'Murky Line'

" But first brand new pirate attacks off the coast of Africa a Maltese flagged cargo ship. Coming under fire this morning right in the gulf of -- a NATO spokesman says the ship escape by taking evasive action. The attack coming on the heels of another attempted hijacking this time of a Norwegian tanker over the weekend you take a look. At some new video from the Canadian warship Winnipeg. The Canadians take -- down the pilot. Pirates after a seven hour chase. But having to let them go because of some very complex maritime laws so antipiracy warships can't arrest these thugs. Huckabee expect to slow down these high seas attack joining us now on the phone. Is that NATO spokesman John -- could talk to you sir thanks very much for joining us today you know what we read about another case where Dutch NATO commandos were able to. To get pirates in captivity but that had to let them go. I think that a lot of people here in this country you're listening to this if you gotta be kidding me -- you let these guys go."

" Loaded question and then word frustrated as anybody else by this situation the problem is that that that. We're doing something like this a little bit for the first time we're learning as we do. And unlike a military operation in NATO as a political military organization. This crosses the line into law enforcement. And it happens. Each individual countries' laws apply to the leadership in other words the Canadian ship and I'm Canadian. -- Canadian law with regard to pirates such as it is. Once they had taken these people captive and then of course is a very -- murky line between military action law enforcement so that is a very very difficult."

" Situation will maybe this is a murky line that need to be made a little bit more clear in light of what's going on and it seems like every day now. There are more and more of these attacks affecting. Ships that belonged to a two a lot of the member countries NATO. I'm just wondering about sort of an appetite there in Brussels. Soon try to clear this up and soon to make sure that these kinds of things in these laws are changed so that once pirates are captured that they can be built delivered. To a country somewhere where they can be tried."

" Well look it there's an appetite to have this discussion and we are -- production of NATO ambassadors to date tomorrow -- next they are all looking at how we can. Do better with regard to the legal aspects of what I I agree the very complicated issue but we can't just look at what it -- but then -- That sentence that's what's happening on the high -- the cause of it was happening on the ground it is the instability in Somalia and poverty in Somalia. Which is breeding this kind of piracy and whatever we do there's about a million square kilometers -- and he. In -- these pirates are operating it's going to take a heck of a lot of more ships than we have. But to protect all the shipping -- and it's a lot of shipping so the US perhaps the days leading. The effort now to try to look at that and a more politically to train up. Somali forces as such as they are to try to deal with -- on land -- and that the Turks and the French for example are going to participate in that everybody's looking including in the UN contacted an overarching. Legal framework. To try to deal with -- but in the meantime we have to try to protect not only the commercial shipping but the humanitarian shipping that's what the Canadian ship was doing was escorting World Food Program ships. In NATO and NATO context so we're trying to deal -- we're going to have to look at an international community and the cause."

" You know these things are so tough when you're dealing with large world bodies like NATO. Like the United Nations were so many different member countries have their own agendas. Their own interests and and it's that the job of of people like you and your colleagues there to try to get everybody on the same page. I imagine you've got a lot of member countries who were talking about the humanitarian. Perhaps the causes of the of the piracy. But then what about the law and order and what about you know we talk about the appetite to change these laws is very divide between NATO member countries sort of those who are sympathetic perhaps at the pirates cause. And those who just want to get down to business and and and put a stop -- this militarily."

" Look there's nobody sympathetic to the pirates -- I mean I'm not Johnny Depp wins a parrot on his shoulder and I patch. These are basically people who are kidnapping other people on the honesty and holding them parental. It is no joke nobody thinks it's a joke. And they want to come up with a a solution but this is the classic case of why you need. Multilateral organizations like -- over the UN. -- To try to bridge the gaps between individual national policy it is something that coherent and makes sense. In an international flavor because this is by definition it's something that needs an international approach the problem is we've never done anything like this before we don't have in the NATO context any kind of overarching framework that we could apply from the previous. Similar operation and it kind of modified use it here as we do for military operations. Well -- as they -- Israel."

" Tide tied two to learn quickly I guess James -- the NATO spokesman I call you John when I introduced you earlier I apologize for that Obama is so much for joining us on the phone from Brussels --"