Did Obama Order the Military Not to Fire on the Somali Pirates?

 Update: today Navy Seals rescued Captain Phillips, I have issued a retraction on this post that can be read here.

   I have criticised the president for his refusal to issue a statement about the Somali pirates and the hostage crisis but I have been hesitant to criticise him on his handling of the situation itself.

   I was holding out hope that while he was afraid to speak out publicly to assure the family of Captain Phillips that the government was doing everything possible to bring him home and that even though he was afraid to condemn the pirates publicly because he is afraid to offend Muslims that he was privately doing the right thing.

  But I can hold my tongue no longer as I fear that the president has already prolonged this standoff much longer than need be. Late Thursday night/Friday morning Captain Phillips tried to escape from the pirates who are holding him hostage.

  Captain Phillips jumped overboard and began swimming to the United States destroyer that was 250 yards away. Surely the captain knew that he could never swim that far without being recaptured by the pirates and I am sure that in his mind he never thought that he would have to. Captain Phillips was seeking separation from the pirates so that the United States military could take action against the pirates. No action came and Captain Phillips was recaptured by the pirates.

  Why was no action taken by the United States military as soon as the opportunity arose in which they could have ended the stand off? Surely the military have guns and heavy artillery aimed at the lifeboat at all times waiting for an opportunity to strike. But when the opportunity arose there was no action.

  There can only be one explanation for the lack of action, the military has been ordered not to fire at the Somali pirates. And we know where this order had to have come from — the president.

  I didn’t want to believe this at first, I have held off writing about this possibility but when the Secretary of State says that “we are watching this and intend to do everything we can to ensure there is no loss of life” you have to wonder.

  The number one priority should be the safe return of Captain Phillips and if that means that four Somali pirates must die than so be it. These people attacked the United States on the high seas and they must pay the price in order to show the world that we won’t stand for this. To do otherwise will encourage more attacks on United States vessels and more loss of life in the future.

  When Hillary Clinton says that the number one priority is ensuring that there is no loss of life she is putting the lives of the pirates on equal footing with the captain who gave himself up so that the pirates would release the other United States crew members and I find that deplorable.

  It is no coincidence that this attack came days after the president went to Europe and neutered the United States in front of the world. The president went to the G20, bent over and…. well, you get the idea.

  The president’s handling of this situation has been abysmal. He has shown the world that America is weak and unwilling to fight back against evil. This was a test and the president failed miserably.