Pirates die strangely after taking Iranian ship

[bananas]

Source: The Times (South Africa)

Pirates die strangely after taking Iranian ship
Andrew Donaldson Published:Sep 28, 2008

A tense standoff has developed in waters off Somalia over an Iranian merchant ship laden with a mysterious cargo that was hijacked by pirates.

Somali pirates suffered skin burns, lost hair and fell gravely ill “within days” of boarding the MV Iran Deyanat. Some of them died.

Andrew Mwangura, the director of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, told the Sunday Times: “We don’t know exactly how many, but the information that I am getting is that some of them had died. There is something very wrong about that ship.”

The vessel’s declared cargo consists of “minerals” and “industrial products”. But officials involved in negotiations over the ship are convinced that it was sailing for Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia’s Islamist rebels.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Article.aspx?id=851953

[Demeter]

1. Radiation or Contact Poison

[SKKY]

117. Just what I was thinking!

[nadinbrzezinski]

171. Classic radiation poisoning

[grannie4peace]

2. wonder if that why russia is headed there?

[LisaL]

154. Russia is headed there because of a different ship.

[Andy823]

3. Is this the same ship with the russian tanks on board? nt

[bananas]

11. No. nt

[Alexander]

4. Sounds like radiation poisoning. What the hell is on that ship?

And why do I get the feeling we won't feel better after we learn what the cargo is?

[Wizard777]

27. If it did that to the Pirates what about the crew?

[LisaL]

33. The crew wouldn't be opening the containers to look into them.

[Alexander]

44. Neither would the pirates. The containers are locked.

Obviously the crew took iodine pills or had some other safety measures the pirates weren't aware of.

[LisaL]

48. They are locked so the pirates won't open them.

Makes total sense.
:eyes:

[freedomnorth]

104. He referred the article

exerpt:
"The pirates did reveal that they had tried to inspect the ship’s cargo containers when some of them fell sick — but the containers were locked."

[ingac70]

67. Pirates pry open containers...

to see what they've got.

I think it's funny. I hope they suffered.

[ohio2007]

74. No they don't . They respect personal property nt

[ingac70]

77. lol

[superconnected]

95. It's not funny. Who was that radiation really meant to kill. Bet it gets where it's going.

[ingac70]

99. It could have been waste...

medical waste can be radioactive...

http://doh.sd.gov/Licensure/Radioactive.aspx

Don't act like a hyperventilating freeper.

[D23MIURG23]

119. Im a little out of my depth here, but I don't think that most radioisotopes...

used in medicine end up being that toxic. I'm not sure what goes on in radiation oncology, but most of the RandD applications that I know of produce waste that is relatively benign.

[superconnected]

120. Actually you're the one acting like a freeper by your response.

Now go trust bush. I'm gonna sit here and question everything.

[ohio2007]

163. Did you know the smoke alarm in your house is radio active ? A few years ago, a truck was stopped

at the Turkish border for tripping an alarm. Its cargo was destined for Iran and the country of origin was England. It was big news at the time until the shipment was opened and only smoke detectors were found.

So until an actual accounting for whats aboard the Iranian ship is disclosed, don't start with the tin foil conspiracy "who was the real intended victim of the TOXIC CARGO "

lol

oh,
only bushco/cheney haliburten knows for sure ?

and they aint talking .

it all makes sense and its coming together....with the election only one month away

lol

of course,when such actual details are released,

they'll makes no sense...... since they will release only LIES that lead to the upcomming June invasion of Iran

[tburnsten]

126. Lots of non-weapons kill

And plenty of different chemicals and other materials can cause death without being intended to kill anyone at all. All it takes is some loser pirate monkeying around with the storage container and suddenly an inert box can become lethal, apparently that is what happened to these fools.

[ohio2007]

164. Don't interrupt the building of a good conspiracy theory

let them simmer on the back burner until any late breaking knee jerk MSM press release puts a nail in the coffin

[tburnsten]

169. Sorry to spoil the fun

before they really got deep into the tinfoil brigade theorizing.

[adamuu]

78. LMAO n/t

[mitchum]

97. Ahrrr...thank you fahrrrr the kind words!

And for the laugh
nicely done :)

[slackmaster]

106. There is no honor among pirates.

:nuke:

[anigbrowl]

174. What planet are you from? Look up the definition of 'Pirate'.

Methinks you've been watching too many Johnny Depp movies.

[Piewhacket]

93. Yeah.... great news. NOT..

Alexander said:
Sounds like radiation poisoning. What the hell is on that ship?
And why do I get the feeling we won't feel better after we learn what the cargo is?

(Assuming all true)
High dose. Something very "hot" is on that ship.
So the pirates might just be 'heros' after all for finding what
the 'high functioning' imbecile couldn't. WMD.

Is the KGB selling their nuclear arsenal for cash?
Packed in tanks? A bizarre and diabolically convoluted transaction.
But then, they wouldn't really do that. No sane person would.
Would they?????

An imbecile in the WH, toxic levels of corruption (deregulation and
no law enforcement) which cripples rule of law, an unnecessary war that
cripples our military might, and massive looting which cripples our economy,
is more than just a criminal enterprise, is MORE than organized TREASON against
the United States, it places the whole world in mortal danger.

[superconnected]

96. I think it's a weapon too.

[tburnsten]

127. uh... buddy, this was an Iranian ship

hijacked by Somali pirates... no relation to anything U.S. at all... Unless you believe that somehow U.S. forces planted poison on board an Iranian ship for some reason?





:tinfoilhat:

[Piewhacket]

130. Huh?

tburnsten: hijacked by Somali pirates... no relation to anything U.S. at all... Unless you believe that somehow U.S. forces planted poison on board an Iranian ship for some reason?

tburnsten your post is attached as though replying to mine, and if so thanks for the reply,
but I didn't quite understand your comment.

"Unless you believe that somehow U.S. forces planted poison on board an Iranian ship for some reason?"
No, I don't think I suggested that.

"hijacked by Somali pirates" -
I just posted "pirates".

"no relation to anything U.S. at all" - OK, I take your word on it. I heard they were Russian armaments.
Russian Tanks.

Thats why I mentioned the KGB in passing. Russia has a bazillion nuclear weapons and oversight of them has
essentially collapsed (I think Jimmy Carter, or someone has organized an international watch group), and
the whereabouts of these devices is of rather vital importance to EVERYONE, including US.

So when we get a report of pirates hijacking a Iranian ship loaded with Russian Tanks bound for a civil war
zone, and pirates are reported to have died by what might be radiation, my point was that we need to
come alert and ask some serious questions.

Now I saw you offered up a tin hat at the end of your comment, and perhaps you were suggesting
that that the scenario where rogue KGB would try to ship a nuclear weapon to a war zone hidden in a tank
is too 'Tom Clancy' and silly to consider. Yet I must confide in you that IF I were POTUS and had verification
of the basic story as reported I would be inclined , diplomatic situation permitting (we don't want to provoke
a nuclear war), to immediately send a US warship at flank speed with marines and SEALS to investigate and possibly
board that f*g ship, and moreover, if there was ANY possibility of interference I would order the nearest aircraft
carrier into support range. And that's just for 'openers'. Other alternative might be considered also.
That's because all this WOULD indeed have something to do with the vital national interests of the US.

Of course we are just dealing with the facts as they are provided. It all may be nonsense.
I have heard no reports of Carrier fleets maneuvering in the vicinity.
Yet if verified, I'd be pretty alarmed.
And if that qualifies me for the tin hat brigade, well then... I'll put one on right now.
:tinfoilhat:

[tburnsten]

131. The Russian tanks were on a different ship

My response was just because I didn't understand where your odd comments about U.S. involvement came from.

[Piewhacket]

135. What! Pirates boarded a second ship???

"Facts" , as always, can be kinda slippery just when you need them most.

My mixing of (dust) dry/wry humor with serious points sometimes
detracts from the message. Apologies if that was the case,
but its my 'style'.

But please re-read my post.
Isn't the central thrust that this story raises the specter
that nuclear weapons have fallen into the hands of PIRATES?
Isn't the secondary point that criminal incompetence of the Bush
administration may limit our ability to respond to these situations
(diplomatically, economically, militarily...)?

Isn't that what really worries us about this story?
That we are gravely weakened and therefore now less safe?

So... ready to join the tin hat brigade yet?

--------------
*Symptoms of acute radiation poisoning*
* Nausea and vomiting
* Diarrhea
* Skin burns (redness, blistering)
* Weakness, fatigue, exhaustion, fainting
* Dehydration
* Inflammation of exposed areas (redness, tenderness, swelling, bleeding)
* Hair loss
* Ulceration of the oral mucosa
* Ulceration of the esophagus, stomach or intestines
* Vomiting blood
* Bloody stool
* Bleeding from the nose, mouth, gums, and rectum
* Bruising
* Sloughing of skin
* Open sores on the skin

[tburnsten]

146. Luckily

if they did acquire nuclear weapons it would be a very simple procedure to have the ships hull interface with a missile and plant those warheads safely at the bottom of the ocean.



Sorry for the misunderstanding, although I still don't think it is our responsibility yet. Maybe later.

[Piewhacket]

147. OK. Then, cleaning up a few points we have....

First... those pesky facts. You advised that the ship was Iranian and that there were no Russian tanks.
I don't know what your source was but AP is now reporting that the pirates boarded a Ukrainian ship MV Faina
which was carrying 33 Soviet-made T-72 tanks:

Somalia: World can use force against the pirates

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN – 48 minutes ago

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Foreign powers can use force if necessary to free a hijacked cargo ship loaded with battle tanks and heavy ammunition, Somalia's foreign ministry declared Wednesday — increasing pressure on the Somali pirates who have demanded a $20 million ransom.

Last week's hijacking of the Ukrainian ship MV Faina — carrying 33 Soviet-made T-72 tanks, rifles, and heavy weapons that U.S. defense officials say included rocket launchers — was the highest profile act of piracy this year in the dangerous waters off Somalia.

Mohamed Jama Ali, the ministry's acting permanent director, said his country granted its permission to use force on the condition that foreign powers coordinate their actions with Somali government officials beforehand.

"The international community has permission to fight with the pirates," Ali told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Second, sinking the ship may be simple but is a very dangerous approach, IMHO. Very. The ship should be boarded, by force if necessary,
inspected, then dealt with in a systematic, thoughtful, and safe manner. Thank you for your comment though.

Last, "responsibility" was not a word I used in my post, but you have focused on it so perhaps we might agree to think
of it this way: If someone seeks to provide a nuclear weapon to terrorists who might use it against the US, then may God forbid
that we would be militarily, economically, politically too weak to step up and take "responsibility" for stopping it.

Thank you for your comments, tburnsten. Pleasure talking with you.

[ohio2007]

149. But wait ! there's more: Cameroon: Pirates Hit Limbe; Kill, Rob Banks

These Pirates are on the Ivory left coast;

Cameroon: Pirates Hit Limbe; Kill, Rob Banks

A group of unidentified armed robbers stormed Limbe in the wee hours of September 28, killed one, wounded many and carted away several millions from AMITY Bank.The robbers, who reportedly came by sea, succeeded to escape under the cover of intensive gun fire.

Victim of stray bullet
The group of about 50 or more, eyewitnesses say, disembarked at the Down Beach water front and approached their targets: the banks that line the Down Beach Avenue - SGBC, AMITY Bank, SCB Credit Lyonnais and BEAC.A security guard at Amity Bank, Kinge Toko, who survived the over two hours of gun fire under the cover of some old rags, told The Post, "I saw them come from the sea."

snip

http://allafrica.com/stories/200809300231.html

[Piewhacket]

151. mmmm... they seem very organized...

petty wars and warlords abound in the world, alas,
but do not necessarily pose an imminent threat to US.

but could be quite serious, especially if there is a connection. Can
you connect up these pirates with the ones who boarded the Ukranian vessel?

========
Hope the CIA is on the job figuring this out, which is their real friggin job,
not spying on Americans in the US. Where is the g*damn CIA when they are
needed, yucking it up in some foreign whorehouse at US taxpayer expense?
:rant:

[ohio2007]

165. piracy; it's a job where jobs are scarce.

smuggling etc. somebody is going to make a buck or two. It's a cottage industry centuries old going back to the slave trade

[ForrestGump]

172. Is there a Twinkie™ manufacturing plant anywhere in the vicinity?

I mean, it's one possibility.

[Wetzelbill]

5. that is odd

Not the most reassuring news I've heard in awhile. :)

[hedgehog]

6. They must have opened some of the containers because apparently

the ship's crew wasn't affected. Maybe the ship was carrying melamine!

[LisaL]

34. One would think the pirates are going to look at the loot.

They probably did look into the containers.

[flyingfysh]

7. the pirates shouldn't have let those genies out of the lamps

[ohio2007]

76. the stupid captain should have known to steer clear and give a wide berth from that coast

probably willing to run the gauntlet to save a buck or two in fuel cost ?

And you wonder why the US offered $7 million for just a peek inside ?


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3512763&mesg_id=3514459


http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=69204§ionid=351020501

[panzerfaust]

177. The vast majority of ships get by OK

'steering clear' adds hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel costs - I would bet - and days in time. Any captain who routinely did this, would soon not be a captain.

Actually, this would be a good use of Blackwater's merc's - better than terrorizing the civilian population of our occupied territories - a fireteam of 3, or a squad of 5 onboard (even assuming a pirate informant aboard) would make short work of any pirate attack.

As would simply arming the merchant vessels (last done in WW2) with a few grenades and machine guns. It is VERY hard to come aboard a ship at sea, even when the sea is calm.

After an ill-considered man-overboard drill in the middle of the Pacific, it took almost an hour for our landing craft to be recovered to the ship - and everyone was trying very hard to get us on-board.

Nothing like an outwardly sloping 30 foot steel cliff to make things difficult - unless it is having a few grenades tossed over the side.

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. Sounds similar to the Indian train robbers

Last week.

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - At least 15 Indian train robbers looking to steal diesel from a freight carriage died Saturday after inhaling poison gas stored in another tank they accidentally broke open, police said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE48M2VX20080923

[ohio2007]

80. As long as it doesn't end up like a North Korean train wreck

Fri May 14, 2004

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MewNews/message/19905

[tburnsten]

129. OOPS! Too bad for them

Darwin strikes again, maybe the next group of young men thinking about robbing a train will remember that incident and just go get a job instead. Good riddance, they will be a lesson to the youth of their area that it pays to be a productive, responsible member of the community and not a train robber or pirate.

[undeterred]

9. Pirates?

[Cleita]

10. Too bad there is no more "The X-Files". It sounds like a script right there.n/t

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

13. It sounds TOO MUCH like a script, if you ask me. -nt

[teknomanzer]

73. That is pretty much what I thought...

Smells a bit like "yellow cake" to me.

[glitch]

88. Don't it just.

That's the problem with creating your own reality, after awhile no one believes anything anymore. Could be real, could be from script. Either way they have to back it up with solid evidence, cuz we just don't take anything at face value anymore.

[n2doc]

12. Sounds like an episode of the X files

[ellie]

86. I though the same thing!

I think the title of that episode was Piper Maru and it was a two-parter from Season Three. I have been re-watching them in order.

[lostnotforgotten]

14. Could This Be A False Flag Operation In The Making?

eom

[Mika]

18. My thought too.

TERRA TERRA TERRA 9/11 9/11 9/11 Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran.



-

[Wizard777]

23. It could also be a poison apple Psy Ops. Make the Pirates think twice about robbing ships.

Will that ship or it's cargo kill us? Send out a contaminated ship as bait. If it did that to the Pirates. What about the ships crew? Did it even have one? I can't open the link for the full story.

[Alexander]

45. The ship does have a crew being held hostage by the pirates.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/09/mystery_surrounds_hi.php

It sounds like the crew has not been affected by whatever is on that ship.

[Wizard777]

56. Now I'm starting to think something other than radiation. I'm thinking acids.

They too would produce the burns and hair loss. Inhalations of dust from acid salts would probably kill in days. If it were radiation. A containment breach would kill the crew too.

[MnFats]

122. "Alien." Sigourney Weaver knows what's on that ship.

the alien's blood is a super-molecular acid (did they call it something like that) i wasn't a chem major, OK>
that acid will eat right through the hull.

[Dr.Phool]

24. BINGO!

[lurky]

31. The real October surprise?

Even if this goes nowhere, the Neocons can use it to beat the war drums and change the subject from economic collapse to terrorism. The suggestion that Iran might be supplying Somali Islamists with WMDs would certainly get people's attention, and (according to conventional wisdom) give McCain a boost.

[ohio2007]

84. or, it's creating a dog to wag ? coulld be it's all typical MSM hysteria looking for an eager

audience to buy into their product

[Regret My New Name]

150. I thought that peg legged guy with the parrot looked a lot like Katie Couric... hmmmm...

[slackmaster]

115. Very doubtful

If it sounds like stupid pirates, it probably is stupid pirates.

[ForrestGump]

173. More a Pirate Flag operation,

I think.

[WriteDown]

15. Sounds like the Russians and Iranians are....

going to be VERY interested in making sure that no one else ever finds out what is on that ship.

[dipsydoodle]

58. Why so ?

It was loaded in China and was sailing to Germany.

[ohio2007]

83. Oh, really ?

Did you know they made two stops along the way ?

[stray cat]

16. Sounds like radiation on board

[Wizard777]

17. Sounds like Radiation poisoning.

Iran may have been shipping enriched uranium to another country where it would be used for a weapon. I seriously doubt that they would manufacture a nuclear weapon inside Iran. That would leave them no plausable deniability.

[jmondine]

19. Or it could have been radioactive waste

[Wizard777]

36. No not really. Where I live in Maryland. We used to have radioactive waste stored here.

We also have a high cancer rate. But this occurs over decades. I've seen the old site when it did have radioactive waste there. leaking barrels and all. You would think there be an armed military guards there. NOPE! Just signs that say, "Danger radioactive waste." The site has since been cleaned up and had prison built over it. An inmate can stay there for five years. But a guard could work there for 20 years. So if it wasn't properly cleaned up. The cancers will show in the guards and not the inmates.

Radioactive waste is usually moderate to low level radiation. But this killed in days. So it's high level radiation. If it is radiation. If they were exposed to chemical weapons that could produce some of the same symptoms being reported. But they usually kill within minutes or hours. But it can go days.

[MidwestTransplant]

22. It isn't necessarily uranium. Any radiation would cause these symptoms.

I imagine a number of other things would too. Pretty scary though.

[Wizard777]

28. True but coming from Iran. The main concern right now is uranium.

[ohio2007]

166. supposedly, it was an Iranian ship with Chinese cargo.... Maybe its only Chinese milk or candy ? nt

http://www.pr-inside.com/iran-bans-china-s-milk-products-r844468.htm

[ohio2007]

167. Supposedly, it was an Iranian ship with Chinese cargo.... Maybe its only Chinese milk or candy ?

http://www.pr-inside.com/iran-bans-china-s-milk-products-r844468.htm

[TheMadMonk]

87. Learn some facts please. Even highly enriched uranium is not that radioactive.

With a half life of hundreds of millions of years, uranium235 just does not put out any appreciable amount of radiation over the short time period these pirates could have been exposed.

Spent fuel, full of all sorts of shortlived byproducts, might explain it, but I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to ship it secretly like this. The international repercussions if found out would be enormous.

If this is indeed radiation poisoning, the most likely culprit would be some industrial use substance. Quite probably openly listed on the cargo manifest and
covered with all sorts of warning labels.

As others have pointed out, the culprit could also any number of nasty chemicals.


This sort of kneejerk anti-nuke speculation is just as wrong and socially irresponsible as automatically assuming and publicly declaring that your big screen TV was stolen by a member of the only black family living on your block.

[dropkickpa]

160. Yep. Cesium or cobalt is MUCH more radioactive

The sheilding in irradiators using these as sources is very impressive, a very thick layer (inches and inches) of lead.

[John Q. Citizen]

20. Repo Man on the High Seas

[AlbertCat]

69. There are dead aliens in the hold!

Either that or the Flying Spaghetti Monster is mad at the pirates and punishing them.

"You can't go...what about our relationship?"

"Huh?"

"Our relationship...what about our relationship?"

"Oh....fuck that!"

"You shithead! I'm glad I tortured you...."

(God I love "Repo Man"!)

[Frank Booth]

92. That was my first thought as well. That, and a plate of shrimp.

[HopeHoops]

105. They should have known by the Christmas tree air freshener over the wheel

[elehhhhna]

113. the ship carries the soul of Marsellus Wallace.

[Barrett808]

118. "You eat a lot of acid, Miller, back in the hippie days?"

"Best damned car on the lot."

Best damned movie Emilio Estevez ever made.

[Dr.Phool]

21. Sounds like the Gulf of Tonkin incident to me.

Or the WMD's in Iraq. Or the Cuban air bases in Grenada.

In other words, a set-up incident to justify attacking Irsn. The October surprises are starting early this year.

[dipsydoodle]

66. You've just used the justifiation for the USA to attack

Holland if you're comparing it with the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

The cargo was loaded in China and it's destination was Rotterdam, Holland, for a German client.

[ohio2007]

75. But the Russians are urgently dispatching a ship to the area under great fanfare

In case people didn't know, Iranian manifests have been known to be fake in the past.

probably only 'baby milk' on board

[Roy]

102. Maybe to counter the spin of an excuse to attack Iran? n/t

[ohio2007]

140. I've seen Russian newsights spin it as Ukraine breaking the embargo on weapons to the Sudan

http://russiatoday.com/news/news/31185
Time for Russia to lean on that rogue state of Ukraine ?




Of course, the BBC ran an article several months ago about Chinese equipment found in Sudan that was manufactured well after the official starting date of the weapons ban .


But, China has to protect their oil interests in the Sudan so...... ;)

the story was of little interest

[FreakinDJ]

25. Plutonium Poisoning

[yardwork]

26. Who says that people died and suffered skin burns? What is the source?

These days I am very, very skeptical of news reports that appear with bad news.

[balantz]

29. delete

[western mass]

30. Gee, this couldn't be a phony planted story...

to make us connect Iranians to nukes.

Now, could it? Naw, that's never happened before...

[uppityperson]

32. Reuters article says same.

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL8166636.html

... "It was supposed to be released, but now they are saying the $200,000 was for facilitation only. They want more money for the ransom," said Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenyan-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme.

He said the pirates were angry because when they opened the cargo of the Iranian ship, several Somalis died, while others lost hair and suffered skin burns. "It must have been a very dangerous chemical," he said, without identifying the substance....

[Wizard777]

40. Thank You! I can open that link for the whole story.

[uppityperson]

55. You are welcome. Sometimes some places won't load. It looks odd.

My guess would be radiation, but it is very odd.

[ohio2007]

85. Did anybody ask who in the Netherlands was supposed to receive this Chinese 'ore' and what they

planned to do with it ?





http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7314636.stm

nahhh,
couldn't be


lol

[bluesmail]

35. HA! Two October Surprises not in October! This is scary!

Makes me wonder what they do have for their true October Surprise.

[dipsydoodle]

37. The ship has sailed there from China

Radioactive toxic waste I'd guess. : The ship set sail from Nanjing, China, at the end of July. According to its manifest, it was heading for Rotterdam where it would unload 42500 tons of iron ore and “industrial products” purchased by a German client.

[Wizard777]

39. Ah so it's a Chinese vessle and not Iranian. Interesting.

[dipsydoodle]

57. It said it had sailed from China

not that it was Chinese.

[TankLV]

123. It was Chinese chocolate and dinnerware!

Only the dumbshit pirates tried to eat the dinnerware since they knew the candy was bad for their heath...

Melamine - it's the other white meat...

and I thought my college roommate's meatloaf tasted bad...

[SoCalDem]

175. Melamine poisoning:)

China must have the melamine market cornered.. they seem to put it in everything:)

[Wizard777]

43. Nope this ship is iranian. Not Chinese. There is also an egyptian ship that has been hijacked.

But the pirates were killed by exposure to the Cargo of the Iranian ship.

[jeff30997]

46. Oh,then mystery solved.

They were transporting toys,milk and pet food.:)

[ann_american2004]

89. THEY ATE THE DOGGIE CHOW

nt

[hedgehog]

49. You may have hit on it. A radiation source buried in a load of scrap or even better,

a load of steel scrapped by a mill that accidentally melted a radiation source into a batch.


Any US plant that accepts scrap metal has radiation detectors at the gates. The problem is that someone tosses radioactive material, say cobalt from old medical equipment, and it gets mixed into a batch of other material.

[Alpharetta]

38. Ninja infiltration

Somebody had to say it.

[lelgt60]

41. This could all be, but it will be more like an "October flop"

I don't believe there is any way the American people or congress would stand for an attack on Iran by the Bushies right now. It would just cement the election for Obama if they try. Just my opinion.

[ohio2007]

81. This story broke in August. Nobody cared to follow up

Somalia: Iran Tries Diplomacy to Get Hijacked Sailors Released By Pirates

Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)

23 August 2008
Posted to the web 23 August 2008

Tehran
The managing-director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) said: We are trying to secure the release the crew of the vessel that was hijacked in Somali coast.

Mohammad Hussein Dajmar confirmed international news reports and said: Somali pirates hijacked an Iranian ship carrying 40,000 tons of iron ore.

snip
Dajmar said that the ship and sailor are insured and added: At the moment, the most important issue is the safety of the Iranian sailors and we are taking the necessary steps in this regard.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200808230193.html

nobody concerned abut the safety of the pirates ?



THEY BE black hearts, one and all

[ohio2007]

82. This story broke in August

Somalia: Iran Tries Diplomacy to Get Hijacked Sailors Released By Pirates







Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)

23 August 2008
Posted to the web 23 August 2008

Tehran

The managing-director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) said: We are trying to secure the release the crew of the vessel that was hijacked in Somali coast.
Mohammad Hussein Dajmar confirmed international news reports and said: Somali pirates hijacked an Iranian ship carrying 40,000 tons of iron ore.



snip
Dajmar said that the ship and sailor are insured and added: At the moment, the most important issue is the safety of the Iranian sailors and we are taking the necessary steps in this regard.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200808230193.html

what
Nobody is concerned about the pirates?



THEY BE Black hearts, one and ALL


arrrrgh

skirvey dogs

[lapfog_1]

42. One doesn't have to look for nefarious plots here

There are plenty of industrial chemicals that can poison someone upon contact.

All you need is some uneducated people (pirates) looking to see what their prize ship is carrying.

Bingo, dead pirates.

[Wizard777]

53. This is true. Piracy is rampant in the area. But with symptomology reported.

I would start at the nightmare scenario of radiation poisoning work your way down to industrial chemical. It very well could be just an acrid industrial chemical. Hair loss can accompany Arsenic poisoning. With burning sensations as it attacks the urinary organs.

[adamuu]

79. When i worked for a biotech company, the cleaning crew stole one of the lab's microwave ovens

i don't even want to tell you what we used to warm up in that microwave. It wasn't food.
worst part was, they stole it by putting it in a large biohazard waste bin.

[Xithras]

132. True. I'm suprised people are jumping to the radiation conclusion here.

This line is from the OP:

But officials involved in negotiations over the ship are convinced that it was sailing for Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia’s Islamist rebels.

There are several chemical weapons that will cause exactly the effects described in the article. If these idiot pirates cracked open a barrel of weaponized chemicals, they're lucky to still be standing at all.

And since those types of chemical weapons are generally illegal to transfer under international law, it's no shock that they wouldn't have big shiny labels on them stating as much.

[daleo]

47. Nice propaganda - this narrows it down a bit.

"Chemical burns can occur with the application of acids, strong alkali (such as lye), or other agents. Some 25,000 industrial chemicals (of about 300,000 in use) can produce chemical burns, either internal or external."

http://science.jrank.org/pages/1081/Burn.html

[progressivebydesign]

50. Sounds just right for McCain/Cheney/PNACs march to war with Iran.

It's called propoganda. And the stuff that urban myths are made of. Frankly, half the shit sent by rail throughout America would cause skin burns and death if it's exposed to the air. How many rail emergencies have we seen where things like acid are sent in rail cars?

I'm sorry.. am I missing something? The fucking pirates have a spokesperson now? Aren't they criminals?

[starroute]

54. Yes, the pirates have a spokesperson -- also accountants

As it happens, I was trading links on the Pirates of Puntland with my son earlier this afternoon. There's a really good blog entry on them at http://faroutliers.blogspot.com/2008/09/policing-pirates-of-puntland.html:

The pirate syndicates - of which there at least five, each about 1000-strong - operate out of Puntland, far to the north, wrapped around the Horn of Africa where the Gulf of Aden meets the Indian Ocean, which declared itself separate from the Republic of Somalia 10 years ago. Puntland is to Mogadishu what Kurdistan, semi-autonomous and far off in the northern mountains of Iraq, is to Baghdad.

Unrecognised internationally - although the British Embassy in neighbouring Ethiopia maintains close contact with the Puntland government, which is allowing oil exploration by three Western companies - little diplomatic pressure can be put on Puntland, which says piracy grew after international "sea robber" fishing fleets plundered and wrecked its rich fishing grounds. The United Nations estimates that fish worth at least £50 million a year are plundered illegally from Somali waters by Spanish and other foreign boats.

<snip>

The Faina is believed to be heading to the pirate port of Eyl, the main destination of hijacked ships where Puntland entrepreneurs run special restaurants for the hundreds of seized crewmen and where the pirates' accountants make calculations on laptops and drive state-of-the-art land cruisers....

[starroute]

51. Be very, very, very wary of this one

Not only is the Times of London not always scrupulous, but they appear to have picked up the story from the Long War Journal, the website of Bill Roggio -- one of those right-wing war junkies who's always posting about "al Qaeda in Iraq" and similar topics.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-kaus/military-blogger-bill-rog_b_13477.html

Military blogger Bill Roggio recently has been getting Internet mileage by flogging the Washington Post for maligning him about his work as an embedded blogger in Iraq. Great, except that Roggio is wrong and the Post is right.

Roggio is good at this sort of campaign. He helped orchestrate the right wing campaign to oust CNN Chief News Executive, Eason Jordon over his alleged comments that the military was targeting journalists. Here, Roggio has taken an essentially accurate Washington Post story about U.S. military information operations, that includes an account of his embedded work on the frontlines in Iraq, into an Internet firestorm.

Roggio gets a twofer: sliming the Post and keeping his buoyant reporting on the U.S. military in the limelight. Various other sites have reflexively piled on and the Post has even corrected three incidental points. It is not for nothing that Roggio has maintained a relationship with Machiavelli expert and super neo-con Michael Leeden. . . .

Most audaciously, Roggio complains that the Post said he was accredited by the American Enterprise Institute, home of his pal Leeden, while in fact he was accredited by the Weekly Standard, for which he wrote exactly one article, and a Canadian radio show. The Post did indeed rely on a questionable source for this information: Roggio himself!

[annabanana]

71. Thank you starroute

If YOU are warning on this, I will wait for further sourcing before I get all nutso about it.

[daleo]

52. Attacking these pirates will only accelerate global warming

http://www.swivel.com/data_sets/show/1001532

Year Global Temperature Pirates

1860 14.3 45,000
1880 14.6 20,000
1920 14.9 15,000
1940 15.2 5,000
1980 15.6 400
2000 15.9 17

The world needs more pirates, not less. It's a scientific/religious fact, like creationism and Noah's Ark. Ask Palin.

[frickaline]

65. damn terrorists are always killing off the pirates

someone needs to bring them the Word of the FSM.

[fascisthunter]

59. surrre

[Dark]

60. We need some ninjas stat!

n/t

[DRex]

61. There are still pirates?

Yar?

[Phred42]

63. Ready some sailing magazines about Crusing.

Yep it's still a big problem - and not a joke

[Phred42]

62. They certainly WANT us thi think is's Radiation

So tell me again WHY we should believe this story?

Am I the only one that thinks this story smells like yesterdays diapers?

[timtom]

70. No, you're not the only one.

Come to think of it, my first response was, "Yes. Of course. Those pesky Irani. Never know what the bloody hell they'll be up to next."

OK, here goes: :sarcasm:

[Odin2005]

64. Sounds like the begining of a Tom Clancy novel!

Sounds like SOMEBODY is hauling around radioactive materials. WTF???

[bertman]

68. You're kidding, right? Radioactive materials are being "hauled around" legally and illegally every

day--by land, by sea and by air.

[ohio2007]

72. lost hair and fell gravely ill “within days” from “minerals” and “industrial products”. ?

RRRRRrrrr

A pirates life ain't easy

[happyslug]

90. Do you know the difference between Poison Gas and Insecticide?

While most Insecticide has a slightly different makeup then nerve gas (More to tell them apart then any other reason) the biggest difference is concentration. Most DDT type Insecticide attack the nerve ending of insects, which happen to be very similar (if not the same) as nerve endings in humans (Thus the name "Nerve Gas" for such poison gas). When I was in the service I was told one of the first thing you should look for in a chemical attack is the lack of insect noises, because the nerve gas hit the insects first.

My point is that who among the pirates decided to open up containers looking for things he could sell, and opened up concentrated form of Insecticide. Once open the Pirates would have breath it in, before the container was re-sealed (if it ever was) and thus the rapid deaths of the Pirates. The Crew stayed on top of the deck and when the Pirates opened the containers stayed away from the now opened containers till the fumes were pumped out of the hold by whatever air system the ship has. Thus the crew was NOT affected for they were NOT exposed, but the Pirates would have been right there when the container of Insecticide was opened to see what was in it.

Old rule of thumb, never assume conspiracy when stupidity will suffice (And never forget CYA, Cover Your Ass, but CYA does not seem to be in play here). Here someone opened concentration cans of Insecticide which then would cause that liquid poison to vaporized and then be breathed in by whoever was nearby (Giving such person the same concentration of poison as if he had exposed to nerve gas). Thus the best explanation was the Pirates looking for things they could sell and opened something they should NOT have and killed themselves.

[Poll_Blind]

145. -Thank you- n/t

PB

[Mopar151]

91. Anhydrous Ammonia?

It's what gives "that certain something" to meth labs - also a very common agricultural chemical.

[wordpix]

94. "growing multinational force in the region"

The drama over the Iran Deyanat comes as speculation grew this week about whether the South African Navy would send a vessel to join the growing multinational force in the region.

I for one am worried about the marine life in the region if this thing blows up.

[TrogL]

121. Canada sent its Frigate

:bounce::party::bounce::party::bounce::party::bounce::party::bounce:
:bounce::party::bounce::party::bounce::party::bounce::party::bounce:

[prayin4rain]

98. well that's just great :( n/t

[xchrom]

100. recommend -- something fishy in denmark with this thing. nt

[AlphaCentauri]

101. It looks like Mercury Poisoning

a container with less than 1/2 inch thickness would not protect the crew from any radiation.

They were in contact with Mercury or they eat contaminated food like fish

[leveymg]

103. Proof that Iran has nukes and are proliferating! We begin bombing in five minutes!

Kinda reminds me of the 1958 Japanese SF movie, "The H-Man" (Beauty and the Liquid Man ) about the crew of a radioactive ship that mutate into flesh-eating Blobs that infest Tokyo's sewers, rising through plumbing fixtures and drain pipes to devour gangsters, cabaret girls, and dope addicts! Amazing.

"There is something very wrong about that ship.”

[bertman]

109. I can see why they'd want to devour the caberet girl.

[leveymg]

111. Hmm. It is getting on toward lunchtime, here. A little Japanese cheesecake for desert?

[alcibiades_mystery]

107. Pray God you don't drop that cake!

:rofl:

[Chovexani]

124. Make sure you use the CIA napkin

:rofl:

[TCJ70]

108. Pirates still exist today?

Then maybe I CAN scratch one more thing off my to-do list eventually...Become a pirate.

[onager]

112. Nothing romantic about these criminals

I live in Alexandria, Egypt (right on the Mediterranean) and formerly lived on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia (Jeddah). The Red Sea is rife with pirate gangs, most of them nothing more than vicious, opportunistic criminals. They are often the cause of vessels "just disappearing" in the Red Sea.

In this neighborhood, there was one heart-warming incident a few years ago involving pirates. A small cruise ship in the Red Sea broadcast a distress signal. The cruise ship was being attacked by two boats whose crews were firing automatic weapons and trying to board it.

The distress call was picked up by a British destroyer on exercise, which sent up its missile-armed helicopter to investigate.

The helicopter came back without two missiles. And that time, it was the pirate boats that magically disappeared.

[Xithras]

134. Truthfully, there was nothing romantic about the pirates of old either.

most of them nothing more than vicious, opportunistic criminals

That pretty much describes every Golden Age pirate from Blackbeard to Ed Low. Hollywood and writers have romanticized piracy over the last couple hundred years, but the reality of piracy was less friendlier and far bloodier.

[slackmaster]

116. There are probably more pirates today than at any time in the past

http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/overview.php

[AndyTiedye]

110. Wouldn't Hazardous Chemicals be Labeled as Such?

I can't imagine the authorities in Rotterdam would be too pleased if they weren't
(if the cargo had actually made it to its destination).

If you are going to loot freighters with tanks full of chemicals,
maybe you should have someone in your crew who can read.

[slackmaster]

114. Sure, but not necessarily in a language that any of the pirates can read

They'd probably interpret a skull and crossbones as a happy thing.

[tburnsten]

125. Sounds like the ship was working fine to me

Some dead pirates? I want a boat that will kill off pirates by itself for me...

Maybe the scum could consider taking up a more peaceable or productive trade than piracy.



Probably was some sort of chemical weapon on board though, Iran seems to have its hands into all sorts of sticky business.

[HughMoran]

128. Holy crap - pirates have usefulness?

They may have caught a ship trying to smuggle chemical or nuclear material - yikes!

[pinerow]

133. Hate to burst your bubble...

It's a Ukrainian freighter...not Iranian...sheesh!

[LisaL]

136. Try to actually read the OP. No, it's not Ukrainian.

Pirates took over several ships.
Ukrainian was carrying tanks. This is a different one. Sheesh!

[pinerow]

137. The OP sez Iranian, but

I have searched and searched and the only mention i see about this so-called incident is on right wing sites and papers...sheesh!

[LisaL]

141. I have no clue as to what you are searching.

There are two different ships. The Ukrainian ship is called Faina.
The one discussed in this thread is called Iran Deyanat.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1844914,00.html

[pinerow]

138. In addition...

http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/8390

[ohio2007]

139. LOL from your link; " Mars Deception!! They are Really in Australia "

http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/8396
So no men walked on the moon and the Chinese never went into space either I suppose
I take it your site isn't a "left wing" rag with conspirecy stories like that, among many others :rofl:

[Behind the Aegis]

143. Don't you love that such blatant anti-Semitic sources are used here.

It is so interesting to see bigotry against Jews is OK, as long as the left is doing it.

Quote (from the other poster's bullshit link):

"At one point, he almost slipped up and said that Israel had nukes, but his Zhid upbringing kicked in and his tin-foil yarmulka started receiving waves from Zionist Broadcasting and FRANKS went back to lambasting Iran."

What is "Zhid" one might ask? It is a combination of the words "Zionist," "Hebrew," and "Yid." The latter being a derogatory slur against Jews. And so many wonder why accusations of anti-Semitism are leveled against the far-left. :eyes:

[Lilith Velkor]

152. The other poster was pointing out that only right wing nuts are tying in Iran

Quoting right wing nuts in order to make fun of them does not mean endorsing their views, unless of course you have some bullshit point to make about the "far left" in order to justify a prejudice.

[LisaL]

153. The ship is called Iran Deyanat.

The name Iran doesn't give you a clue?

[Lilith Velkor]

155. My point still stands.

If you're going to be argumentative as usual, you could at least dispute my words instead of those of the other guy, who seems to have confused the two Somali pirate stories.

What I'm saying is that his belaboring of his point does not make him a goddamn Nazi. Address that, if you will.

[Behind the Aegis]

156. He wasn't quoting right-wing nuts.

But, then again, I think you probably knew that. So, the real question is why defend anti-Semitism even if it fits your (generic) narrative?

[Lilith Velkor]

157. No, the real question is, "Are you still beating your husband?"

Meanwhile, the other poster seems to have left the building. I have no idea what he meant by posting that link. His blog does not appear to be the usual paranoid type of website to which that link leads.

And that leads to a larger issue here - crazy people have websites where they rant about black helicopters, space aliens, Freemasons, etc. Some are paranoid about Jews, others about Catholics, other others about women. But their salient feature is that they're CRAZY.

What in the bloody blue hell does that have to do with anarchists and socialists, aka the far left? I mean, I can see how one can be tempted to lump us into the category of 'crazy people,' and make the short jump to 'anti-Semites' from there, but to give in to that temptation is to be intellectually lazy to the farthest extreme, making it difficult to take one seriously.

[sarcasmo]

142. Heading to Syria? For use on Israel or U.S. Troops in Iraq?

Just a hunch.

[Poll_Blind]

144. AND IF IT WAS RADIOACTIVE, WHY WASN'T THE CREW DEAD TOO? Also, realize...

....that chemicals shipped to factories for absolutely normal commercial use are absolutely deadly to unprotected human beings in the concentrations required for manufacturing.

Bananas, this is not directed at you, specifically. Ever since people were speculating that the ammo dump explosion in Iraq had to be a nuclear bomb because they all saw a mushroom cloud, it has become apparent that many really don't understand even the least about nuclear or biological agents or, in this case, how their symptoms from poisoning are not unique when compared to typical industrial chemicals.

  Sure, it could be highly radioactive material or some biological blistering agent- say nerve gas.

  But here are some chemicals which can kill you much sooner (in similar ways to the pirates, INCLUDING hair loss, skin burns) if you come in contact with their concentrated, commercial, brothers:

MERCURY - Various commercial and scientific uses, highly toxic if vapor inhaled or touched

BLEACH - Many bleaches contain high levels of mercury, especially those associated with hair care

BISMUTH - Found in some cosmetics that "shine", also found in antacids

ARBIN - From common rat poison, symptoms include sudden hair loss from poisoning

  These are just a few I pulled up from the net which would have the same symptoms. However, things that you wouldn't even think of- like food flavorings or esters (which give them nice smells) are shipped in quantities for commercial use which are so concentrated that they are highly caustic/toxic. These things are diluted to the PPM to give you the nice orange or banana flavor and smell but that isn't how they start out.

  That sour patch kid your children enjoy as a treat, the active ingredient (what makes it 'sour') is "organic acid". A powdery substance, at the concentrations it is shipped to companies to be used as a coating it is as corrosive as battery acid, especially on contact with any moisture.

  I'm not saying that the Iranians aren't smuggling nuclear or biological material on that ship. I am saying that many, many regular industrial chemicals in the concentrated quantities required for manufacturing would produce the same effects. And finally:

What part of "Iran DOES NOT HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS" do you not understand?

[dennysp]

148. A few more of these "strange" deaths, and I think they'll

probably find a different line of work. Excellent deterrent.

[NJCher]

158. captain and crew knew what was on it

Nobody's mentioned this yet. If the crew knew what was on the ship and observed protocol, they wouldn't be injured.

The pirates didn't know, didn't observe any protocol other than "what can I steal" and got killed or injured.

So it's a likely possibility that the crew knew what was on the ship.

If--and that's a big "if"--this is a legitimate story and not some propaganda run-up to bombing Iran, then the above could be the case.




Cher

[Rockholm]

159. Serves them right.

[Lasher]

161. They thought agent orange was a tropical fruit drink. n/t

[Brad Sylvester]

162. Radiation Poisoning Report May Be False

I'm not sure that this story is real. It has not been picked up by any major news outlet except a brief mention by Fox News. It is all over the internet and blogs, but some of the sources quoted in the original have a history of making outlandish claims to get more international attention.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/260754">Did Pirates Capture Nukes or did Fox News Walk the Plank?

[ohio2007]

168. A false positive but since the original story link no longer works, it seems most of the MSM

has ignored the original story of chemical weapons destined for drop off in Eritrea

snip

The vessel’s declared cargo consists of “minerals” and “industrial products”. But officials involved in negotiations over the ship are convinced that it was sailing for Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia’s Islamist rebels
snip
http://www.disinfo.com/content/story.php?title=Pirates-Die-Strangely-After-Taking-Iranian-Ship-1

seems the original link has walked the plank and went sunk into the deep
abyss
http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Article.aspx?id=851953

maybe its only a temporary glitch

[ohio2007]

170. Somali pirates release hijacked Iranian ship

TEHRAN – Somali pirates on Friday released an Iranian ship that had been hijacked off the Somali coast in August.


“The vessel, Iran-Dianat, was released on Friday morning after seven weeks of negotiations with Somali pirates,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines said in statement.

“All 29 members of the crew are safe and sound and the ship is sailing towards international waters,” it said.

The merchant vessel, carrying minerals and industrial products, was headed from China to the Netherlands when it was hijacked along with a German and a Japanese ship off the Gulf of Aden.


snip


http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=179673

Wonder if the MSM will be doing a follow up if the ship actually continues to the original stated destination ?

[Lucian]

176. The ship was probably carrying the "black oil" like in The X-Files.

:P

In all seriousness, this sounds like a case of radiation/toxic chemical poisoning.