Mano-a-mano.

This is coolbert:

"a 'fierce and turbulent race'."

The news from the Indian Ocean area is not good.

The four American missionaries, sailing the waters of the planet, passing out Bibles as they go, have been murdered by the Somali pirates.

Murdered in cold blood, my intuition telling me that THE MUSLIM SOMALI KILLED THESE FOLKS BECAUSE THEY WERE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES, AND FOR NO OTHER REASON!

The villains now either dead or captured, one of the miscreants killed IN A KNIFE FIGHT WITH NAVY SEAL!!

"Pirate Killed in a Knife Fight With a Navy SEAL"

Such occurrences, martial arts type fighting, mano-a-mano, is very rare in modern warfare. A lot of time is spent in physical training and preparation for such an eventuality, but the occurrence is again, very rare. NOT in this instance it was. With disastrous consequences for the Somali pirate.

This is one of those very seldom occasions when the good guys prevail, albeit with tragic loss of life, the four missionaries now passed, gone under very sad circumstances.

The Somali can with good justification be considered to be the most dangerous group of persons on the planet? 10 % of the adult males able to field strip an AK in less than a minute blindfolded. And quite willing to use that AK as they see fit.

And historically having a very fierce reputation as fighters!

A fierceness as attested to by the great Victorian era English explorer, military man, scholar, swordsman, duelist - - Sir Richard Francis Burton.

"Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton . . . was a British explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures."

"He also earned the name 'Ruffian Dick' for his 'demonic ferocity as a fighter and because he had fought in single combat more enemies than perhaps any other man of his time.'"

An encounter with a group of Somali [1854] almost resulting in the death of Burton, a wounding of the most terrible type suffered in a fight - - a battle with an enemy. The type of combat as sought out and relished by Burton, on this occasion the results not favorable for the Englishman.

"his party was attacked by a group of Somali waranle ("warriors"). The officers estimated the number of attackers at 200 . . . Burton was impaled with a javelin, the point entering one cheek and exiting the other . . .He was forced to make his escape with the weapon still transfixing his head."

Sir Richard would have enjoyed the knife fight between the Navy SEAL and the Somali? Wished he had been there and could have joined in? I suspect it is so!

As it was then, as it is now, as it always will be.

coolbert.