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2009-04-13 Africa Horn
WaPo Lauds Obama's Victory over the Pirates
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Posted by Bobby 2009-04-13 06:26|| || Front Page|| [7 views ]  Top

#1 And if violence escalates, will the WaPo and New York Slimes take the "blame Bush at every opportunity" political game?
Posted by HammerHead 2009-04-13 08:14||   2009-04-13 08:14|| Front Page Top

#2 By and large, Obama is a fool. But I have to give props, he played this one just right. Left it to the discretion of the commanders on the scene and the SEALS. Man, those 3 shots must have been something to see. Both target and shooter moving up and down. 3 shots 3 kills. Good job to our military, as usual!
Posted by AllahHateMe 2009-04-13 09:28||   2009-04-13 09:28|| Front Page Top

#3 Obama went further, giving authority to an "additional set of U.S. forces to engage in potential emergency actions."

OK, the President was engaged and gave the Navy his blessings – that’s a good thing. But something isn’t right with this report. The G-men originally took charge because piracy and kidnapping are regarded as “law-enforcement” operations. But after stalled negotiations, according to a CNN report, the Pirates fired on U.S. sailors Saturday as they tried to reach the lifeboat. It would seem, at that point, it instantly morphed into a hostile act towards the Navy. And thus certain authorities were granted to the commander of the Bainbridge. (Regardless of Presidential permission) If the O-Team had any sense of honor they would do everything in their power to squelch these spike-the-football stories.
Posted by DepotGuy 2009-04-13 09:36||   2009-04-13 09:36|| Front Page Top

#4 Puts him one over Jimmah.
Posted by g(r)omgoru 2009-04-13 09:50||   2009-04-13 09:50|| Front Page Top

#5 It's been a very steep learning curve. Possibly (just possibly) he learned something this week.
Posted by Seafarious 2009-04-13 10:52||   2009-04-13 10:52|| Front Page Top

#6 It was set up so that the people on the scene would have gotten the blame if it went sour. Essentially the order was "don't embarrass the president". They didn't. Cause for celebration, certainly, but let's hope that he's always so lucky.
Posted by Mitch H.">Mitch H.  2009-04-13 11:43|| http://blogfonte.blogspot.com/]">[http://blogfonte.blogspot.com/]  2009-04-13 11:43|| Front Page Top

#7 Indeed Seafarious, it is, and will probably remain so for Bambi, a VERY steep learning curve. The question now becomes: will he learn from this or will it further convince him he is truly the Annointed One? Just askin', ya know.
Posted by WolfDog 2009-04-13 11:55||   2009-04-13 11:55|| Front Page Top

#8 Spot on Mitch! Considering the captain of a US flagged vessel was being held captive for randsom, the phrase "the use of deadly force is authorized if the life of Captain Phillips is in danger" is particularly rich. All of the ship's company to include the brave captain were in danger from the moment of hostile boarding. Leaving the action open for interpretation or post-event analysis and sniping takes Barry off the hook. The Leadership-101 response should have been:

The Captain of the USS Bainbridge is authorized to use deadly force.

Posted by Besoeker 2009-04-13 11:59||   2009-04-13 11:59|| Front Page Top

#9 A good way to start and at least he had the balls to order them to pull the trigger.
But he better hope they're all as a easy as one guy being held by 4 dumbass Somali goombas with nowhere to go surrounded by a coupla SEAL teams. Chances are they won't be.
Posted by tu3031 2009-04-13 12:00||   2009-04-13 12:00|| Front Page Top

#10 Obama's involvement in the decision to authorize lethal force was legally required, officials said, because it was a hostage situation, not combat, and unrelated to the already authorized U.S. effort against al-Qaida and other terror groups, officials said.

“It’s not a combat operation so the lawyers wanted to ensure this was done right," said a second defense official.

Hope he never has to make a snap decision and there ain't a lawyer around...
Posted by tu3031 2009-04-13 12:09||   2009-04-13 12:09|| Front Page Top

#11 Raking a US Naval vessel with fire from an AK-47 on the high seas is not combat? Something tells me Admiral Halsey would not agree.
Posted by Besoeker 2009-04-13 12:25||   2009-04-13 12:25|| Front Page Top

#12 Three fish Pirates in a barrel life boat at the end of a 75 foot tow rope are sent to Paradise after 17 briefings.

The O's decision to say OK will go down as a test of leadership along with Truman's authorization to nuke Japan.
Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2009-04-13 12:38||   2009-04-13 12:38|| Front Page Top

#13 It strikes me that the surviving pirate (or I guess we have to say alleged pirate since this is a law enforcement matter) has a hell of a lot of leverage here: he's got the ability to tarnish the Lightbringer's first military action. For example, suppose he claims that the Bainbridge's crew abused him or didn't give him his Miranda warning or whatever. (He'd be lying, but I'm guessing this guy is not exceedingly concerned about a perjury rap at this point.) Does the ACLU run to his rescue? Human Rights Watch? That idiot Spanish judge? If I were that kid I'd insist on a suite at the Waldorf with unlimited in-room movies.
Posted by Matt 2009-04-13 12:49||   2009-04-13 12:49|| Front Page Top

#14 Or a Playstation 3 with Grand Theft Container Ship...
Posted by Seafarious 2009-04-13 12:50||   2009-04-13 12:50|| Front Page Top

#15 The first time that the ship's captain jumped out of the lifeboat, the Navy did nothing and he was recaptured by the pirates. I heard an explanation that the SEALS were not yet aboard, but given the time the Navy took to get into position, and the fact that they had time to get the FBI on board, this makes very little sense.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Navy was waiting for White House permission to act and the White House was busy consulting DOJ lawyers. I'm very glad the Captain was freed. But I doubt we've heard the entire story.
Posted by DMFD 2009-04-13 13:08||   2009-04-13 13:08|| Front Page Top

#16 #14 LOL!
Posted by Matt 2009-04-13 13:14||   2009-04-13 13:14|| Front Page Top

#17 Matt__ the surviving pirate ( I do love the sound of that phrase) is 16 years old - wanna bet he gets a slap on the wrist and citizenship for seeing the errors of his ways.
Posted by Clilet tse Tung2623 2009-04-13 14:42||   2009-04-13 14:42|| Front Page Top

#18 DMFD -- I know nothing, really, but I do understand logistics. The SEALS they had or had brought in as soon as this happened, were the well armed guys on the Alabama I saw as it arrived in port.

Logistically speaking -- they prolly wanted their best snipers, and would want to have at least two teams per pirate if not three teams. (around the clock aim on those idiots)

That's two person per team, spotter and shooter. They had to come from somewhere, then meet up, a plane had to be secured, prolly had a meet/phone call with the FBI types, relaying all the info they had learned from the Alabama crew about those pirates to the teams.

They had to determine weaponry they needed and what they could jump with, and it goes on and on.... where are the boats coming from, what time, etc, etc, etc.

No telling where those teams came from. Heck, one of them may have been sitting on top of a mountain in Afghanistan. I do understand they always have teams on watch/standby, ready to move immediately -- but I would think they wouldn't have that many spotters and shooters on a "waiting" team. Now I know, all SEALS are spotters and shooters, but these seem to be the "real snipers."

They couldn't just suddenly drop out of the sky. Well, yes they can and did. The logistics of making that happen would prolly fry my brain. But, what do I know?
Posted by Sherry">Sherry  2009-04-13 14:45||   2009-04-13 14:45|| Front Page Top

#19 Kind of like giving Barry Switzer credit for his Cowboy super bowl win right after he took over the Super Bowl team Jimmy Johnson put together.
Posted by Glinemp Darling of the Algonquins4075 2009-04-13 14:48||   2009-04-13 14:48|| Front Page Top

#20 Bambi played it very safely. Everything worked out well in the end. So no loud talking. Let's see if the Commander of the Bainbridge makes Captain.
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2009-04-13 15:29||   2009-04-13 15:29|| Front Page Top

#21 We have some damn good shooters.
Posted by JohnQC 2009-04-13 17:19||   2009-04-13 17:19|| Front Page Top

#22 In today's news conference, Obama (sans teleprompter):

"I want to be very clear, that we are resolved to halt the rise of privacy in that region."

Dumbass.

Posted by Zorba Craising6734 2009-04-13 18:49||   2009-04-13 18:49|| Front Page Top

#23 Compare wid ISRAELI MIL FORUM > OBAMOB RULE: MICHAEL MOORE URGES PRESIDENT OBAMA TO DO WHATEVER HE LIKES, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT ITS CONSTITUTIONAL.

Also, PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > USA OUTSOURCES ITS ARMY, REWARDS THEM WITH CITIZENSHIP [MAVNI Program for non-Citizen, Resident Migrants wid USArmy-DOD desired Linguistic, Medical Skills].
Posted by JosephMendiola 2009-04-13 21:52||   2009-04-13 21:52|| Front Page Top

#24 
Posted by osama 2009-04-13 22:22||   2009-04-13 22:22|| Front Page Top

23:54 ed
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