Posted on 04/12/2009 9:16:17 AM PDT by Mariner
I read much saber rattling concerning the current hostage crises.
Remember, a Destroyer or Frigate only have the capability to sink ships and submarines...and to shoot planes and missile out of the sky.
They do not have SEAL teams...nor even snipers...onboard. They have the ship's weapons and small arms, usually shotguns and pistols.
Until the USS Boxer arrives on the scene, the Navy does not have the ability to even ATTEMPT a rescue.
However, I'm pretty darn sure that lifeboat will not reach the beach, no matter what...
The problem is that TOTUS has equated the lives of the terrorists with the life of our hero Captain.
Suffice to say this can be resolved very quickly in the long and short term. Obama has the balls to go after his political enenmies but doesn't have the balls to go after his nations enemies. Pray for your Republic.
There is no reason to make haste and risk killing the captain - the pirates have every reason to not harm their bargaining chip for at least the next few days. Everything can be fixed, captain released, pirates free to roam, a few minutes prior to noon this coming Wednesday.
Until then I suspect they are trying to maximize the chances of retrieving that captain alive.
That (class of) ship normally sails with its “visit, board, search and seizure” (VBSS) team ready to go - able to handle the cargo ship and the pirates via a rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB).
The higher the stakes, the more likely a new front on the war of terrorism will be opened by the enemy, and that the more likely this scenario will be repeated over and over.
The more Obama dithers the more impotent America appears. The more impotent America appears, the greater our national danger.
From the fate of one hostage the world's only superpower is imperiled.
Scenario more likely: 1. Pirates take money and kill Captain 2. Obama offers citizenship, welfare and free meds to entire Pirate village 3. Boxer participates in humanitarian move of village 4. Boxer crew gets Navy Expeditonary and Humanitarian medals 5. MSM claims Obama showed true leadership under pressure. Are we happy yet?
better he die by our hand, than theirs...
>> The Navy has all the time in the world, until/unless the lifeboat gets within a mile of the beach. Until then I suspect they are trying to maximize the chances of retrieving that captain alive.
I’m with you 100% there, FRiend.
However, my understanding is, prevailing currents push towards shore along that coastline. So waiting forever is not an option, as the boat WILL reach shore unaided.
The SEALs and their equipment could be flown to friendly bases in Yemen.
It has been a long time for me, but they should have .50 caliber air cooled machine guns in the armory and some stanchions on deck on which to mount them. They are very effective at short ranges.
While it is true that they do not have Seal teams on board, each ship should have a designated landing party, which under the rule what would a prudent seaman do under the same circumstances, should have additional experience with small arms. Personally, I would use something like the 3/ 50s to convince a pirate that Allah wanted to personally meet him.
There may well be ex-Seals on board either vessel but performing other duties. During my brothers 20 years in the service, he knew some ex-Seals who were also trained as machinist mates. There were others in other capacities as well. He said that they were dual trained so that they could operate not only as a Seal but in other duties as required by the Navy (radar technician, machinst mate, electrician, etc).
>> Can anyone guarantee that none of this ransom money is going to fund other “community organizers” in the mid east?
Hell, Bambi’s probably already cut a deal with the scum to fund his reelection campaign in 2012!
I suspect they want to take on THIS lifeboat from below...or get the bad guys to surrender, thirsty.
The NAVY wants this Captain alive more than anyone in Washington.
We're talking 200 years of history and fellowship. The Navy could no more send this Captain to his fate than a Marine could leave a brother on the battlefield.
That lifeboat will not reach the beach.
I’m still not clear on the administration’s “desired outcome”. 1. Supposedly save the poor captain’s life (I assume) and/or 2. get the pirates arrested?? I mean, what do we care? Once we get the captain back, we blow them to kingdom come. Right? The pirates should know there is no way out unless they make it to shore somehow. So why wouldn’t they kill the captain? What are we promising them? An arrest by elders? And those talks have broken down? It must be me because I just can’t figure this out. This is one big clusterf**k.
>> If you killed their goats, that would really be a deterrent.
I don’t know about that... depriving them of their sexual outlet might just make ‘em meaner. ;-)
I am certain that they could have solved this situation in the first few hours form when it occurred if they were given the orders to do so but Obama the defeatist did not do it. If they were deployed and ordered to be in the sea close to this tiny pirate boat they would have freed the brave Captain and killed the pirates when the brave pirate attempted to flee. Again Obama the defeatist did not give such orders.
We need to look further than just this current pirates-hostage situation.
When the going gets tough the tough gets going but the weak will fold in cowardice. Obama has shown a shocking weakness in this pirate situation which is relatively very easy compared to the other dangers and threats we are facing and by doing so he greatly emboldened our other more dangerous enemies such as Al Qaeda terrorists, the Taliban terrorists, the Iranian terrorist regime, the North Korean communist regime, Hizballah terrorists, Hamas terrorists, etc... let alone Russia and China.
No matter what we do in this pirate situation it is already too late. Even if we end up killing the pirates and go on to bomb Somalia the horrible fact is that Al Qaeda terrorists, the Taliban terrorists, the Iranian terrorist regime, the North Korean communist regime, etc... now know for certain that Obama is the weakest President ever and they are going to take full advantage of this and cause us a lot of harm.
That is the big picture we should be looking at and that is the situation that we are in now. It is a very messy situation and it going to get much worse in the future.
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