U.S. ship captain held by pirates off Somalia, has been freed,

CNN ^

[Ladycalif]

U.S. ship captain held by pirates off Somalia, has been freed, senior U.S. official says. Three of four pirates killed.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Oh, one of Russia’s puppets owned the tanks at the time.

[bert]

.......saying that he wasn’t on the phone dictating specific orders just that he had given general orders......

The order allowed action at the commander’s discretion if the hostage was in imminent danger. This was considerable leeway. It would appear that the CIC said bring about a peaceful release but if there is imminent danger kill the pirates.

Obama did the right thing....he let the military do the job.

Note also, as suggested by Bert, the lifeboat was under tow.

[Girlene]

Here's a bit more info from AP on why/when the pirates were shot. It seems the commander is defining how his orders to shoot complied with Obama's "guidance". I think the commander threaded that needle quite well. Officer: Split-second decision to open fire

"A U.S. military official says Navy Seals and other officers opened fire on three pirates when a Navy commander made a split-second decision that an American hostage's life was in danger.

Vice Adm. Bill Gortney also says the pirates made a ransom demand for the release of Capt. Richard Phillips.

Gortney says the pirates threatened throughout the ordeal to kill Phillips. Gortney says the pirates were armed with AK-47s and small-caliber pistols, and were pointing the AK-47s at the captain.

Gortney says the commander of the nearby USS Bainbridge believed Phillips was in "imminent danger" when he ordered sailors to fire at the armed pirates.

Gortney says the White House had given "very clear guidance and authority" that if any time the commander Capt. Phillips' life was in danger to take action to make sure it was not."....

[HiTech RedNeck]

Huh. So wonder how the story got going that the Captain had managed to jump a second time.

Good that the SEALs managed to raid the boat.

[TornadoAlley3]

Obama twice approved force to rescue hostage
By JENNIFER LOVEN and PHILIP ELLIOTT – 14 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama twice authorized the military to rescue a U.S. captain held by Somali pirates and whose life appeared to be at risk, administration official said hours after Sunday’s rescue.

The Defense Department twice asked Obama for permission to use military force to rescue Capt. Richard Phillips from a lifeboat off the Somali coast, most recently late Friday evening. On Saturday morning, Obama signed off on the Pentagon’s request, as he had a day earlier, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations......

[eyedigress]

Oey Vey...

[AH_LiveRight]

No worries. This thread is very enlightening. Even a few other “old-timers” have been misdirected into attacking you, and some of the other folks here that take a wait and see approach. I do not remember, but think it was TA3 that posted the Presidential comment. It praised the military, the Captain, and everyone else that had made this a success. Conservative opinion should reward good behavior IMHO. Somehow this thread devolved into you getting bashed for an opinion (that is shared by me). I don't get it. Perhaps some others have a different agenda, like making respected conservatives look like knee jerk dolts.

[TornadoAlley3]

4th pirate as young as 16y/0...during initial pirate attack he was injured by a knife wound to the hand...he asked to go on Bainbridge for medical care and once on did not want to go back to lifeboat...per CNN.

[ex-snook]

Some on this site have become so bonkers with Obama hatred that they can no longer tell a good decision from a bad one. Just a Democrats became bonkers with Bush hatred.

[HiTech RedNeck]

“obama” has been banned or suspended :-)

[STARWISE]

God forgive me, I love the smell
of dead pirate in the morning.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Huh, and his fellow pirates just let him go.

[tobyhill]

He gets Juvenile Detention till he's 18.

[longtermmemmory]

Obama is like the Hollywood cliche of the so called leader who hides during the fight and jumps up to cheer triumphant after the danger is past.

The POLITICAL danger is clear so obama can jump up and be seen.

[FTL]

Good thing our Right Wing “Genghis Khan” military is so capable no matter how much the Democrats undermine our military, vote our troops into combat and then immediately run over and take the side of the enemy, Code Pink, “Human Shields, Leftist War Protesters and Murtha et. al.

To Obama:

What took you so long, loser? Why did your indecision further risk Phillips life by not taking action the first time he jumped out?

And how about that Long Form Birth Certificate - criminal.

[eyedigress]

It’s a start. :^)

[Syncro]

Like you, as you, a December 2008 signup, run repeatedlhy[sic] around the forum calliing[sic] old-timers DU trolls.

That doesn't make sense, it is YOU that has been calling FR posters DUmmmies over and over again.

Let me give you some of your own advice:

"Since you are a newb, I guess you don't know the forum guidelines against....personal attacks. I would suggest you start adhereing[sic] to them. "

Yes, you are a newbie, signed up long after a lot of real important stuff went down here at Free Republic.

I've seen hundreds of posters that signed up in the last few years that contribute more positive posts here than you do.

That pulling sign-on date stuff just makes you look bad, and reflects on good posters that have been here for over 10 years.

So stop the personal attacks, and leave others alone who you accuse of doing what your yourself are doing.

And get that spelling under control would you?

There is a button below the typing area called "spell", you might not have noticed it in your short time here.

[TornadoAlley3]

Regardless of how this ended and Obama’s role, he said nothing until today, that is wrong. Obama gave orders for use of force only if captain's life in danger. So he would have allowed the great captain to be held hostage for 444 days as long as he was fed well?...You will not see me praising him for this, no matter what his official statement today said.

[shineon]

[Girlene]

The captain did not jump out of the boat? Did the Admiral say how the snipers were able to get a shot if the pirates were in the boat?