Posted on 04/13/2009 4:21:02 PM PDT by happygrl
April 13, 2009 - by Jeff Emanuel Page 1 of 2 Next ->Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers
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. ... 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.... 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...
ZERO HUSSEIN is Disgusting!
More info.
True, the navy was busy picking their nosies the first time.
Note to Barry: Must be nice to be omniscient.
Obama’s first directive to the Navy : Ahh....unmm...Bush’s fault...Katrina....cap and trade...ahhh.....ummmm....ohh..
TOTUS is Broken!!!!
I’ll get back to you, soon.
This seems to be about the fourth different version of what went down.
Anybody know which version is the most reliable.
Preferably a non-American media influenced source?
I thought he only jumped overboard once.
Another note to the idiot, most of the United States thought that for 4 days.
Gaaaaawd...SO WHAT! Like it or not, President Obama is CinC. Of course he gave the order. It is not like the Prez and Veep were on the deck taking the shots personally. The PROFESSIONALS did that (Good job guys!). Anyone with half a brain knows our Military is what pulled this off. The one's without brains buying the "Obama saved that Captain" bit will not be swayed no matter what info they are confronted with.
I'm giving credit where credit is due. The outcome favored America on this one. This administration actually did a good job NOT lending the Office of the Presidency to the "pirates" for any credibility through numerous press conferences.
Not so. Zero had ordered the commander not to use deadly force except in a "clear and present danger" to the Captain's life, which is why they didn't fire when he first went in the water. In the end, he acted on his own despite his orders. If anything had gone wrong, Zero would've fried him instead of stealing the credit. Read the whole article:
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.
Other than managing to completely avoid the issue for a few days, it’s a pretty good bet that obama had little or nothing to do with any decisions related to this situation.
The story today, was that he had a gun in his back when the shots were taken.
I suppose he coulda jumped when he saw what was going down.
3 snipers + 3 bullets = 3 dead bad guys.
a good days work.
What conservative wanted the rescue effort to become a failure?
IMO Obama had no choice but to allow the Navy to act. It became too unpopular to just do nothing.
Barack Obama is my thirteenth president and for the first time in my adult life I am not always proud of America vis-a-vis the government.
I cannot assume a president's true intent and loyalties based entirely upon my own experience as an American.
I too congratulate President Obama but with restrictions.
Exactly! Oh, but he’ll be first in line to take credit, when all he did was sit on his ass and tell everyone not to do anything. He’s a pu$$y.
The press is still getting some details wrong, I see. But, the story is still coming together. I can't wait to hear Captain Phillips' account.
You have got it right. Let’s see what else comes out in the next day or two. A lot of what has been written just doesn’t make any sense, and often by people who do not have access to the military operations/command structure.
We'll never know.
I suspect the Navy captain thought to himself, "Okay enough of this pussy BS!" And then out loud to the snipers, "The next time all three of you have a clean shot at the same time, take 'em out."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.