Military Victory for President Obama

Mission Accomplished,MrPresident!

Navy Kills 3 Pirates, Rescues Ship Captain
Military Operation Off Somalia's Coast Ends Tense Standoff Set Into Motion on Wednesday
By Stephanie McCrummen and Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, April 13, 2009; A01

MOMBASA, KENYA, April 12 -- An American captain held hostage for five days by Somali pirates in a lifeboat adrift in the Indian Ocean was rescued unharmed Sunday in a surprise U.S. military operation in which snipers killed three pirates with the captain tied up just feet away, American military officials said. A fourth pirate was in U.S. custody.

The snipers, positioned near the fantail of the destroyer USS Bainbridge less than 30 yards from the lifeboat, fired within seconds after a commander determined that Capt. Richard Phillips, 53, was in "imminent danger" as one of the pirates aimed an AK-47 at his back, military officials said. President Obama had issued a standing order that the military was to act if the captain's life was in immediate jeopardy, said Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of the Fifth Fleet.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/12/AR2009041200467_pf.html

Artie60438 wrote:

Mission Accomplished,MrPresident!

Navy Kills 3 Pirates, Rescues Ship Captain
Military Operation Off Somalia's Coast Ends Tense Standoff Set Into Motion on Wednesday
By Stephanie McCrummen and Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, April 13, 2009; A01

MOMBASA, KENYA, April 12 -- An American captain held hostage for five days by Somali pirates in a lifeboat adrift in the Indian Ocean was rescued unharmed Sunday in a surprise U.S. military operation in which snipers killed three pirates with the captain tied up just feet away, American military officials said. A fourth pirate was in U.S. custody.

The snipers, positioned near the fantail of the destroyer USS Bainbridge less than 30 yards from the lifeboat, fired within seconds after a commander determined that Capt. Richard Phillips, 53, was in "imminent danger" as one of the pirates aimed an AK-47 at his back, military officials said. President Obama had issued a standing order that the military was to act if the captain's life was in immediate jeopardy, said Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of the Fifth Fleet.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/12/AR2009041200467_pf.html

Great.
That looks like something President Bush might have done.
So does this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/11/world/asia/11bagram.html?_r=2
Obama to Appeal Detainee Ruling
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: April 10, 2009
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday that it would appeal a district court ruling that granted some military prisoners in Afghanistan the right to file lawsuits seeking their release. The decision signaled that the administration was not backing down in its effort to maintain the power to imprison terrorism suspects for extended periods without judicial oversight.
In a court filing, the Justice Department also asked District Judge John D. Bates not to proceed with the habeas-corpus cases of three detainees at Bagram Air Base outside Kabul, Afghanistan. Judge Bates ruled last week that the three — each of whom says he was seized outside of Afghanistan — could challenge their detention in court.
Tina Foster, the executive director of the International Justice Network, which is representing the detainees, condemned the decision in a statement.
“Though he has made many promises regarding the need for our country to rejoin the world community of nations, by filing this appeal, President Obama has taken on the defense of one of the Bush administration’s unlawful policies founded on nothing more than the idea that might makes right,” she said.

So, Artie, do you plan to apologize to Bush, or do you plan to heap vitriol upon He-Who-Deigns-To-Walk-Among-Mere-Mortals?
Because I hope you realize that, in this case, you can’t have it both ways.
So, which is it?

Actually Happy Jack, this sounds like something every SWAT team would have done. Negotiations had broken down and the cmdr. determined the hostage's life was in danger and gave the snipers the go signal. Seen it many times on TV go down just like that, just not from the fantail of a Navy ship.

Freeing the American captain who was being held hostage is a great accomplish for our Navy. Since it happened on Obama's watch, it makes his administration look good even though he played little part in the rescue. I hope other nations start to realize the folly of paying ransoms to the pirates and act to stop piracy by refusing to pay ransoms.

happy jack wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

Mission Accomplished,MrPresident!

Great.
That looks like something President Bush might have done.
So does this:

Yeah sure. Bush would have gone out and made a statement that would have made things worse. Then he would have started to draw up plans to invade Cuba as retaliation.

LOON WATCH: Right-wing bets against U.S. in pirate standoff
Posted by Jed Lewison • Apr 13, 2009 at 1:40 AM Pacific

Here’s how desperate Republicans are to find a winning issue: conservatives from Newt Gingrich to Glenn Beck to the rest of Fox News all bet against the Obama administration’s ability to rescue Richard Phillips, the American ship captain who was taken hostage by Somali pirates last Wednesday.

They must have thought that a tragic ending to the crisis would have been a political opportunity, so they pre-positioned themselves to take full advantage. Except their plan went up in smoke when Navy SEALs — acting on orders from President Obama — rescued the captain, killing three pirates in the process.

The loons will certainly deny that they ever made a political bet against the U.S., but they can’t run from the video proof:

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http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/13/719443/-LOON-WATCH:-Right-wing-fail-in-pirate-standoff

LoisLane wrote:

The Navy SEALS are the ones that rescued the captain. Obama merely issued a standing order on Saturday, if the captain was in danger, to shoot.

I agree that the US Navy did a great job resolving this situation. However, if the operation would have turned out badly, then the Obama Administration would have been blamed for it. So the Administration should get some of the credit for its success.

That said, the title of this thread, "Military Victory for President Obama," seems a bit over the top, at least in my opinion.

happy jack wrote:

Great. That looks like something President Bush might have done. So does this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/11/world/asia/11bagram.html?_r=2
Obama to Appeal Detainee Ruling
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: April 10, 2009
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday that it would appeal a district court ruling that granted some military prisoners in Afghanistan the right to file lawsuits seeking their release. The decision signaled that the administration was not backing down in its effort to maintain the power to imprison terrorism suspects for extended periods without judicial oversight.
In a court filing, the Justice Department also asked District Judge John D. Bates not to proceed with the habeas-corpus cases of three detainees at Bagram Air Base outside Kabul, Afghanistan. Judge Bates ruled last week that the three — each of whom says he was seized outside of Afghanistan — could challenge their detention in court.

For the record, I agree with the Judge on this one, Jack. I don't think that there is any question that we have a right to hold prisoners at Bagram, if they were captured on the battlefield. But I don't think that we should be "importing" non-Afghani nationals. It looks like an end run around the Supreme Court's decision on the prisoners at Gitmo to me. IMHO, these 3 prisoners should get their day in court.

I was afraid this kind of thing was going to happen, no matter who won the Presidency. Unfettered Executive power, outside the checks and balances provided in the Constitution, should always be looked upon with scepticism. I'm not at all surprised that the Obama Administration doesn't want to give up some of the powers that the previous administration claimed it had, because it's unlikey that any President would be inclined to willingly give up any powers once they are established.

I've read parts of the judge's decision. Here's a link to it, if you're interested.

https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2008cv2143-28

Based on what I've read so far, I believe that the Obama Administration will lose the appeal.

Scorpion wrote:

LoisLane wrote:

The Navy SEALS are the ones that rescued the captain. Obama merely issued a standing order on Saturday, if the captain was in danger, to shoot.

I agree that the US Navy did a great job resolving this situation. However, if the operation would have turned out badly, then the Obama Administration would have been blamed for it. So the Administration should get some of the credit for its success.

The right-wing was already busily laying the foundation to blame Obama if this was not resolved in the matter it was.

Quote :

That said, the title of this thread, "Military Victory for President Obama," seems a bit over the top, at least in my opinion.

In hindsight a better title would have been "Obama passes first International test with flying colors".

happy jack wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

Yeah sure. Bush would have gone out and made a statement that would have made things worse. Then he would have started to draw up plans to invade Cuba as retaliation.

And of course you know this, because, "Artie, if you say it, it must be true, because you're never wrong. Ever."

Quote :

"I regret saying some things I shouldn't have said," Bush told CNN's Heidi Collins Twhen asked to reflect on his regrets over his two terms as president. "Like 'Dead or Alive' and 'Bring 'em on.' My wife reminded me that, hey, as president of the United States be careful what you say."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/11/bush-i-regret-saying-brin_n_143109.html

Quote :

(CBS) March 21 - In the aftermath of Sept. 11, President Bush ordered his then top anti-terrorism adviser to look for a link between Iraq and the attacks, despite being told there didn't seem to be one.

Richard Clarke, former White House terrorism advisor, talks to Lesley Stahl about September 11
The charge comes from the advisor, Richard Clarke, in an exclusive interview on 60 Minutes.

Clarke says that as early as the day after the attacks, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was pushing for retaliatory strikes on Iraq, even though al Qaeda was based in Afghanistan.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0321-02.htm

To my Squid Bros. "Good Shootin".