Obama's Victory Over the Pirates

The following was posted on a website run by a retired US Navy SEAL:

Having spoken to some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday and
asking why the situation dragged on` for 4 days, I was given the
following (off the record) information:

1. Obama wouldn't authorize deployment of the SEAL teams to the
scene for 36 hours, going against the OSC's [On Scene Commander]
recommendation.

2. Once they arrived, Obama imposed restrictions on their ROE
[Rules of Engagement] that they could not take any action unless the
hostage's life was in "imminent danger".

3. The first time the hostage jumped out of the lifeboat, the SEALS
had the raggies all sighted in, but could not fire due to the ROE
restrictions.

4. When the Navy RIB [Rigid Inflatable Boat] came under fire as it
approached with supplies, again no fire could be returned due to
Obama's ROE restrictions. While the raggies were shooting at the RIB,
they were all exposed and the SEALS had every one of them "dialed in"
yet they were not allowed to fire.

5. Obama specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the
Bainbridge Captain and SEAL Team Commander.

6. Bainbridge Captain and SEAL Team Commander finally decided on
their own that _they_ had the OpArea and OSC authority to determine
risk to the hostage and to take the necessary action. Four hours
later, three pirates were dead and one hostage was alive and safe.

7. The Obama administration then immediately claimed credit for his
"daring and decisive" behavior. As usual with him, it's all total BS.


Also read the following almost identical account from yet another
source -

Philips' first leap into the warm, dark water of the Indian Ocean
hadn't succeeded. With the Bainbridge standing by and rescue by his
country's Navy possible, Philips threw himself overboard from his
lifeboat prison, giving the SEAL snipers on the destroyer a clear shot
at his captors - and yet not one shot was fired.

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 life raft with food
and water was fired on by the Somali pirates - and again no fire was
returned.This was again due to the cautious stance forced on the US
Navy due 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 an outcome other
than a "peaceful solution" might be necessary.

After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again on Saturday night,
the On Scene Commander decided he'd had enough. Using 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 previous day, the Navy
officer - unnamed in all media reports to date - decided the AK47 one
captor had leveled at Philips' back constituted a threat to the
hostage's life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots at the
first opportunity. Three rounds downrange later, all three pirates
were KIA and Philips was safe aboard the Bainbridge.

There is upside, downside, and spinside to the series of events that
culminated in the dramatic rescue of Capt. Philips. Almost immediately
following word of the SEAL's success, the Obama administration and its
supporters loudly trumpeted their victory over piracy in the Indian
Ocean and declared that the dramatic end to the standoff was due to
the President's toughness and decisiveness in an emergency.

Despite the efforts of the Obama administration's (and of its media
sycophants) to spin the mission's success as a result of bold,
decisive leadership by the President, the reality is exactly the
opposite. What should have been a standoff lasting only hours - the
time it took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to
arrive at the location - became an embarrassing four day standoff
between a ragtag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy
warship.

And now you know the rest of the story . . .
----
Diogenes )

The wars are long, the peace is frail
The madmen come again . . . .