Three pirates killed and a hostage rescued. Whose story do you believe? Chris Cizilla spouts the White House line. Jeff Emanuel spouts the right-wing line. Choose your favorite Kool-aid flavor. I suspect that the truth is somewhere in the middle.
As more details come out, I think the truth is really somewhere in the middle. Right-wing pundits refuse to grant Obama any smidgen of credit, and the White House is taking far too much credit. It appears the Obama gave permission to act if the life of the hostage was in "imminent danger." So kudos to Obama, but it also appears that that Navy officer who called the shots interpreted those orders far more liberally than Obama likely intended. He took the AK-47 casually pointed at the hostage to mean "imminent danger" and gave the order to shoot. We are told that three Navy Seals each hit their targets with one shot from one boat to another. That's amazing marksmanship!
Amazing indeed. It is a happy ending for that man...but now what do we do about all the bad pirates out there angry about the death of their fellow pirates and vowing revenge. That is a scarey thought. The world community needs to put their heads together and on this issue to try and combat it....not just us. Once again...the international community will wait for us to finally decide to do something...watch us take the lead and then decide if they want to help or not...and then criticize us if we screw that up.
I figure we will learn a lot more when the captain speaks out and gives his version.
I'll bet the Obama line was precisely that: use force if the captains life is in danger...and use your best judgment, peaceful if possible. That seems the most reasonable approach; that's what I would have done.
What would you all have done if you had been the president?
I think Obama made a correct call, but I would say, in addition to the "imminent danger" condition, take out the pirates when the chance of injuring the hostage is low. When the perps are right in front of you carrying out the crime, just end it as soon as possible and don't give them a chance to do something worse.
The people that should get kudos are the Captain of the Maersk Alabama and the Navy Seals. I have no doubt that political accolades will be heaped upon both parties by themselves.
With that said,I do not think there needed to be any real rush to resolve the situation. They weren't going anywhere and the navy had the captain's well being monitored at all times. But, I am glad they took the shot when they had the chance...Three bullets, three dead. DRT!
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Interesting how points of view differ on the same stories.
As more details come out, I think the truth is really somewhere in the middle. Right-wing pundits refuse to grant Obama any smidgen of credit, and the White House is taking far too much credit. It appears the Obama gave permission to act if the life of the hostage was in "imminent danger." So kudos to Obama, but it also appears that that Navy officer who called the shots interpreted those orders far more liberally than Obama likely intended. He took the AK-47 casually pointed at the hostage to mean "imminent danger" and gave the order to shoot. We are told that three Navy Seals each hit their targets with one shot from one boat to another. That's amazing marksmanship!
Amazing indeed. It is a happy ending for that man...but now what do we do about all the bad pirates out there angry about the death of their fellow pirates and vowing revenge. That is a scarey thought. The world community needs to put their heads together and on this issue to try and combat it....not just us. Once again...the international community will wait for us to finally decide to do something...watch us take the lead and then decide if they want to help or not...and then criticize us if we screw that up.
I figure we will learn a lot more when the captain speaks out and gives his version.
I'll bet the Obama line was precisely that: use force if the captains life is in danger...and use your best judgment, peaceful if possible. That seems the most reasonable approach; that's what I would have done.
What would you all have done if you had been the president?
I think Obama made a correct call, but I would say, in addition to the "imminent danger" condition, take out the pirates when the chance of injuring the hostage is low. When the perps are right in front of you carrying out the crime, just end it as soon as possible and don't give them a chance to do something worse.
The people that should get kudos are the Captain of the Maersk Alabama and the Navy Seals. I have no doubt that political accolades will be heaped upon both parties by themselves.
With that said,I do not think there needed to be any real rush to resolve the situation. They weren't going anywhere and the navy had the captain's well being monitored at all times. But, I am glad they took the shot when they had the chance...Three bullets, three dead. DRT!
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