Posted on 04/11/2009 1:24:10 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Senior Obama administration officials are debating how to address a potential terrorist threat to U.S. interests from a Somali extremist group, with some in the military advocating strikes against its training camps. But many officials maintain that uncertainty about the intentions of the al-Shabab organization dictates a more patient, nonmilitary approach.
Al-Shabab, whose fighters have battled Ethiopian occupiers and the tenuous Somali government, poses a dilemma for the administration, according to several senior national security officials who outlined the debate only on the condition of anonymity.
The organization's rapid expansion, ties between its leaders and al-Qaeda, and the presence of Americans and Europeans in its camps have raised the question of whether a preemptive strike is warranted. Yet the group's objectives have thus far been domestic, and officials say that U.S. intelligence has no evidence it is planning attacks outside Somalia.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Got Overseas Contingency Operation?
Hostage-taking pirates, seizing assets, demanding more money from Americans. But enough about the Obama administration.
In another milestone, Obama has gone Jimmy Carter even before Jimmy Carter went Jimmy Carter. Even Carter wasn't as namby-pamby wimpy as Omamma's boy. A killer rabbit had managed to penetrate the Secret Service in a devilish plot to pirate Carter's canoe, but Carter bravely beat back the barbaric monster critter with one canoe paddle! Obama: Mr. Killer Rabbit, can we talk about this? Better not hurt me! I'll call the FBI to negotiate!
Obama would want to know what the swashbuckling, swaggering beastly Texas cowboy had done to the peaceful, misunderstood killer rabbit, noting that America had shown arrogance and had been dismissive of rabbits, then he'd offer the furry little pirate a "pathway to citizenship", and "card check", then he'd fly off to Camp David, call the whole thing a "distraction", even as feisty John Kerry vowed from aboard his swift-boat to form a committee to hold hearings on ways to more effectively capitulate to killer rabbits, while the Congressional Black Caucus pays the rabbit a visit, making sure he wasn't harmed by Obama's tough-guy approach.
Now that Obama has 'cleaned up' America's 'image' abroad by bowing to the Saudi King, a group of Muslim Somali terrorists, oops, sorry . . . peaceful Somali fishermen tried to hijack the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama, but the crew regained control of the cargo ship, apparently before Olabama could order them to surrender, in keeping with his commitment to the safety of all pirates concerned.
After Capt. Richard Phillips was recaptured following a desperate escape attempt, the AP praised Obama's "cautious response". So far, present Obama is bravely keeping mum, apparently wanting to dial the whole thing back from 'Piracy Crisis' to 'annoyance', or 'distraction from my wonderful housing plan.' If that doesn't work, he'll just shoot pollution into the air to cool things down.
"True to form, [Obama] is striking a cautious, low-profile public stance as the piracy crisis plays out," the AP fawned. As part of Obama's cunning low-profile effort, more naval vessels are joining the USS Bainbridge to watch Somali "pirates" hold an American hostage, on orders from the White House's USS Braindead.
Ironically, liberals insist that, just because these Muslim pirates hijack vessels and seize civilians and hold them hostage and demand ransom doesn't mean they're Muslim terrorists or anything, but don't hurt them or else Muslims will do something really terroristic, like hijack a cargo ship and demand ransom!
If this is no biggie, just a wittle, teensy-weensy isolated incident, just one of those things that happen every 200 years, nothing to see here, move on -- as White House flacks keep telling Obama's media -- then what does it say that the propped-up flailing messiah accomplished in less than three months what took Jimmy Carter four years to achieve (turning America into a global laughing stock)?
If you're North Korea or Iran's mullahs, you're getting a tingle up your leg glimpsing the enervated, enfeebled, limping TOTUS blundering around over a few lightly armed "pirates" in a lifeboat. A Navy SEAL team would ice the little darlings once Capt. Phillips jumped overboard to escape, but you've got a community organizer "closely monitoring" the 'pirate situation' when you need a president.
If Obama vowed to move rapidly to uselessly reboot our image abroad, he's done it in spades, which is how you get rocketman Kim Jong-Il's missile test, Iran running 7,000 advanced centrifuges, the UN Security Council laughing you off, Austrians rebuffing you (in their native Austrian language!) and the French doing a 'how-to' hostage rescue, all in the same lousy week.
Anyway, that's...
My Two Cents...
"JohnHuang2"
For the readers, today I put together a list of other events that Presidents had to deal with — other “crises” that came up. It’s quite interesting.
You might look at what Reagan had to put up with, which was quite a bit...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2226437/posts?page=43#43
Even Ford put an end to the Mayaguez incident.
Yep, he did, and fortunately, he didn’t have to deal with too much more.... Look at Reagan though. It was *constant trouble* for Reagan — and he did well with it, too...
Let’s hope that Obama doesn’t have to do as much as Reagan had to do... LOL...
Big Cluster. The boat and crew were already released. Killed a bunch of Marines, left three behind that were executed.
It's more fun to sign laws and EOs. It's only a piece of paper with text on it that can be changed at any time...sort of. That's his fun focus now. Inanimate objects.
I would prefer to have him stay out of it, since it’s a problem that the world created, over several years, by continuing to cater to the pirates. The U.S. hasn’t been paying ransoms; it’s been the other countries doing it. So, let them deal with it themselves and keep us out of it. Just get our captain out of there and we’ll give it back to the world to deal with it themselves... LOL...
By coincidence I was just reading about the Mayaguez incident earlier this afternoon.
Hopefully lightning doesn’t strike twice...
Talk about a clueless and inexperienced administration.
No one group of people could be this ignorant. It has to be a planned strategy to make a failed past president, Peanut brained Carter, look good.
I strongly believe that physical action should take place and that's before the Captain is moved.
According to davidrodhamgergull...........Obama doesn’t have to deal with this crisis. That’s what he has a government for.
This spin tops Baghdad Bob by a mile. Wonder how much Gergen is paid for his kneepad services.
No Problem.
Sink any Vessel Involved and Flatten any Port that Pirate Vessels Try to Enter.
Just shoot the F<ckers! How hard is that.
Yet the group’s objectives have thus far been domestic..
LOL! Ya - aside from hundreds of acts of piracy on the high seas.
Even the French surrender monkeys had the cullions to send in their military and rescue their hostages. I find it sadly laughable that Obama sent the FBI to negotiate with these Somali thugs rather than act decisively by sending in Navy SEALs to accomplish a rescue. Even Jimmy Carter eventually sent in a military mission to try to rescue the hostages in Iran ...of course it was only after nearly a year of hand wringing and failed negotiations with the mullahs.
Obama is voting present again. He is saying to H—l with the white hostage captain, Allah Akbar to his muslim brothers.
Bambi is voting present again.
Even Jimmy Carter eventually sent in a military mission to try to rescue the hostages in Iran...
Poorly trained for the type mission, and in a sand storm, which resulted in poor visibility and airplanes colliding in the middle of the desert.
(Added for the younger people that have no knowledge of the event.)
Set the raft on fire. All of them will jump off to save themselves. Pick out Phillips and let the others drown.
Then in a coordinated effort, attack every boat under siege. take out every terrorist. Then go after the camps. Finally, go after the Somali terrorists who are fighting Ethiopia.
One fell swoop end it all.
Yes, meantime; the King is in his parlor. . .eating pizza.
Barack Mohammed Hussein Obama bombing a Muslim country?!?
Ha! That’ll be the day.
Time to look up the word “potential” Mr Hussein.
4 pirates have Obama running scared.
Our coward in chief is cowering in his white house probably dining on those Pizzas he had brought in from St Louis. What he has done is made Hillary the buffer to his eminence. Nothing like hiding behind a woman skirts, eh?
I figure the outcome will be the shipping company will pay the ransom and we will agree not to blow them out of the water. That way, the Kenyan can say the US did not pay the ransom, no one was hurt and we got our citizen back. In his utopian mind, that will be a plus as he kicks the can down the street on this issue.
For me, this would have been an excellent time to get even for Blackhawk Down...I would have begun a systematic obliteration of their port facilities where the “pirates” are home ported at a minimum. Of course the Kenyan would not want to drop bombs so close to his homeland I guess. Maybe he could appoint his aunt as ambassador to Somolia and get her into a paid job and off the state welfare system.
Vince
Question whether a preemptive strike is warranted,so much for obama’s abilty to lead take a bow obama.
“”Wonder how much Gergen is paid for his kneepad services.””
Krauthammer said the same thing as Gergen last night on Bret Baier. Some people are just determined to make you disappointed in them. Won’t look at him the same way again.
I don’t believe for a minute that “the” president shouldn’t be hands on in this - except we know he’s in over his head and he and his administration and people who put him there prefer that we not notice.
The OC Register (Santa Ana, CA) is reporting that Marines from Pendleton are going to head there. Does anyone know if they are on float in the area or leaving from CA? I’m sure any Marine anywhere would be only too glad to put an end to this nonsense.
Why haven’t the SEALS gone in? Why didn’t the Captain escape in the dark when he jumped off the boat? I’m not faulting the Captain at all but it just seems preposterous that he jumped overboard in the dark and they threatened to shoot him??? How did they know where he was?
GADS! Can’t we send ZERO over there to demonstrate once and for all his magnificent powers?
Krauthammer loses his mind every now and then. Not the first, nor will it be the last time I’m in disagreement with him.
“”Does anyone know if they are on float in the area or leaving from CA?””
I’ll answer my own question - it’s the USS Boxer (can we dare hope Boxer is aboard?) and it’s expected to join up with the USS Bainbridge this weekend so they are obviously in the area - 1800 Marines on deployment, has been involved in the Iraq war. A San Diego based warship -”basically a helicopter aircraft carrier, is among the most heavily armed ships in the US Navy carrying everything from Harrier attack airplanes to Super Cobra attack helicopters and Sea Knight helicopters.” Sounds good to me.
Sorry this got fragmented but I had to find the article again.
You said — Barack Mohammed Hussein Obama bombing a Muslim country?!?
Ha! That’ll be the day.
—
No, not at all. I think Obama is a “light-weight” in comparison to the list we see with Reagan... LOL...
You said — Obama is voting present again. He is saying to H—l with the white hostage captain, Allah Akbar to his muslim brothers.
—
In this situation, the U.S. should simply get the captain and then *leave* and leave this mess to the rest of the world — who are the ones who perpetuate this insanity. It’s not up to the U.S. to “solve” the other countries’ problems, especially since they always complain about us. Let them do it for themselves.
I say to Obama, get the captain and *leave*.... and don’t come back to that area... LOL...
Well, just get the captain out of the situation and then leave the entire mess to all the other countries that they’ve been “supporting” for several years now... :-)
Man Oh Man....he needs to appoint a Czar to handle these nasty foreign intrusions on our domestic tranquility immediately....
“Big chance that barak is keeping a low profile is because deep down inside somewhere he knows he has no power to make any decisions because he knows he legally should not be a pres_ent. He’ll be passing the buck and ducking constantly thus releasing him from any hell that may arise once he is exposed”
He’s probably being blackmailed about his birth certificate.
Thanks for your two cents....as always ....excellent
US officials: FBI begins criminal investigation into Somali pirates amid hostage standoff (??)
Obama Team Mulls Aims Of Somali Extremists
The Washington Post | April 11, 2009 | Greg Jaffe and Karen DeYoung
Posted on 04/11/2009 2:29:51 PM PDT by Cyberrat
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2227172/posts
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