I initially thought that as well. But the fact that the SEALs had kill opportunities in better conditions shows that Obama's directives were in error. Do you agree that the first priority should have been to save the captain's life as soon as the opportunity presented itself?
I thought the directives were to gain the release of the hostage or shoot the pirates if the his life was in danger — and then it was up to the U.S. Navy to achieve the goal...
And you’ve got to remember, that the pirates goal (which the Navy can use to their own advantage) is to get a ransom. And a dead hostage gets you no ransom at all, plus... it gets you “dead” if you do that. The Navy can use that to their own advantage..., in order to achieve the directive given to them.
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As far as saving the captain’s life, that was the goal all along. As to how to achieve it, I believe the Navy had a lot of discretion to do whatever worked, according to the directives given to them.
The pirates know, and the Navy knows, too..., that without a live hostage, there is no ransom and the pirates’ lives are worth absolutely nothing at that point (if the hostage dies). So, since all parties know that, it’s in the Navy’s best interests to plan for the most successful operation that they can...