<,p> Thank you Navy Seals!
And thank you Dick Marcinko, a much maligned froggie, for originally creating the best of the TEAMS.
Posted on 04/12/2009 10:25:08 AM PDT by Ladycalif
The successful rescue of a cargo ship captain held by Somali pirates on Sunday has also saved Barack Obama from a foreign policy problem he neither needed nor wanted:
* The Obama administration was careful not to give the crisis too much prominence while delicate negotiations were under way to secure the captain’s release. Until the very end Obama himself made no comment to try to play down the standoff in the face of other foreign policy challenges from North Korea to Iran to Afghanistan and beyond.
* Obama escaped the political embarrassment that President Bill Clinton suffered in 1993 when 18 U.S. soldiers were killed in Somalia trying to track down warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed in a disastrous battle that led to the book and movie “Blackhawk Down.”
* Had the standoff turned out otherwise it might have dented Obama’s national security credentials and given critics, especially opposition Republicans, ammunition to portray him as weak on security and tackling terrorism. The outcome allows him to project himself as tough on security.
* It was not immediately clear how involved Obama was in the rescue operation but his statement afterward suggested he believed Washington must play a more robust role in dealing with pirates.
* Given that the present strategy of flooding the area with warships has enjoyed only limited success, it remains to be seen what Obama plans to do.
* Ground operations against pirates’ hideouts remain a possibility, although that could put at risk the 270 hostages from around the world being held by pirates preying on the busy sea-lanes of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
* A more activist policy also has risks, possibly sucking the United States back into Somalia, which Foreign Policy magazine has called “The Most Dangerous Place in the World.”
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
Somali pirates vow revenge over comrades' killings
-----(excerpt)------
BOSASSO, Somalia, April 12 (Reuters) - Somali pirates threatened revenge on Sunday after two separate hostage-rescue raids by foreign forces killed at least five comrades, raising fears of future bloodshed on the high seas.
The latest raid by U.S. forces on Sunday that saved an American hostage and one by France last week have upped the stakes in shipping lanes off the anarchic Horn of Africa nation where buccaneers have defied foreign naval patrols.
"The French and the Americans will regret starting this killing. We do not kill, but take only ransom. We shall do something to anyone we see as French or American from now," Hussein, a pirate, told Reuters by satellite phone.
"No we don’t. We don’t need “the world’s” help, unless it is to cry and apologize when we blow these sub-human predators to hell where we belong. No, all we nee need is to unleash the awesome might of the US military and the rest will fall into place."
But let's not blame Bush for this rescue...
re: I am operating on the assumption that the Captain once again took the helm as far as his escape
I was wrong. But only about the order of heroic actions.
The Navy just said on Fox they PURPOSELY prolonged any hostile action. They pulled the boat into calmer water so the hijackers and the captina were more comfortable, gave them food and medical supplies and fresh clothes. This mission went exactly as planned. It was a textbook example how to save a hostage(s)
I meant to ping you to my “I was wrong statement” since I made the original statement to you.
BTW—IMHO a few high fives are in order from the WH. Why not rejoice in the success?
<,p> Thank you Navy Seals!
And thank you Dick Marcinko, a much maligned froggie, for originally creating the best of the TEAMS.
DO NOT F*** WITH THE USA!!!!!
there are millions of extortion dollars on the line for the pirates.
Tommorrow the pirates are going to be deconstructing what went wrong so they can bee better pirates the day after tommorrow.
Those 200+ remaining hostages in the hands of various pirates just had their value decreased if the pirates think they are now a liability.
there are millions of extortion dollars on the line for the pirates.
Tommorrow the pirates are going to be deconstructing what went wrong so they can bee better pirates the day after tommorrow.
Those 200+ remaining hostages in the hands of various pirates just had their value decreased if the pirates think they are now a liability.
I heard Joe say that the President had to come down and take care of these guys...as in, take them out. There’s an AP report somewhere on the thread with his exact quote but I’m unable to find it now.
Thanks. It was not taken as rude at all. Having followed your postings for a while, your credentials as a conservative were not being questioned. Just did not want to break proper etiquette.
Happy Easter to you as well. This special day will be very important going forward. It will demoralize our enemies, and hearten our allies. Italy is reported to be asking about some assistance with some of their nationals. The leftists are already going nuts over the use of deadly force. Patient and cooler heads will prevail.
I like that!!
“But you would not have SEALs based on foreign territory, and there are no Navy bases close-by that I know of.
“
Really? Wanna research that one again and get back to us?
It was just reported the hijackers asked to be taken to calmer water....They asked to be towed.
“The nearest ones would have been in Iraq, and they could have done a practice drill or two before leaving. “
For someone who claims he doesn’t want to do factless bashing you sure state things that you don’t know anything about.
“So you could be looking at three days just to get the SEALs out to the destroyer.”
Once again talking about things you know nothing about.
Probably hard to keep pointing toward Mecca when praying if the boat is bobbing in the waves.
“And it turns out they had run out of ammo after firing on a launch approaching the lifeboat. “
Got a link to that? Are you saying we shot unarmed pirates? Are you still insinuating the Navy waiting to take action because they simply could get their shit together fast enough, yet, the pirates were at some point unarmed??
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