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BUSTED: The Obama Pentagon flat-out lied about the SEAL team (ACTUAL DELAY, 52 HOURS)
Flopping Aces ^ | 04-29-09 | Alec Rawls

Posted on 04/29/2009 8:30:53 AM PDT by Starman417

With all the back-and-forth between Somali time and D.C. time, a lot of people let this slip through the cracks (including me).

The "SEAL pals" email circulated by Rear Admiral Lou Sarosdy (USN ret.) claimed that Obama did not authorize SEAL teams to assist in the rescue of Captain Philips until 36 hours after these resources were requested by the captain on the scene. In their rebuttal campaign last week, anonymous Pentagon sources claimed that the USS Bainbridge did not arrive at the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama until Friday April 10th.

It actually arrived on scene at 4:00 AM on the 9th, local time, which in Washington was 8:00 PM on the 8th. It seems that reporters and editors let the date claim slide on the assumption that the time difference would shift the times the way it would have to shift the times to fit the Pentagon's claim, when it actually shifts them the other way. In fact, the Pentagon just flat-out lied about the Bainbridge's arrival time.

On the other end, the Pentagon used Washington time to make it sound as if Obama's authorization came on Friday, when it actually came at 4:00 AM Saturday morning local time. Thus the actual delay, local time to local time, was 4:00 AM Thursday to 4:00 AM Saturday: 48 hours!

Our "fact checkers" are not checking the facts

Obama's Pentagon rebuttal crew talked to three reporters: Bill Gertz at the Washington Times, Jim Miklaszewski at NBC and Joe Miller at Annenberg's FactCheck.org. Here is Miller's statement of the Obama Pentagon's rebuttal:

Although Phillips was taken hostage on April 8, the Pentagon didn’t actually take charge of the situation until the U.S.S. Bainbridge arrived on the scene on April 10. At that point, Pentagon officials told us, the captain of the Bainbridge requested the resources to resolve the situation. By 8:00 p.m. (Washington time) on April 10, President Obama had authorized the redeployment of a SEAL team from Kenya to the Bainbridge. Pentagon officials told us that the request worked its way up and back down the chain of command in a few hours, not a day-and-a-half, as the e-mail states.

Thanks are due to Mr. Miller for pinning down the time of the first SEAL-team authorization. Other sources offer redundant documentation of the Bainbridge's arrival on-scene in the early AM local time on the 9th, not on the 10th, as the Pentagon claimed. According to CNN, the USS Bainbridge arrived on the scene of the hijacking "before dawn Thursday." AP's timeline is more specific:

ON THURSDAY 4:00 a.m.: U.S. Navy destroyer U.S.S. Bainbridge reaches the Maersk Alabama.

After opening with the statement that the Bainbridge arrived before dawn, the CNN report goes on to say that the Bainbridge arrived at 8PM, but this seeming discrepancy is easily resolved. 4:00 AM Wednesday morning in Somalia was 8:00 PM Tuesday evening in Washington. (There is a 9 time-zone difference between Washington and Somalia, but the "spring forward" during daylight savings chops it to 8. This is why some televisions stations continued to refer to "Tuesday's hijacking." They first reported it here in the States on Tuesday the 7th.)

CNN was specific about the Navy taking over the scene the moment they arrived:

"When the Navy comes in, they're in charge," Speers [a spokesman for the Maersk Alabama] told CNN.

And according to Joe Miller:

At that point [when the Bainbridge arrived], Pentagon officials told us, the captain of the Bainbridge requested the resources to resolve the situation.

So the request for the SEAL teams went up the chain of command not long after 4:00 AM local time on the 9th. If authorization to send the nearby Kenya-based SEAL team over did not come until 4:00 AM Saturday, as Miller's Pentagon sources told him, then no, the request did not "work its way up and back down the chain of command in a few hours," as they also claimed. It took TWO FULL DAYS!

At least I have an excuse for missing this the first time round

I didn't follow the hijacking story until I read the "SEAL pals" version of what really happened of the coast of Somalia. When I then read the Pentagon's "SEAL pals" rebuttal in the Washington Times, I saw that it actually confirmed most of the "SEAL pals" claims. In particular, it expressly confirmed the perverse Rules of Engagement, where if the pirates ever left Captain Philips unguarded, our sailors were not allowed to rescue him by taking them out. "Obama's order not to rescue hostage confirmed by National Security Advisor and Pentagon," as I titled my response to Gertz' Pentagon exclusive.

That response did not address the claimed 36 hour delay, but Gertz, Miller and Miklaszewski all made the Pentagon's rebuttal of the 36 hour delay the centerpiece of their articles. So how did these supposed fact checkers all fail to check the most easily checkable facts at the heart of their own story? Faced with conflicting claims about the timeline, they simply reported what the two sides said, without making any attempt to see check and report on who was right.

Gertz got played the worst. His Obamagon sources denied that there was ANY delay in sending the Kenya-based SEAL team:

(Excerpt) Read more at Flopping Aces ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bho44; demlies; hostages; maerskalabama; maritime; obama; pirates; rescue; seals; specialforces; usnavy
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To: Diogenesis

Those photos together for comparison make me physically ill.


21 posted on 04/29/2009 8:54:58 AM PDT by stentorian conservative (I'm tired of being Johnny B. Goode and I'm gonna start being Johnny Reb.)
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To: Starman417

There was alot of well founded suspicion here at FR the first time Capt. Phillips jumped into the water and there was no response from our side.

By bringing the surviving pirate back to the US the Obama people will try and recoup their stance by apologizing profusely to the pirates.

Chief Mate Murphy (2nd in command of Maersk Alabama) needs to get educated on who his friends really are & it’s not Obama Inc.


22 posted on 04/29/2009 8:55:51 AM PDT by Cold Heart
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To: Starman417

bttt


23 posted on 04/29/2009 9:08:32 AM PDT by Dinah Lord (fighting the Islamofascist Jihad - one keystroke at a time...)
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To: Starman417

Watch someone get blamed for not calculating the time zone differences correctly....ha ha

Another example that ON THE JOB TRAINING isn’t appropriate for President of the United States.


24 posted on 04/29/2009 9:09:20 AM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: Starman417

I instinctively knew that in the beginning when they didn’t blow up the raft when the captain jumped overboard. The scary thing is they say FDR kept getting reelected even with a puke economy because they LIKED him.


25 posted on 04/29/2009 9:09:29 AM PDT by libbylu (Sarah - the light of the midnight sun)
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To: rjsimmon
What was a SEAL team doing in Kenya???

Looking for Obama's REAL birth certificate?

26 posted on 04/29/2009 9:11:31 AM PDT by JimRed ("Hey, hey, Teddy K., how many girls did you drown today?" TERM LIMITS, NOW AND FOREVER!)
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To: Starman417

Throwing lies after lies after lies at your enemies makes him work harder burning up resources to seek out the truth, mostly it creates predictable patterns of behavior so as to also use in suppression.

Prisoners in POW camps were constantly on the move or given duties of a meaningless nature like digging holes and the filling them up, even in everyday group functions its something we all do when we have a group of people available with nothing for them to do, so you keep them jumping from one project to another, keep them off balance, in a way its like boot camp training, break down old habits so as to be re-trained.

Obama is breaking down America so as to be trained into acting in a different fashion.

Like Muslims maybe?


27 posted on 04/29/2009 9:15:47 AM PDT by Eye of Unk ("If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." T. Paine)
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To: libbylu

obama lied. Pirates died.


28 posted on 04/29/2009 9:22:52 AM PDT by chadwimc (Proud to be an infidel ! Allah fubar !!!)
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To: Starman417

Yep, the time delay was fishy, stunk of Obama waffling, now we know the story.

Freepers are not shocked, we saw this weakness in Obamessiah long ago.

Now, with the fourth pirate in NYC for trial, look for our Pravda media to make that “poor, young black” pirate into a sympathetic figure. Sounds crazy? Just watch....


29 posted on 04/29/2009 9:26:16 AM PDT by moodyskeptic (the counterculture votes R)
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To: Diogenesis

Can anyone tell me positively that the ‘fraud’ in the suit is actually pledging allegiance to the Saudi flag? Is he actually staring right at it or is this an optical illusion that he is actually not standing directly in front of the green flag?
It is hard to tell - and I must wonder if it is typical for Saudi’s to put their right hand over their ‘heart’ when giving pledge to their flag.
I am serious - if someone has info on any of this - it would be great. If true - it makes me want to puke and a few other unmentionable things.


30 posted on 04/29/2009 9:28:48 AM PDT by 2Wheels
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To: Sir Gawain
Great story of “The POTUS and the Pirates”.

You can bet your last dollar that this info will never be seen or heard of from the MSM.

I love it when a plan succeeds.

Thanks for the insight into the SEAL training and the time line of the inaction/action.

Did you hear that Obama actually approved A TAX on the pirates?

OSC interpreted it to be ATTACKS on the pirates.

LOL

31 posted on 04/29/2009 9:38:32 AM PDT by BatGuano
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To: Sir Gawain

Thanks for sharing!!

God Bless our Military!!


32 posted on 04/29/2009 9:41:55 AM PDT by KEmom (Please send viable Conservative candidates to Massachusetts!!)
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To: Starman417

It might be easier to compare if the times were shown with equivalent times in parenthesis. For example,
Day hour Somalia time = (day, hour, Washington time) or
Day hour Washington time = (day, hour, Somalia time.


33 posted on 04/29/2009 9:45:12 AM PDT by IM2MAD
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To: Diogenesis
Obama holding on to his stones. No idea what to do with his hands while the National Anthem is played? I think not. He refuses to respect any part of this country.

Richardson wearing jeans..common folks, low-class dress and appearance for men seeking THE HIGHEST OFFICE IN THE LAND!

SHEESH!

34 posted on 04/29/2009 9:45:17 AM PDT by BatGuano
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To: Sir Gawain

A 4.0 report. The truth shall set us free, even if it comes in dribs and drabs.


35 posted on 04/29/2009 9:45:22 AM PDT by BilLies
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To: Eye of Unk

Training them to be part of his “volentold” corps.


36 posted on 04/29/2009 9:48:16 AM PDT by bankcritic (Never spend your money before you have it. - Thomas Jefferson)
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To: JimRed

Good one.......:O)


37 posted on 04/29/2009 11:02:57 AM PDT by goat granny
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To: Starman417
Thanks are due to Mr. Miller for pinning down the time of the first SEAL-team authorization. Other sources offer redundant documentation of the Bainbridge's arrival on-scene in the early AM local time on the 9th, not on the 10th, as the Pentagon claimed. According to CNN, the USS Bainbridge arrived on the scene of the hijacking "before dawn Thursday." AP's timeline is more specific:

ON THURSDAY 4:00 a.m.: U.S. Navy destroyer U.S.S. Bainbridge reaches the Maersk Alabama.

After opening with the statement that the Bainbridge arrived before dawn, the CNN report goes on to say that the Bainbridge arrived at 8PM, but this seeming discrepancy is easily resolved. 4:00 AM Wednesday morning in Somalia was 8:00 PM Tuesday evening in Washington. (There is a 9 time-zone difference between Washington and Somalia, but the "spring forward" during daylight savings chops it to 8. This is why some televisions stations continued to refer to "Tuesday's hijacking." They first reported it here in the States on Tuesday the 7th.)

Am I missing something here? Are they not jumping a full day?

I understand the time difference argument... 0400 Somali time equals 2000 the day before, Washington time..., but they are clearly saying Thursday morning, 0400 local, but the article immediately states Wednesday morning 0400 then backs that up to Tuesday.

38 posted on 04/29/2009 11:46:50 AM PDT by r-q-tek86 (The U.S. Constitution may be flawed, but it's a whole lot better than what we have now)
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To: Starman417

Zero’s Administration is a gutless liars, IMO.


39 posted on 04/29/2009 12:26:58 PM PDT by ExTexasRedhead
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To: Sir Gawain
Great info, Gawain. Thanks much.

I knew Obama was the cause of the delay (I posted about it at the time), while some kept repeating the nonsensical media mantra "give credit where credit is due."

Once you know how a communist thinks, it is easy to predict his or her behavior.

40 posted on 04/29/2009 8:21:42 PM PDT by Victoria Delsoul
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