Obama talks... The U.S. Navy acts!

North Korea launches a long range missile... Obama talks!   Korea announces it will restart it's nuclear facilities... Obama talks!   Iran announces over 7,000 working centrifuges capable of producing nuclear weapons material... Obama talks!   Two hundred hostages are being held by Somali pirates (terrorists)... Obama talks!

While Obama talks...   Somali pirates (terrorists) have taken three four more ships and 60 hostages -- just today!

The U.S. Navy takes real action and frees Captain Phillips from the Somali pirates (terrorists), but from the White House spin and the liberal media coverage, one would think it was Obama himself who freed the captain.

Many questions remain to be answered about what action Obama may or may not have authorized. We will probably never get the real truth from the Obama administration or those military officials who value their jobs.


J.J. offers his opinion of the events...

Pirate Smackdown, will we get the actual chain of events, or spin?

BHO actually didn't give his permission to open fire. The On Scene Commander (OSC - Bainbridge) asked at least twice for permission to do a take down and the BHO crowd "delayed." The first time permission was asked it was flatly denied because they (the White House) wanted a diplomatic solution (read talk them to death). Finally permission was given to "use appropriate force" if the Captain's life was in immediate danger.

Personally I believe BO found himself in the position of having to make a decision. One he would have preferred to delay as long as possible. I also believe one of the reasons he waited was he/his staff (?) were trying to find a solution that would absolve the President if it went badly.

The OSC reached a point were he could not continue to wait - he was losing his "window of opportunity." He had "semi approval" and the timing was right. "Appropriate force" was applied. It was the OSC that made the decision. Think about the pressure on this guy. If he ordered the snipers to shoot and it went badly he would have been toast. The snipers could have hit the Captain, or missed the terrorists and the terrorists killed the Captain. ...but the OSC gets paid to make tough decisions and and the op went just like it was suppose to. In the end it was the Captain that gave the snipers the opportunity by once again jumping in the water IOT attempt escape.

Having been in the middle of military (Navy) decision making by higher ups (not necessarily this unique situation), I've got a pretty good hunch about how this went. The bad guys had at least one AK-47 and the Captain was more than likely guarded "loosely." Whether or not the Captain's life was in immediate danger is unknown, but any and all reports will indicate he faced an immediate threat. Not saying he wasn't in danger, but the terrorists wanted money and if the Captain was killed they would have lost their leverage. It was in their best interest to keep him alive. Remember too, he could not have jumped over the side if a gun was pointed directly at him by an alert and focused terrorist. If that was the case the Captain would have been shot before he got in the water or shortly after. So I'm thinking a more realistic picture was that he was in the boat and the terrorists in the boat with him possessed gun(s) and those guns were not always "in his face."

Now, since the mission was successful BHO has certainly jumped on the spin wagon and is taking all the credit he can. The media is also on board about BO's decisive action during his first test, etc. If you look closely at his remarks prior to the take down, he left himself an out so he could blame the military had it gone badly. You can bet your bottom dollar BO would have distanced himself had the hostage been killed.

There was one report stating the terrorists were taken down by 50 cal sniper weapons. I've fired Expert with the 50 cal and have fired thousands of rounds with it (the machine gun version, not the sniper version). That weapon will bring serious pee on who ever it hits. If the shots were head shots, their heads would have pretty much exploded. There was also a report the shots were not long distance, but were in the vicinity of 30 or so yards off the Bainbridge's fantail. Not an easy shot to be sure, but not as difficult as a longer shot.

Something to consider as you view the news about this incident.

J.J.