Phillips’ first leap into the warm, dark water of the Indian Ocean hadn’t worked out as well. With the Bainbridge in range and a rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Phillips threw himself off of his lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters onboard the destroyer a clear shot at his captors — and none was taken. The guidance from National Command Authority — the president of the United States, Barack Obama — had been clear: a peaceful solution was the only acceptable outcome to this standoff unless the hostage’s life was in clear, extreme danger (my emphasis).
The next day, a small Navy boat approaching the floating raft was fired on by the Somali pirates — and again no fire was returned and no pirates killed. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed by Navy personnel thanks to the combination of a lack of clear guidance from Washington and a mandate from the commander in chief’s staff not to act until Obama, a man with no background of dealing with such issues and no track record of decisiveness, decided that any outcome other than a “peaceful solution” would be acceptable.
In many ways I suspect we’ll not know. If Obama made no decision and a naval captain made the decision independent of Mr Obama, I submit it would be safe to say that that is one captain who has jeopardized the rest of what little career he has left.
After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the on-scene commander decided he’d had enough. Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear and present danger to the hostage’s life and having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided the AK-47 one captor had leveled at Phillips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.
Three rounds downrange later, all three brigands became enemy KIA and Phillips was safe.
There is upside, downside, and spin-side to the series of events over the last week that culminated in yesterday’s dramatic rescue of an American hostage.
Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama administration and its supporters claimed victory against pirates in the Indian Ocean and declared that the dramatic end to the standoff put paid to questions of the inexperienced president’s toughness and decisiveness.
Despite the Obama administration’s (and its sycophants’) attempt to spin yesterday’s success as a result of bold, decisive leadership by the inexperienced president, the reality is nothing of the sort (my emphasis).
What should have been a standoff lasting only hours — as long as it took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to steam to the location — became an embarrassing four-day-and-counting standoff between a rag-tag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship.
Obama has had his 1st REAL test in the international theater, he has of course failed, yet it appears the media will continue to suck his ass, just like the Bots did when Bush was criticized..
Imagine that…
We should not have distrusted our Spider Senses, Fred, for even a MOMENT because we were CORRECT.
BZ
The United States First Major Naval Action was against Pirates off the Lybian/Tripoli Coast. How did we crush them when, like now, all the other countires of the world pay ransom to the pirates? We went after their home bases and Crushed them. Much as Pompey the Great did during the days of the Roman Republic. Of course this was all Brought about when Julius Caesar was captured by pirates. First, when the pirates demanded a ransom of twenty talents, Caesar burst out laughing. They did not know, he said, who it was that they had captured, and he volunteered to pay fifty. Then, when he had sent his followers to the various cities in order to raise the money and was left with one friend and two servants among these Cilicians, about the most bloodthirsty people in the world, he treated them so highhandedly that, whenever he wanted to sleep, he would send to them and tell them to stop talking.
For thirty-eight days, with the greatest unconcern, he joined in all their games and exercises, just as if he was their leader instead of their prisoner. He also wrote poems and speeches which he read aloud to them, and if they failed to admire his work, he would call them to their faces illiterate savages, and would often laughingly threaten to have them all Crucified. They were much taken with this and attributed his freedom of speech to a kind of simplicity in his character or boyish playfulness.
However, the ransom arrived from Miletus and, as soon as he had paid it and been set free, he immediately manned some ships and set sail from the harbor of Miletus against the pirates. He found them still there, lying at anchor off the island, and he captured nearly all of them. He took their property as spoils of war and put the men themselves into the prison at Pergamon. He then went in person to [Marcus] Junius, the governorof Asia, thinking it proper that he, as praetor in charge of the province, should see to the punishment of the prisoners. Junius, however, cast longing eyes at the money, which came to a considerable sum, and kept saying that he needed time to look into the case.
Caesar paid no further attention to him. He went to Pergamon, took the pirates out of prison and crucified the lot of them, just as he had often told them he would do when he was on the island and they imagined that he was joking.
Ahhh, for the good old days of the Roman Republic………..
CB: but does that not beg another wonderful idea? What about purposely FALSE FLAGGING transport ships which are then, in fact, packed with weaponry to be unleased upon pirates when a hijacking is attempted?
And yes, an incursion into Somalia is called for once the “pirate” elements are identified. My guess? They are the SAME “warlords” (or their successors) encountered during the Blackhawk Down era in Somalia. And they require CULLING.
BZ
I just Googled,
“The military had orders from President Obama authorizing lethal force if there was imminent danger.”Some great reads especially the one from Blackfive.
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2009/04/how-the-rescue-happened.html
I wanted to reserve judgment.
I wanted to think that maybe, just maybe. this guy claiming to be the President of the Greatest Country on Earth could maybe not screw up such a softball, underhand lob right over the middle of the plate.
That went out the window when the hostage situation stretched out over six hours after the Bainbridge was on station.
BZ,
I am shocked by the commenters on this blog that advocate violence when engagement will carry the day. There must be some moderate pirates somewhere in Somalia. HRC should be dispatched immediately to start negotiations. Sorry just kidding.
I think these pirates deserve to dealt with as Jackson would have. Just as he handled the Seminoles in Florida and how he threatened the nullifiers in South Carolina in 1832 with the rope.
Jackson wasn’t to be messed with.
He was probably quivering under his desk wondering what to do even after the experts told him there was no other choice. He lacks the character and the cajones to get the job done swiftly, without missing a beat or worrying about what others will think.
I don’t know BZ, Jeff Emanuel’s story just doesn’t ring true to me. I tend to believe FOX News in that Phillips did not go back in the water for a second time. That throws doubts on the rest of it. Until and unless there is a lot more reliable news to the contrary, I will continue to believe that the Navy and the FBI get most of the credit, but I have to give some to NObama for keeping his piehole SHUT until after it was over. I don’t know for sure if the Bainbridge crew needed NObama’s permission to fire or not, but if they did, evidently they got it. I see way to many “arm chair generals” out there, in the news and in the blogosphere, and this is never a good idea. Also, hind sight usually is way better than foresight.
AA: that is one point and is borne out by the following link, but my larger point is buttressed (thanks Ranando, I just went to check the link you provided) by this as well:
“This does not affect my point that the commander on scene already had the authority to deal with an imminent death situation in his standing rules of engagement. It means that when this situation was escalated to national command authority i.e. Obama those rules were suspended and Obama implemented new ones specific to this incident. Then he had to restore the authority the captain already had to use deadly force to save a hostage from execution. There is considerable talk that the initial new ROE that Obama instituted did not allow a rescue so as to allow the negotiations to proceed, and then a second set of ROE was instituted after the Navy could not respond to Captain Phillip’s escape attempt. That is unconfirmed but fits the facts as they happened.
I just finished listening to the press conference w/ ADM Gortney about the rescue of Captain Phillips. At the time it happened the USS Bainbridge was towing the lifeboat to calmer waters as the sea state was deteriorating. One of the pirates was on board the Bainbridge as the talks about obtaining Phillip’s release continued. The lifeboat was approx. 25 m behind the Bainbridge when snipers on the fantail observed one of the pirates in the pilot house of the lifeboat pointing an AK-47 at the back of a tied up Phillips and the other two pirates on board were visible (at least shoulders and heads). The standing authority gave them clearance to engage the pirates if the life of the captain was in imminent danger. The on scene commander deemed this to be true and gave the order to fire. All three bad guys were taken out and then a rigid inflatable boat went to the lifeboat to retrieve Phillips. Iti is unknown at this point whether the shooters were SEALs or Marine Scout Snipers as both would have been available. This was not a rescue attempt ordered by National Command Authority i.e. the President. It was a reaction by the on scene commander under standard authority to safeguard the life of a hostage.”
The bottom line is this: what was wrong with THIS President saying to his military authority on site, “Get the captain back alive. I don’t care how. Just do it and do it now.”
THAT is what I would want ANY president to say. Obama’s equivocation can to go hell. THAT’S my overarching point.
At this point, despite all the flag waving, these assholes know one thing:
A handful of PUNKS with shitty guns held off a fucking US DESTROYER. This only EMBOLDENS these shitsticks.
BZ
I just realized how really stupid this all is.
Liberals bashing Bush, Conservatives bashing Obama. All in all, there all one in the same.
People are becoming the same people they hate so much, it’s really sad.
Myself included.
they’re…
sorry.
Yes, Ranando. They are ALL predominantly sorry people, and they get elected because the electorate VOTES for them.
Norm Coleman just “officially” lost today to a complete blithering idiot, Al Franken, by slightly over 300 votes. Minnesota will surely get what it deserves.
BZ
BZ, those asswipes in Minnesota DESERVE Al Franken… That is a marriage made in heaven…