Cialis….

I don’t care for shooting galleries, but we got them.
We got to deal with them.
Attorney General Holder, doesn’t know what to do.
Hang em. Shark Bait.

Somebody do the math and let’s see how many hours per enemy the Iraq war has taken.

Our president is a wimpering snotbag and the faster we all realize it the better off we’ll be.

Silverblade, the USMC started as sharpshooters and repellers of boarders for the Navy, wore leather collars to help keep their heads from being chopped off, hence the name “Leathernecks”. Perhaps it might be a good idea to put a few on ships in that area.

just my 2 cents (pre tax)

Yet how have those on the left reacted to Obama’s emerging “cowboy” actions in Somalia?

I hate to be critical on opening day, but I think you’re assuming facts not in evidence here. In spite of BO’s willingness to take full credit for the successful outcome of the pirate standoff, nothing he’s done or said suggests anything like a “cowboy” strategy.

Indeed, based on what I’ve read, I’m inclined to think the successful resolution of this crisis came about IN SPITE of the WH strategy, not because of it.

And let’s not forget that Obama chose the risky option of parachuting the SEAL team into the theater and having them work their ninja skills on the pirates to rescue Phillips.

The first time He played golf, Dear Leader had 12 holes in one. He also designed the Apollo program and television.

This situation involves most other nations. I think this is the first USA ship that has been hijacked. Regardless of this fact, this should be a no tolerance situation. We are talking about the hijacking of the merchant navy who are unarmed individuals. They need the fullest protection from these thugs. It is also about the fact that these thugs demand a ransom. The money does not go to feeding hungry people in Somalia. It goes into the building up of arms in Somalia and elsewhere. Look for the Al Qaeda connection in this incident.

Once a ship is hijacked there should be no negotiation with the pirates. The world navies should take over and there should be an all out effort to put an end to the piracy and by force.

Normally, I would not be so proactive in advocating the use of force, but after I read about the kind of shipping that the pirates are hijacking and the complications that comes from them getting hold of certain materials, I do believe that force is the only way to deal with them now and in the future.

2 – We get President Obama to call up one of his many “half-relatives” to tell them to knock it the hell off with the pirate activity, and everything calms down. The added benefit is that it would make “Billy Beer” Carter seem even more ridiculous in terms of extended presidential family members.

I have a preference for option #1 though.

Honor Virtutis Praemium…
Silverblade

Boxer is not fitted out for a permanent land invasion, rather for ground interdiction, This would be specifically to kill pirates and leave. CTF151 does not have a nation building mission brief.

As others have mentioned, perhaps we can put the pressure on with airpower, but I am afraid that if we engage the pirates, and their allies AQ and Ash-Shabaab, the situation will devolve into a larger scale counter-terrorism operation not only in Somalia, but into parts of Ethiopia.

Furthermore, I fear that a ground situation would quickly become a nation-building one. With two of those going on now, and one going only “so-so,” America cannot afford a third.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for putting the pressure on the Jihadist Pirates, AQ, and Shabaab. I’m all for more pressure on AQ’s Islamic Committee in the Maghreb, too.

But no ground ops. Not yet!

Look for more presidential tough talk as the Navy has already begun planning land operations to take out pirate bases and villages. There will probably be civilian casualties because they are clans and families, but the world will not care much.

Interesting that Europe paid off the Barbary Coast pirates for centuries, and it was Jefferson who led the creation of a deep water Navy specifically to deal with the pirates, in part due to payments (ransom and tribute) to the Barbary states consuming so much of the budget of the still young country. 20% of United States government annual spending for 1800 was to the Barbary pirates.