Apr 12 2009
American Hostage Freed From Pirates!
It was only yesterday that I made two statements about the pirate-hostage stand off near Somalia. First I lambasted others for jumping to conclusions and rushing to make judgements when it was prudent to let our forces determine the best way to free the hostage without killing him. I felt the calls of failure and inaction were premature and unfair.
I also claimed it was getting to the point where prudence was waning and the time to take action was coming upon us.
I should have heeded my own advise to all those hand-wringers out there claiming the Obama administration was following the wrong path. While I was concerned we would see another Black Hawk Down incident as DC debated endlessly, the incident only needed a few more hours to play itself out – exactly as I had proposed.
I was as wrong as those I chastised. One more day of patience on my part and I would not be issuing this mea culpa. In the big scheme of things, what’s a little mea culpa in trade for a successful rescue operation! As it turns out my feeling it was time to act decisively and send these so-called pirates to a watery death was reasonably well timed and fairly accurate, because that is exactly what just happened:
A senior U.S. intelligence official said hostage Richard Phillips was not hurt in what appeared to be a swift firefight off the Somali coast on Sunday. Phillips was safely transported to a Navy warship nearby.
The official said three pirates were killed and one was injured.
I will not hold my breathe that all those alarmists who have been railing about supposed inaction these last few days will issue their own mea culpa – that is a bridge too far for too many now in the throws of Obama Derangement Syndrome. We have had a hard won and patience testing success here. We should be celebrating and giving credit to those who pulled it off. We shall see who is up to the challenge of that test.
Congratulations to the Military, Obama, and America for a job well done!!! I’m so proud.
The President signed off on this mission, or it wouldn’t have happened. Good for the President. Good for the Navy and the sharp shooters. As for the Captain……..you are a hero.
0bama is still the worst president ever. Time will only tell if the overall policy is effective against piracy. Remember, the Bush adminstration had a policy that was never implemented.
One other thought. Yesterday a small boat approached the boat that the Captain was on and got fired at. I wonder if that was a message to the Captain that they were coming after him?
Two hero’s in two months. Bravery and a clear head is the American grit, best seen in our armed forces.
The Piracy Conundrum Continues: UPDATE: Capt. Phillips Freed…
It’s indeed a Happy Easter for the Phillips family. And for the second time, it was because Capt. Phillips attempted to escape that he was able to be freed by the US forces. He again jumped out of the lifeboat, and this time US forces were ready to t….
According to MSNBC, the defense department had to ask twice to use military force.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30178013/
One thing I still think is a little odd, is that Obama never spoke of the situation before it was resolved. He could have said something innocuous, like, we have all levels of government working on resolving this matter. Our thoughts are with the family of the Captain. Instead he told the reporter that his question was off the message he was delivering. Sometimes I just don’t get this guy!
kathie, you desperate wingnut, it’s called walking softly and carrying a big stick. The Republican Party used to believe in it.
perdogg, quit it with the wingnut lying. On Friday night, Obama authorized the kill. On Saturday morning, more U.S. forces had arrived on the scene and Obama gave a second authorization that included the new forces.
I fully realize that the fang-dripping wingnuts of America have been rooting for failure ever since Obama took office. Everyone else knows it too. Let’s see just how well that one works out for you, crazies. See you in 2010.
Apparently the information I had originally received this morning was incorrect. (I have been out at friends’ today with kids doing Easter things). So now it appears that the captain didn’t attempt to escape but the Navy commander on the scene authorized snipers to take out the pirates when they appeared ready to shoot the captain.
Kudos to President Obama for allowing the commander on the scene to make the call when needed. And kudos to the training and teamwork of our service members that was required to pull it off.
More here.
Apparently the ship was under attack for a week before help arrived.
This was great news coming in this morning on an Easter Sunday. Coincidentally or perhaps not, it turned out to be the first really warm sunny picture-perfect day around here on the Island of Kauai for several weeks if not months. Â
Not much global warming here, until today.
I’ve heard lots of reasons, but it’s still hard to understand why there’s not some way to have defensive arms or armed security aboard these boats.
Wouldn’t that actually serve to LOWER insurance company liabilities? Perhaps simply a few placards posted around the outside of the hull in Arabic: “Insured by Smith and Wesson — MAKE OUR DAY”
Not only the bravery, but the humility of the Captain is admirable, reminiscent of that guy who landed the plane in the Hudson:
“I’m just the byline. The real heroes are the Navy, the Seals, those who have brought me home.”
Magicdog,
You should note that most people here are not wishing for Obama to screw up, we are hoping he figures this all out and succeeds. I have posted my support for him on staying the course in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. I have posted my support of him continuing the Bush policies per NSA-FISA.
I would gather you are not very happy with these turns of events. But people here are not, for the most part, wishing ill will to our young President.
We do believe he has made some serious mistakes on the economic front, and his plans for dealing with the myths of global warming and universal health care are naive at best. And we will continue to voice our opposition to that nonsense.
But we can give Obama credit when it is due. And we can criticize the far right as well, as we do here constantly. Especially when it comes to wishing Obama would fail. That is not something broadly supported here.
Next time read slower and think before you jump to leftwinger conclusions.