Posted on 04/13/2009 12:35:00 PM PDT by milwguy
It didn't play out minute by minute on the nation's television screens as so many other crises have, but the dramatic rescue of American hostage Richard Phillips on the high seas yesterday was still a defining moment for President Obama.
Obama's decision to authorize he use of military force to free Phillips, captain of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama, from a band of pirates demonstrated that the new commander in chief will apply American muscle in a crunch. It also showed that he trusts the military to get the job done and remains cool under pressure. These are significant developments for a man who has endured considerable criticism about being too young and inexperienced to serve as an effective commander in chief.
In Obama's first national security test, he secretly gave the Pentagon the go-ahead at 8 p.m. Friday to use force if Phillips's life was in imminent danger. In a follow-up order at 9:20 Saturday morning, he gave more specific authorization that included allowing a Navy commander to order snipers to take out the pirates if the situation became dire, U.S. officials said. In the end, that's precisely what happened.
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
In either case it appears he had to be TALKED inot it by the military, and in the meantime the captain was in danger while Barry diddled around.
The Defense Department twice sought Mr. Obama’s permission to use force to rescue Captain Phillips, most recently on Friday night, senior defense officials said. On Saturday morning, the president agreed, they said, if it appeared that the captain’s life was in imminent danger.
You are correct and Barry is a lying wuss.
“first national security test”
Not much of a test.
And it sounds like the pirates were actually out of ammo. Obama ordered the killing of unarmed or loaded civilians.
> wait a minute now, I didn’t authorize ATTACKS on the Pirates, I authorized A TAX on the pirates
LOL! That’s a good one.
Can we give that a rest? Three pirates against a bound man in an enclosed boat. They could have killed him with a wrench or a rope. You are sounding like Brady Center nitwits in attacking Obama for authorizing the shooting of possibly unarmed men. They often wail against justifiable shootings as well, and for the same reason - to make a stupid political point.
A lot of Police Chiefs have had to make bigger decisions.Same for a lot of Swat Commanders.The Pres.is a small time decision maker
LOLOLOLOLOL
Effing unbeliebable.
Obama does the absolute minimum required and it is a defining moment?
“Uh yeah, go ahead and rescue the guy if you can.”
No duh! a child can make that decision.
Wow.
Heroic! Defining!
Maybe it is defining because he agreed to shoot black people.
What if they were trying to give up? Would that make a difference?
We haven’t heard the last of this incident, I think.
Nice try, USN&WR. I laugh thinking that the Obamaloon must cower at the thought of his superiors (e.g., virtually anyone in the military and expecially, Marines and SEALS). We’ll see what the Wimp-O-Matic does in the future against someone who actually can fire back.
Gimme a break. Can you imagine the heat Obama would have gotten if he said ‘no’ to lethal force and the captain was killed?
What other choice did he have?
As if the use of force was an unimaginable option. What a bunch of BS. The press is acting as if BHO himself was the general calling the shots. All BHO did was authorize the use of force and the press wants to make him out as one of the snipers.
Bush's Fault.
I really don't care to speculate that US Navy personnel are liars. I really don't care to go down this road because it leads to a lot of places that conservatives normally would avoid.
The press is laughably desperate to build up Obama.
On this one, clearly the NY TIMES is closer to the Truth. Why would We ever expect ZERO to behave other than cowardly. The Military probably had to do everything in their power to get ZERO to move in a positive direction!
Captain Phillips has ONLY the Military to Thank, he can rest assure ZERO HUSSEIN was doing nothing but eating his St Louis PIZZA and shooting Baskets!
Who claimed they were out? Clearly the Navy didn’t believe it when they saw the Captain with an AK47 pointed at him. They didn’t assume that was an empty gun; they shot the pirates!
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