Posted on 04/13/2009 5:44:56 AM PDT by Alter Kaker
Throughout the past four days, White House officials played down Obama's role in the hostage drama. Until yesterday, he made no public statements about the pirates.
In fact, aides said yesterday, Obama had been briefed 17 times since he returned from his trip abroad, including several times from the White House Situation Room. And without giving too many details, senior White House officials made it clear that Obama had provided the authority for the rescue.
"The president's focus was on saving and protecting the life of the captain," one adviser said. Friday evening, after a National Security Council telephone update, Obama granted U.S. forces what aides called "the authority to use appropriate force to save the life of the captain." On Saturday at 9:20 a.m., Obama went further, giving authority to an "additional set of U.S. forces to engage in potential emergency actions."
A top military official, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of the Fifth Fleet, explained that Obama issued a standing order that the military was to act if the captain's life was in immediate danger.
"Our authorities came directly from the president," he said. "And the number one authority for incidents if we were going to respond was if the captain's life was in immediate danger. And that is the situation in which our sailors acted."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
*O* said wait, lets talk to them first, and after 17 briefings *O* realized he had no effin clue what to do, he told the Navy, ok do it your way.
The Navy did, bingo, bango , bongo!
Just proves you need to untie the hands of our military,and let them do what they train to do ! God Bless our Troops!
Yes I’m so proud of Hero Zero.
You would think that sending warships to an area was evidence of permission to use force, but no, it took 4 days for the permission to be given.
Bingo.
Now he can get back to the really important stuff - like organizing our communities.
Exactly. He set the priority of saving the captain's life and then the military operated from there. I don't see where he waited four days to allow use of force, he issued additional orders after four days elaborating on the initial directives.
That's the official story, and it may well be true.
My own take on it is: there were 4 pirates. One was on the US ship engaged in negotiations -- why would the pirates threaten the captain at that time? It doesn't make sense. I think it's far mor elikely that the Navy did a simple calculation: with one guy off the boat, our job just got 25% easier. Wait for a clean shot, then take it. Afterwards, we'll say that they were -- I don't know -- pointing an AK-47 at the captain's back. Or something.
I have no problem with that. But the media certainly isn't delving into "what really happened" -- which they most certainly would have done had Bush just taken credit for killing pirates.
“I’m thinking they asked him 17 times for permission to do something, and 17 times he adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Finally, when the Navy took action, Obama stepped up and said, ‘That was my idea.’”
I’m thinking he adopted the wait-and-see attitude, knowing of a standing order, and after having decided that if he just didn’t interfere with the standing order, if something good happenened, he would get credit for it; but, if something bad happened, he could always deny his involvement in the final decision. His four-day delay was primarily an attempt to make it win-win for him, The One.
And any guesses on what the headline would have been had the operation failed?
Furthermore, we should go back to the incident witht the Chinese just into the Bush administration. I doubt they treat him with the same kindness.
Mind you that the pirates seized a second ship during all this too.
Yup, and ordering pizza, having parties, and God forbid, he miss “date night”.
How about: “Obama Saddened Navy Snipers Violated Order to Wait and Watch; Bloodthirsty Sailors to Be Transported to Military Prison; CIC Executive Order Controlling Military Atrocities to Issue Next Week; Obama Escorts Pirates to Shore, Promises No More Armed Defense”
That stupid POS president would not know how to pour piss out of a boot with the directions on the heel. He just had to authorize the actions that were taken.
If Bush was still President, they’d want him to be sent to the Hague to be tried for war crimes for killing the 3 pirates in cold blood. Except they’d be claiming 30 pirates were killed (like with the figures that have been thrown around about the number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed since the US invasion, which is about 10 times the actual number).
Like all the other Oboma failures - it would be Bush's' fault, of course.
Damn good point
How does it really matter what Clinton would have done?
If this had gone bad we would have been up Obama’s ass about it. All involved, from the CIC to the snipers performed exactly as they should have reulting in a positive outcome. Trying to turn this around as a negative for Obama will harm the conservative cause and make us look like haters who treat him with scorn regardless. This turned out well, congratulations to all, move on.
Hopefully, our ships will have slipped away under the cover of darkness as he feasts on the skinnies in a way that only a Chicago lawyer could.
I dunno’ . . . I thought the people on the scene saw an opening and shot the bastard . . . didn’t know he waited for the Most Merciful and All-Knowing to pull the trigger. It’s amazing how they’re ginning up some kind of macho and concerned president when the ba$tard wouldn’t even field an answer the other day . . . and the Sec of State cackled . . . what am I missing . . . American pulls a trigger, shoots the pirate, kills him, and captain is freed. Where does Dumbama fit into this picture?
The Navy Seals did an excellent job. As soon as my husband heard the captain was safe, he knew the Navy Seals were in charge.
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