Before America breaks out the politically correct bio degradable ticker tape parade for Birdie Obama "giving the order" to use the military to retrieve American hostage Capt. Phillips, a little review would help in ascertaining how this operation really worked out.Prevention is the most certain cure for not involving the US military, FBI or deadly force in any situation. If one does things correctly, then one never has to call out the cavalry.
As Obama has been acting like the leader of American since 2008, this means for over a year he did nothing to quell, solve or deal with this staged Somali situation.
Seeing that hostages were taken, means Obama failed. His rating F.
Response is the next key element to any situation which Obama diplomacy failed. Obama's response was silence and absolutely nothing for days, as he had to finally order or sign off for the military to act.
For Robert Gates to not have theater operations given the green light from the beginning of this to use force if it warranted is a dereliction of duty. Rating F.
On station operations involving FBI and Navy SEALS require different modes of operation. One needs the green light to rapid response to any situation from a Capt. escaping to aid him, from immanent execution danger, to windows of opportunity to various tactical operation pre planning as in setting a drag on a life boat to concussion charges to stun terrorists.
From the lack of assistance to Capt. Phillips where he almost got murdered for trying to escape to the later events which unfolded, there was not one visible FBI Swat nor Naval Team on station to protect this American hostage for days. Rating F.
Lastly, operations to rescue hostages require pre planning and the ability to not ever allow a situation to occur where it is "do or die". There are too many tangibles involved in any rescue.
In Reference: Bullets are known even in the best of sniper rifles to misbehave. Fliers do indeed occur, which means at critical moments a sniper will not deliver a lethal immediate stop to which a terrorist will be allowed the seconds to murder hostages.
In a worst case scenario, in tight situations a bullet might deflect from yaw or contact with a bone from a terrorist and actually strike in wounding or killing a hostage.
Wind, humidity, barrel nuance, shell manufacture flukes and the most notorious of conditions on the ocean in mirage, salt mist causing problem with sniper vision and the wave action which makes hits high risk, are the absolute reasons, one never allows an immediate act situation ever develop.
To prove the point, as you stand in a group of people, imagine them armed with full auto AK 47's with safeties off, you moving and swaying with the ocean and people several hundred yards away moving with the ocean and your hoping they were not drinking coffee in quantities, and as you notice the inches of margin involved, then take into consideration the absolute fact that the human anatomy "dances when it is dead". In explanation, unlike television programs where people shot just drop motionless, in real life the human body spasms and in more cases than not in brain shots, the body will pump it's legs like a chicken with it's head off, performing the dance of death which is ghastly to witness.
Such a human can tear up a wide area of turf as it bounds around. Such a human in convulsion can and will pull the trigger on weapons and spray lead repeatedly into the vicinity.
The end conclusion being hostages being slaughtered by dead terrorists as certain as a dead lion in spasm biting off one's leg if one is stupid enough to get close.
At Entebbe, Uganda, it was flat airport systems, closed environment for firing and short range single shot firing to neutralize terrorists surprised in the night for a high risk controlled operation.
What occurred in the waters off of Somalia was high risk uncontrolled. The SEALS worked effectively in the hostage was rescued with 3 terrorists dead and one apparently wounded for questioning (Another F rating as this means one SEAL missed his target or someone in command decided to mount a trophy who could have survived long enough to murder the hostage.), in any event command should never, ever, put any sniper into the position of having to make the shot under these conditions, not because of what the sniper will have to deal with, but because in this Obama operation, Capt. Phillips stood an 83% chance of dying.
That number can and will raise if one finds out that the SEALS missed shots or repeated firings did occur.
So in review of all aspects of the force rescue where the hostage is either in propaganda being reported to be in immanent danger of death to the 4th living terrorist, the rescue receives a F rating.
This operation should have never come to this point, it should never have occurred and do not piss on my leg and tell me it is Obama acting presidential giving orders to use force.
That order should be on station command in permanent protocols.
Ask yourself sometime if you were held by terrorists with full auto guns, thousands of miles from America, would you consider it a great operation in protecting you that Obama only gave orders days into your captivity and if something bad happened, you would have to wait for Obama to phone a ship, tell a SEAL team to "do something" at which point it would require minutes to gain any position for a high risk operation, as you only had seconds to live?
It makes a difference in viewing this if it is guns pointed at your head.
Interestingly, this blog here after posting the incompetence of Obama, had Obama then only then order for the military to act.
Probably coincidence, but the fact which is not coincidence is this was a shabby handling of this situation and there is nothing to be cheered about here. A nation does not do this to her Citizens nor her Snipers.
God pulled this one out of incompetence for Capt. Phillip's as the human factor made a catastrophe out of this by all the missteps.
There will be more of this coming as terrorists have studied every aspect of this situation in knowing they have days to prepare and the next time they will have a small charge explosive device wired to the hostages to thwart the snipers as prepares to fly in pizza and search of a religion to attend services for photo ops.
Recommendations: Firing Robert Gates, relieving theater command, ships commanders and complete review of SEAL operational status with replacement of SEAL command who did not prepare operational area.
Complete overhaul of FBI negotiation and enforcement offshore operations as they failed miserably.
This is not the way to do things people. F rating for all of the above.
agtG
