Barry and the Pirates, Rewriting History?
By Larry Johnson on April 20, 2009 at 6:22 PM in Current Affairs
If you are a regular reader of No Quarter you know that I am no fan of Barack Obama. As I have pointed out in recent articles I think his conduct at the Summit of the Americas was disgraceful. It is vital we hold him accountable for what he does, not what we imagine. Which brings me to revisit the questionable claims that have emerged in the wake of the rescue of Captain Smith from the clutches of Somali Pirates.
Barack Obama is being smeared and unfairly maligned by the following piece of propaganda, which is circulating the web and uses enough terminology to have the ring of authenticity. But it is a lie. I have heard directly from a couple of people who participated in the discussions and decision making process. These individuals are career professionals and are not political partisans.
Let’s look first at the smear. This so-called account of events ignores some significant matters. First, it says nothing about the decision of one of the pirates to surrender to U.S. officials. Second, it says nothing about the timing and decision to hook the lifeboat to a tow line and tow it behind the boat. This is particularly important because no assault to rescue the Captain was feasible until this happened. Third, the so-called “retired rear admiral” neglects to account for the time distance problem of alerting the SEAL team and deploying it to the scene. Finally, Barack did not brag about his role. The smear piece states:
7. BHO immediately claims credit for his “daring and decisive” behaviour. As usual with him, it’s BS.
But here is what he actually said at the start of his speech at the Department of Transportation on the day after the rescue:
Before I discuss the purpose of my visit to the Department of Transportation today, I want to take a moment to say how pleased I am about the rescue of Captain Phillips and his safe return to the USS Boxer this weekend. (Applause.) His safety has been our principal concern, and I know this came as a welcome relief to his family and his crew.
I had a chance to talk to his wife yesterday and, as she put it, she couldn’t imagine a better Easter than seeing his safe return. And I am very proud of the efforts of the U.S. military and many other departments and agencies that worked tirelessly to resolve this situation. I share our nation’s admiration for Captain Phillips’ courage and leadership and selfless concern for his crew.
And I want to be very clear that we are resolved to halt the rise of privacy [sic] in that region. And to achieve that goal we’re going to have to continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks, we have to continue to be prepared to confront them when they arise, and we have to ensure that those who commit acts of piracy are held accountable for their crimes.
Here, in its entirety, is the smear piece:
NOW THE REST OF THE STORY
BHO = Barrack H Obama
DEVGRU=Development Group …the old Seal team 6 out of the Norfolk area…probably the best of the best
NSWC=Navy Special Warfare Command
ROE=Rules of Engagement
RIB=Ridged Inflatable&nb sp;Boat Obama
OSC=On Scene Commander
CPN=is probably the Captain of the Bainbridge
CDR=Commander
OpArea= Operations AreaSubject: AH, now it comes out
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:
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 onscene 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 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.
What the author of this smear job does not know, or understand apparently, is that it took the Bainbridge almost 20 hours to steam to the location of the pirated ship. It was not until the Bainbridge was on scene (Thursday morning edt) that intelligence was available for Washington, DC decision makers. Once the decision was made to launch the SEAL team you are looking at a minimum of 24 hours from alert to deployment to actual flight to the scene. The earliest the SEALs could have mounted an operation was late Saturday morning Somali time.
So what do SEALs do when they show up on scene? They have to get into position and they have to do so in a way that the pirates do not detect their movement. Once in place they will collect information/intelligence. They need to verify that there are only four pirates on board. The SEALs are not going to “assume” anything and are going to verify they have the right information. The understand that if there is a fuck up they are on the chopping block. The reality is that the SEALs were not able to get fully into place until the cycle of darkness that commenced on Saturday, Somali time.
Once in place you have to have simultaneous visual identity of all of the targets. The pirates apparently were not just lounging around the portholes of the life boat.
Here is a comment from a person who was involved with the decision making surrounding this incident. Along with personnel from the National Security Council, the discussions included people from the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the FBI, the Department of Justice and the Department of State.
Every decision these days is politicized it seems. I was part of the discussion. Rules of Engagement were the same as it would be under any similar circumstance, nothing was delayed in making that decision.
We had to get the right folks in place. Navy Destroyers are not manned with the capability to take the shots which eventually were made. Our commanders did the right and timely thing. There was no discussion about not hurting the pirates to ensure political correctness. Our number one concern from the beginning was to get Phillips back safely. The safest way was to convince the Kat-chewing punks to give up, while at the same time preparing for a tactical solution.
The negotiations were designed to buy time, glean more information, and if possible, talk them into submission. The additional time was key to our success. We have done it many times in the past, this one just happened to make the front pages. We always prefer the negotiated solution, since our policy is to make no concessions in the course of the negotiations. One of them listened, the others pushed the situation too far and paid the price.
In short, those who support and defend the Constitution are fully aware of what is lawful and consistent with policy that has been in place through many administrations. Sound tactical solutions were not impeded by politics.
I repeat my fundamental position. Criticize Obama for legitimate lapses and miscues. Give him credit for doing the right thing in the right way. As far as the rescue of Captain Phillips is concerned Barack Obama did the right thing and allowed the process to work as it should. Smearing him for being indecisive in this matter is unfair and wrong.
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