Posted on 04/13/2009 10:01:04 AM PDT by mojito
After four days of floating at sea on a raft shared with four Somali gunmen, Richard Phillips took matters into his own hands for a second time. With the small inflatable lifeboat in which he was being held captive being towed by the American missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, and Navy Special Warfare (NSWC) snipers on the fantail in position to take their shots at his captors as soon as the command was given, the captive captain of the M.V. Maersk-Alabama took his second leap in three days into the shark-infested waters of the Indian Ocean.
This diversion gave the Navy Special Warfare operators all the opening they needed. Snipers immediately took down the three Somali pirates still on board the life raft, SEAL operators hustled down the tow line connecting the two craft to confirm the kills, and a Navy RIB plucked Phillips from the water and sped him to safety aboard the Bainbridge, thus ending the four-day-and-counting hostage situation.
Phillips’ first leap into the warm, dark water of the Indian Ocean hadn’t worked out as well. With the Bainbridge in range and a rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Phillips threw himself off of his lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters onboard the destroyer a clear shot at his captors — and none was taken. The guidance from National Command Authority — the president of the United States, Barack Obama — had been clear: a peaceful solution was the only acceptable outcome to this standoff unless the hostage’s life was in clear, extreme danger.
The next day, a small Navy boat approaching the floating raft was fired on by the Somali pirates — and again no fire was returned and no pirates killed. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed by Navy personnel thanks to the combination of a lack of clear guidance from Washington and a mandate from the commander in chief’s staff not to act until Obama, a man with no background of dealing with such issues and no track record of decisiveness, decided that any outcome other than a “peaceful solution” would be acceptable.
After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the on-scene commander decided he’d had enough. Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear and present danger to the hostage’s life and having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided the AK-47 one captor had leveled at Phillips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.
Three rounds downrange later, all three brigands became enemy KIA and Phillips was safe.
There is upside, downside, and spin-side to the series of events over the last week that culminated in yesterday’s dramatic rescue of an American hostage.
Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama administration and its supporters claimed victory against pirates in the Indian Ocean and [1] declared that the dramatic end to the standoff put paid to questions of the inexperienced president’s toughness and decisiveness.
Despite the Obama administration’s (and its sycophants’) attempt to spin yesterday’s success as a result of bold, decisive leadership by the inexperienced president, the reality is nothing of the sort.
What should have been a standoff lasting only hours — as long as it took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to steam to the location — became an embarrassing four-day-and-counting standoff between a rag-tag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship.
On Friday, April 9, as the standoff reached the end of its third day, I called on President Obama to take action to free the American hostage from his Somali captors. I [2] outlined three possible operational tactics that could be used to do so; number 1 was the following:
(1) 2 helos, 2 snipers each: pop the [pirates] in their heads, then drop a rescue swimmer to escort the hostage up to one of the choppers. This works best if the hostage is aware of what is happening and can help without getting in the way — say, by hopping overboard as the gunships near, to divert attention and get out of the line of fire.
(This was written before the USS Bainbridge tethered the life raft to its stern, an action which eliminated the need for helicopters.)
However, instead of taking direct, decisive action against the rag-tag group of gunmen, the Obama administration dilly-dallied, dawdled, and eschewed any decisiveness whatsoever, even in the face of enemy fire, in hopes that the situation would somehow resolve itself without violence. Thus, the administration sent a clear message to all who would threaten U.S. interests abroad that the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has no idea how to respond to such situations — and no real willingness to use military force to resolve them.
Any who think they weren’t watching every minute of this are guilty — at best — of greatly underestimating our enemies.
Like the crew of the Alabama, which took swift and decisive action to take back their own ship rather than wait for help from Washington that they knew could not be counted on, Captain Phillips took matters into his own hands for the second time in three days, leaping into the water to create a diversion and allowing the NSWC team to eliminate his captors. The result, of course, was the best that could possibly be expected: three pirates dead, the captain unharmed, and a fourth Somali man who had surrendered late Saturday night in custody.
One thing that will bear watching will be what the Obama DOJ attempts to do with the captive pirate. My money is on a life of welfare checks, a plot of land (in a red state, naturally), and voting rights in Chicago, New York, and Seattle.
In all seriousness, though, who knows? Obama could decide to get tough on the last surviving participant in the first pirating of an American ship since Thomas Jefferson sent the U.S. Marine Corps to root out and destroy the Barbary pirates.
However, given the administration’s track record to date, I won’t be holding my breath on that one.
No way of telling if they were “those” kind of pirates (I think Bum Bandits is the technical term), or not. Seriously, if we have to depend on Barney Frank and his ilk to defend our country, we are so screwed.
I respectfully don’t think my belief that the hostage episode is insignificant. As problems between nations go it is insignificant. Could some people in Somolia get mad at us? So what. This is like cops and robbers. The entire world knows who the bad guys are and that hostage takers don’t deserve anyone’s mercy.
You might want to give us your view of the global significance of this situation.
I'll put this simply, so even a caveman can understand it. Bozo never gave an order to take direct action to save the hostage and kill the pirates if necessary, yet he takes credit for it as if he did. He fiddled while Rome burned so to speak.
President Bush on the other hand, gave the orders, pushed for the action against Sadam and authorized use of any force necessary to capture or kill him.
Thus, even the cavemen I mentioned can understand that Bozo never had a hand in what he is claiming credit for and if the Captain of the Bainbridge hadn't released his snipers to shoot, that life boat would still be floating around in the ocean with a hostage aboard or we would have paid an exorbitant amount of money to free him. The cavemen would also understand that President Bush did have a hand in, and was indirectly responsible for the Capture of Sadam, without President Bush's actions Iraqis would still be getting killed off by that madman.
Now, cavemen get it, do you?
Subsequently has been shown to not be the case.
Probably not the case as well, given that SEALs had not arrived at that point, and that the lifeboat was enclosed. SEAL snipers finally got a good shooting angle once the lifeboat was under tow, which was not the case at the time.
Subsequent reports indicate the SEALs did not arrive until Saturday night.
The Obamas Stage Daring Rescue
AP: Washington DC April 12 2008 10:37PM EST
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibb released an official photo of the President and First Lady rescuing Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates.
In a prepared statement Gibb stated, "...that America's foes better be prepared for robust and immediate and personal action from The President and First Lady."
The President and First Lady were unharmed according to Gibb. They are expected to arrived on Monday by a F-18 Hornet piloted by Michelle Obama.
Gibb also stated that the supposed visit by The First Family to St. John’s Episcopal Church was an elaborate plot to lull the Somali pirates into complacency. Actors were used to impersonate the Obamas @ St Johns with Will Smith playing TOTUS and Oprah playing Michelle. While the actors were at St John's, TOTUS and Michelle did a specop HALO jump onto the deck of the USS Bainbridge while it was underway at flank speed.
When asked by reporters his reactions to the rescue, Vice President Biden responded, "The Obamas are some crazy SOB's and they kick ass and take names, so you better not piss them off."
He gave credit to Obama this morning.
I’m questioning this account until the Captain speaks. Heard there was no second escape attempt when the Seals executed their plan.
It`s amazing the messiah had to sign some sort of legal document saturday to cover his ass when even US Code title 33 Sect. 383 gives merchant ships the right to kill pirates.
Several of the Military blogs I read last night said that there is a standing order (since before Obama's time) that, in a hostage situation, where the hostage is an American citizen, the military commander on the scene has authority to use deadly force if the hostage is in lifethreatening danger.
Obama may have been involved, but the point is he didn't have to be.
I believe, from all we know about Obama, his abundance of caution, his slow decision making and his upbringing which made him sympathetic [at the very least] to Muslim causes, his involvement, if any, would have been a negative toward the outcome that eventually occurred.
Interesting, what would be the origin of the standing order? Could obama over rule this standing order?
Oh, that. Well, he just wanted to comply with the L.O.S.T. treaty. /sarc
You’re correct, it has always been that way. But, as the CinC, he has the authority to override that.
My problem is that he chose to micro manage a proven and experienced Military leader. That, right there, tells me all I need to know.
If this is Bush’s economy, then this is Bush’s military. I give credit to President Bush. :-)
“......having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before,......”
This statement seems in direct contradiction to a FOX News report posted here yesterday which stated,
Obama Twice Approved Plan To Rescue US Sea Captain
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/12/official-sea-captain-faced-imminent-danger/
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