Navy vs. Pirates...

Navy 1, pirates 0 (click to enlarge).

May it ever be so (and more like this, please)...

WTF?

First, absorb this statement concerning Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, the sole surviving pirate of the group that hijacked the Maersk Alabama:

"I think in this particular case, there's a grave question as to whether America was in violation of principles of truce in warfare on the high seas. This man seemed to come onto the Bainbridge under a flag of truce to negotiate. He was then captured. There is a question whether he is lawfully in American custody and serious questions as to whether he can be prosecuted because of his age."

What's your reaction to that?

If you said to yourself “Yeah, why are they prosecuting this poor guy?”, then please leave my website and move to somewhere like, say, France.

If you said to yourself “I need more ammunition and less lawyers”, well, then, you're in the right place.

So far as I'm concerned, the only mistake our military made with the surviving pirate is the word “surviving”.

More SEALs, fewer lawyers.

More direct, substantive and effective action, less arrogant and effete blathering.

Oh, I guess those two statements are more or less equivalent, aren't they?

Quote of the Day...

From the Wall Street Journal:

The kidnapped captain of the Maersk Alabama has been rescued and is safe aboard a U.S. Navy ship.

Wonderful. Just plain wonderful.

And I can't help but love the image this projects to the world and to the cursed Somali pirates: you screw around with an American ship, not only do you not have a crew, a ship, and a cargo to ransom – you die at the hands of American warriors.

Feeling lucky, punks?

Guess not, eh?

I don't often agree with Obama on anything at all, but from what I've read he played this exactly right – especially issuing standing orders to the men on the scene to use deadly force if they felt Captain Phillips' life was in danger. No micromanagement like Carter – much to his credit, Obama left this to the pros.

And those pros pulled off something very impressive here. I can tell you from personal experience in the Navy that a lifeboat towed some 80 feet behind a warship is going to be bobbing and weaving all over the place – not an easy shot, even at the relatively short range. The three Somali pirate assholes had guns to the head of Captain Phillips, and the Seals took all three of them out before they could fire a shot. Nice work, guys. And thank you, sirs, for your service to this country.