[dirtboy]

That is not how Al Qaeda, Taliban, Iran, and the North Koreans will view it and it is all about perception. Make no doubt about it, these enemies have been greatly emboldened and they are going to cause a lot of harm because of this perception of weakness.

I recall similar grousing about how long it took the Afghanistan campaign to get going. Once it did, it was a doozy. What emboldens our enemy the most is failure, such as Carter's attempt to rescue the hostages. This action has thousands of sphincters puckering in ports along the Somali coast.

[jveritas]

Do not compare the Iran hostage crisis to this in term of magnitude and difficulty. There is a big difference to rescue hostages held hundreds of miles inside an enemy nation with hundreds of thousands of armed troops versus a single hostage held by 4 ragtag pirates on a tiny boat in the middle of the ocean surrounded by our US Navy the mightiest Navy in history of man.

Our enemies know the difference and they know that we are weak today very weak and all this because of Obama.

This action has thousands of sphincters puckering in ports along the Somali coast.

You are still focusing on the pirates and I am talking about Al Qaeda, The Taliban, Iran, North Korea, etc...

[Kansas58]

Why?

The pirates will simply say to themselves:
Take LOTS of hostages, and never attack a boat unless you can HOLD the boat!”

Sorry, I do not think that pirates stop being pirates because a few other pirates did a bad job of it.

I think bombing their homes to rubble, destroying their ports and sinking their boats and ships MIGHT make some type of difference, if done very soon.

Also, the pirates will “learn” from this: treat your captives harshly. The Americans will do nothing until your hostage tries to escape!