It was one of the earliest tests of the new American president - a small military operation off the coast of a Third World nation. But as President Bill Clinton found out in October 1993, even minor failures can have long-lasting consequences. Not to mention James Earl Carter.
Clinton's efforts to land a small contingent of troops in Haiti were rebuffed, for the world to see, by a few hundred gun-toting Haitians. As the USS Harlan County retreated, so did the president's reputation.
For President Obama, last week's confrontation with Somali pirates posed similar political risks to a young commander in chief who had yet to prove himself to his generals or his public. But the result - a dramatic and successful rescue operation by U.S. Special Operations forces - left Obama with an early victory that could help build confidence in his ability to direct military actions abroad. Rescue? O told the Navy not to let the Captain get killed; see below. That might have looked bad... Minor distinction. To keep the good Captain alive he had to be rescued at some point ...
Throughout the past four days, White House officials played down Obama's role in the hostage drama. Until yesterday, he made no public statements about the pirates.
In fact, aides said yesterday, Obama had been briefed 17 times since he returned from his trip abroad, including several times from the White House Situation Room. And without giving too many details, senior White House officials made it clear that Obama had provided the authority for the rescue.
"The president's focus was on saving and protecting the life of the captain," one adviser said. Friday evening, after a National Security Council telephone update, Obama granted U.S. forces what aides called "the authority to use appropriate force to save the life of the captain." On Saturday at 9:20 a.m., Obama went further, giving authority to an "additional set of U.S. forces to engage in potential emergency actions."
A top military official, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of the Fifth Fleet, explained that Obama issued a standing order that the military was to act if the captain's life was in immediate danger.
"Our authorities came directly from the president," he said. "And the number one authority for incidents if we were going to respond was if the captain's life was in immediate danger. And that is the situation in which our sailors acted." Why not the first opportunity, O?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/13/2009 06:26 ||
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#1
And if violence escalates, will the WaPo and New York Slimes take the "blame Bush at every opportunity" political game?
#2
By and large, Obama is a fool. But I have to give props, he played this one just right. Left it to the discretion of the commanders on the scene and the SEALS. Man, those 3 shots must have been something to see. Both target and shooter moving up and down. 3 shots 3 kills. Good job to our military, as usual!
#3
Obama went further, giving authority to an "additional set of U.S. forces to engage in potential emergency actions."
OK, the President was engaged and gave the Navy his blessings thats a good thing. But something isnt right with this report. The G-men originally took charge because piracy and kidnapping are regarded as law-enforcement operations. But after stalled negotiations, according to a CNN report, the Pirates fired on U.S. sailors Saturday as they tried to reach the lifeboat. It would seem, at that point, it instantly morphed into a hostile act towards the Navy. And thus certain authorities were granted to the commander of the Bainbridge. (Regardless of Presidential permission) If the O-Team had any sense of honor they would do everything in their power to squelch these spike-the-football stories.
#6
It was set up so that the people on the scene would have gotten the blame if it went sour. Essentially the order was "don't embarrass the president". They didn't. Cause for celebration, certainly, but let's hope that he's always so lucky.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/13/2009 11:43 Comments ||
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#7
Indeed Seafarious, it is, and will probably remain so for Bambi, a VERY steep learning curve. The question now becomes: will he learn from this or will it further convince him he is truly the Annointed One? Just askin', ya know.
#8
Spot on Mitch! Considering the captain of a US flagged vessel was being held captive for randsom, the phrase "the use of deadly force is authorized if the life of Captain Phillips is in danger" is particularly rich. All of the ship's company to include the brave captain were in danger from the moment of hostile boarding. Leaving the action open for interpretation or post-event analysis and sniping takes Barry off the hook. The Leadership-101 response should have been:
The Captain of the USS Bainbridge is authorized to use deadly force.
#9
A good way to start and at least he had the balls to order them to pull the trigger.
But he better hope they're all as a easy as one guy being held by 4 dumbass Somali goombas with nowhere to go surrounded by a coupla SEAL teams. Chances are they won't be.
#10
Obama's involvement in the decision to authorize lethal force was legally required, officials said, because it was a hostage situation, not combat, and unrelated to the already authorized U.S. effort against al-Qaida and other terror groups, officials said.
Its not a combat operation so the lawyers wanted to ensure this was done right," said a second defense official.
Hope he never has to make a snap decision and there ain't a lawyer around...
#13
It strikes me that the surviving pirate (or I guess we have to say alleged pirate since this is a law enforcement matter) has a hell of a lot of leverage here: he's got the ability to tarnish the Lightbringer's first military action. For example, suppose he claims that the Bainbridge's crew abused him or didn't give him his Miranda warning or whatever. (He'd be lying, but I'm guessing this guy is not exceedingly concerned about a perjury rap at this point.) Does the ACLU run to his rescue? Human Rights Watch? That idiot Spanish judge? If I were that kid I'd insist on a suite at the Waldorf with unlimited in-room movies.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/13/2009 12:49 Comments ||
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#14
Or a Playstation 3 with Grand Theft Container Ship...
#15
The first time that the ship's captain jumped out of the lifeboat, the Navy did nothing and he was recaptured by the pirates. I heard an explanation that the SEALS were not yet aboard, but given the time the Navy took to get into position, and the fact that they had time to get the FBI on board, this makes very little sense.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Navy was waiting for White House permission to act and the White House was busy consulting DOJ lawyers. I'm very glad the Captain was freed. But I doubt we've heard the entire story.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/13/2009 13:14 Comments ||
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#17
Matt__ the surviving pirate ( I do love the sound of that phrase) is 16 years old - wanna bet he gets a slap on the wrist and citizenship for seeing the errors of his ways.
#18
DMFD -- I know nothing, really, but I do understand logistics. The SEALS they had or had brought in as soon as this happened, were the well armed guys on the Alabama I saw as it arrived in port.
Logistically speaking -- they prolly wanted their best snipers, and would want to have at least two teams per pirate if not three teams. (around the clock aim on those idiots)
That's two person per team, spotter and shooter. They had to come from somewhere, then meet up, a plane had to be secured, prolly had a meet/phone call with the FBI types, relaying all the info they had learned from the Alabama crew about those pirates to the teams.
They had to determine weaponry they needed and what they could jump with, and it goes on and on.... where are the boats coming from, what time, etc, etc, etc.
No telling where those teams came from. Heck, one of them may have been sitting on top of a mountain in Afghanistan. I do understand they always have teams on watch/standby, ready to move immediately -- but I would think they wouldn't have that many spotters and shooters on a "waiting" team. Now I know, all SEALS are spotters and shooters, but these seem to be the "real snipers."
They couldn't just suddenly drop out of the sky. Well, yes they can and did. The logistics of making that happen would prolly fry my brain. But, what do I know?
#19
Kind of like giving Barry Switzer credit for his Cowboy super bowl win right after he took over the Super Bowl team Jimmy Johnson put together.
Posted by: Glinemp Darling of the Algonquins4075 ||
04/13/2009 14:48 Comments ||
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#20
Bambi played it very safely. Everything worked out well in the end. So no loud talking. Let's see if the Commander of the Bainbridge makes Captain.
#23
Compare wid ISRAELI MIL FORUM > OBAMOB RULE: MICHAEL MOORE URGES PRESIDENT OBAMA TO DO WHATEVER HE LIKES, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT ITS CONSTITUTIONAL.
Also, PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > USA OUTSOURCES ITS ARMY, REWARDS THEM WITH CITIZENSHIP [MAVNI Program for non-Citizen, Resident Migrants wid USArmy-DOD desired Linguistic, Medical Skills].
#24
hey rantyes, such a crying bitches you all sound. you fags are the shit of America did you have your ass kick in your youth that now cluster together in this imbeciles blog
All of you are just conservative crying frustrated bitches
Several thousand people jammed into Allegheny Landing on the North Shore Saturday afternoon for an event dubbed a "Tea Party" to protest what they say is excessive government spending to bail out the economy and faltering corporations.
The keynote speaker was Alan Keyes, a conservative political activist and former diplomat under President Ronald Reagan. Prior to addressing the crowd, which included many people hoisting signs with slogans such as "Bigger Government -- Bigger Problems" and "Give Me Liberty, Not Debt," Keyes said the large turnout was "an indication of the enormous concern among people."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
