Not sure if anyone else saw this...hope I am not breaking any rules...
The word from our Navy guys.
Having emailed some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday, asking why the Somali Pirate debacle dragged out for 4 days, I received the following:
BHO (Barack Hussein Obama) wouldn't authorize the DEVGRU/NSWC SEAL teams to the scene for 36 hours going against the OSC (on scene commander) recommendation.
Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions on their ROE (rules of engagement) that they couldn't do anything unless the hostage's life was in "imminent" danger.
The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the `pirates' all sighted in, but could not fire due to ROE restrictions.
When the navy RIB (rigid inflatable boat) came under fire as it approached with supplies, no fire was returned due to ROE restrictions. As the `pirates' were shooting at the RIB, they were exposed and the SEALS had them all dialed in.
BHO specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the Bainbridge CPN and SEAL teams.
Bainbridge CPN and SEAL team CDR finally decide they have the OpArea and OSC authority to solely determine risk to hostage. Four hours later, 3 dead `pirates'.
BHO immediately claims credit for his "daring and decisive" behavior.
Read the following accurate account:
Philips' first leap into the warm dark water off the Indian Ocean hadn't worked out so 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, but 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 extreme danger.
The next day, a small Navy boat approaching the floating craft 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 unacceptable.
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 that the AK-47 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 this 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 declared that the dramatic end to the standoff put to rest questions about the inexperienced president's fortitude and decisiveness.
Despite the Obama Administration's (and its sycophants') attempt to spin this success as a result of bold and decisive leadership by the inexperienced president, the reality is nothing of the sort. What should have been a face-off lasting only hours, the length of time it took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to steam to the location, it became an embarrassing four day standoff between a ragtag handful of criminals with rifles and a U. S. Navy warship.
