retaliation.

"From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them," said Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told The Associated Press by telephone from the pirate hub, Eyl.

Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding a Greek ship in the pirate den of Gaan, a central Somali town, told the AP that pirates will not take the U.S. action lying down.

"We will retaliate for the killings of our men," he said.

Giles Noakes, chief maritime security officer of the largest international shipping association, the Denmark-based BIMCO, says it is premature to say Philips' rescue will lead to an escalation of violence.

"The question here is whether there will be a change of attitude in the pirates and in their modus operandi. We hope the change will be that they will be even more deterred because of the successful action by both the Maersk Alabama crew and the navies," he said.

Many of the governments whose ships have been captured — including Taiwan's Win Far 161 with a multinational crew of 30 — are in talks with the pirates and would not comment on the consequences of the American rescue for fear of jeopardizing the negotiations.

"We are monitoring the situation closely, but the ship owner wants to keep a low profile to help with their negotiation with the abductors," Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Henry Chen said.

He said the crew, comprising 17 Filipinos, six Indonesians, five Chinese and two Taiwanese, were safe as of Monday.

Some families also wonder if Phillips' rescue drew so much of attention because of his nationality.

"It's difficult when the ship's crew are all Filipinos because we are ignored," said de Guzman. "Maybe if there are Japanese, Koreans or British among the crew, the case would get more attention."

So what is going to happen to all the other hostage now?

[KrauserKrauser]

What I want to know is the answer to the most obvious question now that the crisis is over.

Who gets the movie rights?

[ray245]

What I want to know is the answer to the most obvious question now that the crisis is over.

The piracy issue does not end with the escape of the Captain. I will be more interested to see how will the pirates deal with the hostage and any future ships that they are going to attack.

[KrauserKrauser]

I'll be more interested in who gets the director's chair and who they choose for Lead Man (Captain), Lead Bad Guy (Theoretical Pirate Ringleader) and what love story they try to stuff into the plot.

I say Jason Statham for SEAL badassery.