The president concurred w/ NSC and ordered that onscene commander had authority to act.

Lmao @ those coming up in here all blustery w/ their false knowledge like a force 5 gale.

Seems like the days of individual commanders exercising judgement are long gone, and I’m not professionally equipped to second-guess the Bainbridge CO or anyone else involved. Whether the on-scene cdr “creatively” or “slavishly” interpreted his ROE, though, he did the right thing, and should be recognized for his judgement.

BTW, I’m glad this story is getting so much coverage — screw what the pirates think, I bet it’s making them wonder if maybe onshore crime isn’t safer.

Meanwhile, why doesn’t our President use this opportunity to fix what one of his predecessors abandoned in Somalia 15 years ago? Making Somalia a real country again addresses a clear & present danger to our national interests; makes a positive statement to the Muslim world about our commitment to addressing injustice; and would “increase the peace” in the region where his dad grew up (more or less, Kenya being Somalia’s neighbor).

Too stupid to live, illegal to kill.

Having some experience in leading people during very dangerous operations, I find it intolerable that POTUS has such a weak capability to function.

But then we knew that when he was elected. If this is part of “Change” we are in big trouble, but then I guess we, who might be considered “rightwing (former military) extremists” already fully understood the “let’s all get along” mentality of Obama.

BBC

This was forwarded to me. I believe it is an accurate account. I watched the Pentagon News Conference right after this and the reporters kept insisting that Obama gave a personal order. “No,” the Naval officer on the scene kept saying through the phone, “We went on an over-all blanket order that gives the local commander authority to act if someone’s life is in danger!”

Next morning…first thing on TV was…Obama gives order to shoot pirates!!!

There is no way to check out the authenticity of this account. Snopes won’t have a clue since it involves classified material but I received this from a Naval Officer of the highest integrity and reputation. Some of the alphabet soup is listed below.

BHO is POTUS (President of the United States)

ROE = Rules of Engagement

RIB = It is the supply boat that delivered water and food to the pirates and CAPT Phillips.

Received from a retired admiral friend….

The latest scoop, and more likely, the truth.

Having spoken to some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday and asking why this thing dragged out for 4 days, I got the following:

1. BHO wouldn’t authorize the DEVGRU/NSWC SEAL teams to the scene for 36 hours going against OSC (on scene commander) recommendation.
2. Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions on their ROE that they couldn’t do anything unless the hostage’s life was in “imminent” danger
3. The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the raggies all sighted=2 0in, but could not fire due to ROE restriction
4. When the navy RIB came under fire as it approached with supplies, no fire was returned due to ROE restrictions. As the raggies were shooting at the RIB, they were exposed and the SEALS had them all dialed in.
5. BHO specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the Bainbridge CPTN and SEAL teams
6. Bainbridge CPN and SEAL team CDR finally decide they have the OpArea and OSC authority to solely determine risk to hostage. 4 hours later, 3 dead raggies
7. BHO immediately claims credit for his “daring and decisive” behaviour. As usual with him, it’s BS.

So per our last email thread, I’m downgrading Oohbaby’s performace to D-. Only reason it’s not an F is that the hostage survived.
Read the following accurate account.

Philips’ first leap into the warm, dark water of the Indian Ocean hadn’t worked out as well. With the Bainbridge in range and a rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Philips threw himself off of his lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters onboard the destroyer a clear shot at his captors — and none was taken.

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 floating raft was fired on by the Somali pirates — and again no fire was returned and no pirates killed. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed by Navy personnel thanks 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 no outcome other than a “peaceful solution” would be acceptable.

After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the on scene commander decided he’d had enough.

Keeping 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 day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided the AK47 one captor had leveled at Philips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.

Three rounds downrange later, all three brigands became enemy KIA and Philips was safe.

There is upside, downside, and spinside to the series of events over the last week that culminated in yesterday’s dramatic rescue of an American hostage.

Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama administration and its supporters claimed victory against pirates in the Indian Ocean and [1] declared that the dramatic end to the standoff ended questions regarding the inexperienced president’s toughness and decisiveness.

Despite the Obama administration’s (and its sycophant’s) attempt to spin that yesterday’s success came as a result of bold, decisive leadership by the inexperienced president, the reality is nothing of the sort. What should have been a standoff lasting only hours — as long as it took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to steam to the location — became an embarrassing four day and counting standoff between a ragtag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship.

Having spoken to some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday and asking why this thing dragged out for 4 days, I got the following:

1. BHO wouldn’t authorize the DEVGRU/NSWC SEAL teams to the scene for 36 hours going against OSC (on scene commander) recommendation.
2. Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions on their ROE that they couldn’t do anything unless the hostage’s life was in “imminent” danger
3. The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the raggies all sighted in, but could not fire due to ROE restriction
4. When the navy RIB came under fire as it approached with supplies, no fire was returned due to ROE restrictions. As the raggies were shooting at the RIB, they were exposed and the SEALS had them all dialed in.
5. BHO specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the Bainbridge CPN and SEAL teams
6. Bainbridge CPN and SEAL team CDR finally decide they have the OpArea and OSC authority to solely determine risk to hostage. 4 hours later, 3 dead raggies
7. BHO immediately claims credit for his “daring and decisive” behaviour. As usual with him, it’s BS.

So per our last email thread, I’m downgrading Oohbaby’s performace to D-. Only reason it’s not an F is that the hostage survived.

Read the following accurate account.

c

Philips’ first leap into the warm, dark water of the Indian Ocean hadn’t worked out as well. With the
Bainbridge in range and a rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Philips threw himself off of his
lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters onboard the destroyer a clear shot at his captors — and none
was taken.

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 floating raft was fired on by the Somali pirates — and
again no fire was returned and no pirates killed. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed by
Navy personnel thanks 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 any outcome other than a “peaceful
solution” would be acceptable.

After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the onscenecommander decided
he’d had enough.

Keeping 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 day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided
the AK47 one captor had leveled at Philips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life and ordered the
NSWC team to take their shots.

Three rounds downrange later, all three brigands became enemy KIA and Philips was safe.

There is upside, downside, and spinside to the series of events over the last week that culminated in
yesterday’s dramatic rescue of an American hostage.

Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama administration and its supporters claimed
victory against pirates in the Indian Ocean and [1] declared that the dramatic end to the standoff put
paid to questions of the inexperienced president’s toughness and decisiveness.

Despite the Obama administration’s (and its sycophants’) attempt to spin yesterday’s success as a result
of bold, decisive leadership by the inexperienced president, the reality is nothing of the sort.
What should have been a standoff lasting only hours — as long as it took the USS Bainbridge and its
team of NSWC operators to steam to the location — became an embarrassing four day and counting
standoff between a ragtag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship.

I am just glad President Obama led the way and enabled this to happen. Thanks to our dear leader, the SEALS did a great job.

YGTBSM!!!! why did he take 4 days to make a decision and why did he make the ROE so restrictive? His actions were and are a joke — that is his media reach around and patting themselves on there colectively backs!!

How the hell else were they to get there? Slow boat to China? The long pole in the tent was the decision to deploy the team + the ROE once they were on site. DaJaVu Jimmy Carter and Operation Eagle Claw!

personally I think they should disappear them into the bottom of the ocean and let there buddies live a real life horror movie of whose next