According to Yahoo's headlines the answer to the OP is now officially "nothing." The military did its job, hostage is safe and the bad guys are dead. (The operation is described as "personally approved by President Obama" FWIW.)
You sure? As for Richie/BigGuy, this thread is the kind of epic fail that normally precedes a new moniker.
Nonsense. They will now blame Obama for the escalation in the Indian Ocean when the Pirates actually kill their hostages.
Bump. First, for the comedy of it all. Do you suppose Obama said "Semper High!" when it was all done and dusted? Second, I guess this is evidence that the old quaint idea that our politics ends at our shores is completely dead and buried. Now, I'm not saying this to be an antagonist. I think that bush haters (and I number myself in that group) beat the living crap out of the idea that we support our president in international and military affairs, so this is just proof that it wasn't a one time event and that the "opposition" president is truly fair game regardless of the topic. I was very uncomfortable and did not support those who enjoyed/made fun of the shoe throwing incident. I was no Bush fan, but I thought that was an affront to America and our Presidency. I was afraid that the reaction by many at the time was a clear sign that there was an erosion in the support for a C in C by Americans and I think it was. This is not to be confused with the notion of opposing bad foreign policy at home. But once the decisions are made, we really should be supporters of our leaders.
The White House was in disarray and Obama was totally clueless about how to react to the crisis, so a telephone survey of public opinion was conducted, with the following results: Should America attempt to rescue the captain held hostage by pirates? Americans responded: Yes 73 percent No 24 percent Don't know/Not sure 3 percent Concerned about America's international image, Obama decided to conduct a similar survey in selected European nations, with the following results: Yes 51 percent No 37 percent Don't know/Not sure 12 percent After seeing these results, Barack Obama finally made the decision to give the green light for the rescue. Follow up questioning determined that politically the most advantageous time to act was on Easter Sunday, so that is exactly what they did.
Bullshit. Once the decisions are made we should cross our fingers and pray that they are successful but if we think the decisions made were the wrong ones we have to speak up - otherwise we really are just sheep.
I agree. I didn't really phrase it right the first time. When there are on-going policy options and you think the administration is choosing the wrong option, it is of course proper to speak your mind. When a decision is made and there is no turning back -- for example, when the bombs started falling in Iraq -- it is no longer helpful to say "we shouldn't be invading" when we actually are invading. At that point, we say Godspeed to our troops and hope that as few innocents are lost as possible. Then, when the active war draws to a close and there are major policy issues, it is of course proper again to speak out. When John McCain first started saying that we needed more troops (even if that was not as early as he now indicates) that was proper as were the calls to clean up and get out.
This is the kind of A+1 quality post I welcome herein and digest... thanks cordially argentine soccer fan!
Excellent point. I was really disappointed in some friends of mine who applauded the shoe thrower. I also second your point that our national interests do not end at our shores. Isolationists and non-interventionists like to point out all the hazards of involvement in other nation's affairs and of nation-building. The pirate situation in Somalia is one small illustration of the hazards of neglecting nation-building.
Obama's decision to use force on the pirate terrorists has created MORE pirates, as 4 more boats have been hijacked. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30204891
He wont do it right! He wont do it right! He does it right. He cant have done it right! He cant have done it right! He did it right. It wasnt him! It wasnt him! He made the call. It wasnt right after all! Its interesting to see Steamer making the 'Guantanamo creates terrorists' argument.
Obama created 4 crews of pirates who trained themselves and executed hijackings in two days? He's a miracle worker!
I do give some credit to Barack Obama here. It is a good thing that Obama is creating so many pirates. As always, he is looking at the long term, the big picture, while everybody else is foolishly caught up in the moment. Look, they may be unpopular now, but in a couple hundred years people are going to love these pirates. They will name their sports teams and dress up their mascots after them. They will create children rides with catchy songs sang by cute Somalia Pirates. They will build giant casinos in resort cities featuring ship battles in front between the lovable pirates and the arrogant Americans, with of course the pirates winning. They will make blockbuster movies called Pirates of the Gulf of Aden, and of course eccentric actors and teenage hearthrobes will play the lead pirate roles and everybody will love them ad praise them and they might even win an Oscar. All this thanks to the forward thinking Obama, who is the man responsible for the proliferation of these pirates.
lol at the people in this thread who think a 200 yard shot from one moving boat at another moving boat would be an easy shot. Everyone involved knew that the only way make sure they hit all three targets at the same time was to get as close as possible first. The only way to do that was to convince the pirates that they were getting something out of it first (getting towed toward calmer waters). Guess what? This took time and thank goodness the Navy and the Obama administration knew this and didn't do anything stupid. Once they had the tow line hooked up and had the lifeboat close enough then it was only a matter of time before they got the shots lined up. Too many people in this country have lost all f'ing sense of rationality and reason. And NO MATTER WHAT the current president does it will not be right. And the same thing was true when Bush was president. If Obama himself cured all disease tomorrow there would be people out there who would say "ZOMG HE JUST PUT DOCTORS AND NURSES OUT OF WORK FOREVER!!! ZOMG WORST PRESIDENT EVARRRR!!!"
No offense but snipers eventually can shot from any postion or range. Even from the water. Some would like to see action on first attempt but the world can benifit from lesser actions at first. Now a more direct approach can be seen. Just by a few pirate actions. The US Navy helps with presence but cannot guide each single ships with large payload. It seems. Crew members can put up more of a fight (training both from employer and self-imposed actions) and the captain can use professionalism in judgmental decisions. It is a good thing. Situation ends with minimal innocent causlities however the pirates can also learn from this. And could even take violent measures, which would increase chance of escape. That is why it is important to prepare for these measures. Heck! Company personnel could've even taken a small payment or payoff to aid these attempts. Its not out of the question but with the worlds attention. The masses can easily pre-determine actions. Like I am sure most do.