"Seems like a smart response if you ask me."
Yes, if Obama's goal at every turn is to weaken the US, humiliate us before the world and especially the Islamists, then this is a smart tactic. All he has to do it to order that the US Navy not shoot, not use coercive tactics and negotiate the the terms of a ransom. We will get back a live captain, Obama will declare victory and we will wait for the next attack by an emboldened enemy.
Not to mention the media spectacle a bunch of pirates in small boats surrounding the liferaft will make