Was the captain saved by the President?
Or, was the President saved by the captain, the Navy Seals and the accurate killing-power of our military?
There is no question about this: Captain Richard Phillips is a remarkably courageous man whose daring moves at every turn and whose and last-minute plunge into the ocean made all the difference in the world.
It was Ronald Reagan who always said that America is filled with "everyday heroes."
He was talking about people like Phillips.
So, we ask again: Who saved who?
You can decide for yourself. But first read this from the New York Daily News:
US commandos freed hero Capt. Richard Phillips today and killed most of the pirates holding him hostage in a dramatic end to the four-day high seas standoff that riveted the world.
CNN reported Phillips helped divert the pirates by jumping into the ocean, giving waiting Navy Seals an opening to wipe out the ragtag pirates who had been holding the world’s most powerful Navy at bay on the Indian Ocean.
Three of the four Somali pirates were killed, and the fourth was taken into custody, according to initial reports.
The resourceful Phillips was said to be uninjured and safely aboard the destroyer USS Bainbridge.
3 comments:
That's a strange question. I mean, I know what you're getting at and why you would ask it, but I think this argument is weak on all sides. In this particular situation, Obama deserves neither credit nor blame.
The answer is simple. The SEALs saved the captain, and Obama had nothing to do with it. The one thing the president did do was to make sure that he escalated nothing, kept his policy opinions out of the press until the situation was resolved, and gave the military the options they needed to make their decision, just as one of your previous posts suggested.
What I notice about Obama is how skilled his whole team is at deflecting blame and keeping the President hands clean when it comes to his image with the voters. Hillary was handed this situation as a matter for State to deal with, which indirectly would have place her at the head of the blame game had something terrible happened. It would have been interesting to see if Hillary could have taken one for the team.
Hope you had a great Easter.
I'm the first to criticize but I would be hypocritical not to be the first to congratulate as well. I was afraid for a good time that the President wouldn't let our guys do their job. He gave the OK and for that I commend him.
The SEALS are everything their made out to be and more. This is what they do, day in and day out. Only difference yesterday was instead of some slum in the Kush mountains of Afghanistan they were on the world stage. Good for them. Read "Lone Survivor". It's a great book about the type of man that is a Navy SEAL.
President Reagan was right, Captain Phillips is a hero. To do what he did, in the way that he did it, is nothing short of remarkable.
Now President Obama and the military are looking at ways of eliminating the bases from which the pirates attack. This is another good move.
I'm not in the mood to get into the if's and what's that would have followed a failure but your right Radu, it would have been on Hillary...
Excellent analysis by both Radu and Sean.
For the most part, I agree.
And I'm proud of both of you!
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