He said the Navy and the FBI are handling it.

Of course, that attitude completely ignores the fact that HE is the head of both the Navy and the FBI. This guy has no idea about leadership or command responsbility. It’s always someone else’s job and someone else’s fault.

Let them do their work.

Leave it for the Masters of the Domestic Terriost-in-Chief to spin it as they wish for THE ONE’s credit.

I’m really ashamed of my country.

I’m not sure Obama is even aware of the pirate situation. Otherwise, he’s acting like he doesn’t give a damn

The US certainly didn’t do anything to discourage terrorists from feeling their oats after the attack on the USS Cole on October 12, 2000. We all know what happened less than a year later.

We may be doomed to go down in history as the ADD generation if we provide the same encouragement less than a decade later.

We can put many in places where no one knows, then pick em up when the task is done…Where is our great leadership. ..God Bless you President G. W. Bush ! I thank you for keepin us safe for 8 years!!!! Our country is really missing you right now!! ….Why does an American have to flee from the enemy and then find himself with no one there to pluck him from the sea….A total disgrace of our new leadership… Maybe we are just too arrogant or something?

Or was that just another Biden lie? Or don’t Somali pirates and/or North Korean missiles qualify as tests?

“The senseless waste of pitting these … mighty forces of nature against each other, like matter vs. anti-matter, will be a tragedy, not only for the … involved..” [ flips card over ] “…but for our planet. All nations must band together, to ensure that such a conflageration never takes place.”
-Superfan Todd O’Connor, in response to the Final Quiz Masters Question “Bears vs Bulls”

“Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something. [TOTUS scrolls] The world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons. Now is the time for a strong international response.”
-Barack Obama, in response to N Korea’s missile launch

Some are criticizing Obama for remaining silent during the Maersk crisis, not seeming to want to comment on the situation one way or another. Fear not! I have it on good authority he has voted “present”.

*clearing throat*

HEY MR. PRESIDENT! MANY TIMES IN THE PAST our ALLIES have looked to US to be the LEADER in things like this THIS! An American-flagged ship is U.S. TERRITORY! It’s only 4 PIRATES (for now)! You’re COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF for crying out loud! ISSUE some ORDERS to STOP THIS! Heck, ASK the FRENCH for advice if you don’t know what to do! (the French indeed, Warner)

I have to agree partly with NeoKong in an above post: For the first time in my adult lifetime I’m really ashamed of my country. For me there was one other: the lack of adequate response to the ‘93 WTC bombing.

I never thought we’d have a president more pathetic than Clinton in responding to an attack on our own soil, or ship.

I normally don’t mind being proven wrong, that’s how you learn, but this is hard to take.

During the French and Indian War Colonel Armstrong marched on Kittanning, Pa, to take it to the French but more importantly to recover English prisoners. Sure mistakes were made in tactics but the mission was successfull. One will find the basic strategy in numerous encounters back then; position yourself and at dawn attack. I don’t know how far the American destroyer is positioned from the boat holding the captain, but it is inconceivable that there are not four sharpshooters on the destroyer…they don’t even have to be sharpshooters, at dawn put the four pirates out of their misery and the captain can row the boat to the destroyer. Yes, it might not be PC but let’s quit beating around the bush.

You know you’re getting older when you live long enough to see styles and fads come back! Let’s see now: Russia acting up, Iran acting up, a President who spends his time apologizing to everyone and socializing everything and embarrassing hostage standoffs?

Q: So what do you get when you elect a naive rookie who was marinated in left-wing politics with no administrative experience, zero foreign policy experience and no training in military affairs as President?

A: An embarrassing 4+ day standoff between 4 thugs in a dinghy and our multi-trillion dollar navy.

Mark my words: Now that the world has seen Obama’s true colors, there will be more and bolder (and deadlier) acts like these over the next four years.

This pretty much sums up Obama’s hostage task force in action, so to speak:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YawagQ6lLrA

On Election Day, the Ace of Spades website posted a picture of two Iraqi women, with purple-stained fingers showing they had voted in an election.

It was a “Get Out The Vote” message, noting that whatever inconveniences YOU may experience by voting, “These women literally risked their lives to vote”.

My first reaction was, “And THE ONE can hardly wait to sell them out”.

Obama’s rhetoric on Iraq, and comments about Israel, showed a casual willingness to sell out allies when convenient.

A commenter asked, “Who appointed us to be their guardians? Why is it America’s job to make sure they are safe?”

Perhaps we’d rather not have the entire world as a nuclear-armed camp, figuring that the more countries with these things, the more risk that some will eventually be used.

Our alliances with these countries ain’t out of the goodness of our heart, but for our own best interests. Sell one out, and I’ll bet you the others will sure take notice.

The commenter seemed to be saying, “To hell with them; let them take care of themselves!”

Ok! But, they might do exactly that, and we might be less than thrilled with the results.

If countries under threat (Taiwan, South Korea, Japan) think that our word is no longer any good, they’ll almost certainly feel the need for nuclear arms as the only real deterrent to someone like China. And note, those countries ALL have the necessary economic, industrial and technical wherewithal to go nuclear. All they need do is make the decision.

Others, in the Middle East will want them to deter Iran. How about Saudi Arabia and Egypt? Maybe Libya decides that abandoning their efforts was a mistake. THOSE countries may lack the technology, but they can certainly afford to finance it.

It could just go on and on.

THAT could be a very likely consequence of us deciding to just disengage ourselves from these countries.

We’ve tried, for a long time, to convince others that they didn’t need them, because WE would provide the nuclear umbrella.

When they figure they can’t count on us, the whole thing unravels.

If the commenter gets his wish, and they DO take care of themselves, it could get real interesting for us as well.

As we also reside on the same planet, I think it almost impossible we would remain unaffected.

So, standing up for our allies is not just a nice thing to do; it makes the hardest kind of common sense.

Simply put, we protect others in order to protect ourselves.

Abandoning them, selling them out, would be an unbelievably short-sighted (as in STUPID) thing to do, and would hurt us more in the long run. No one would trust an agreement with us; and why should they, given such a record?

Instead of being worth a damn, our word would only be noise.

And that would be tragic, because WE set its’ value, by our actions.

-

I’m taking a wait and see approach on this one. The Navy does know things that we don’t. We don’t know what orders they have. I DO take note that pirates took a ship AFTER THE ONE got elected, but having learned that there is alot that goes on that the military just doesn’t talk about… I’m cutting the President some slack on this one… but not a lot.

Go ahead. I know that’s not going to be popular on this board, but IF Obama has given the Navy permission to do what it thinks is right… then they are just biding there time.

I’m taking a wait and see approach on this one. The Navy does know things that we don’t. We don’t know what orders they have. I DO take note that pirates took a ship AFTER THE ONE got elected, but having learned that there is alot that goes on that the military just doesn’t talk about… I’m cutting the President some slack on this one… but not a lot.

Go ahead. I know that’s not going to be popular on this board, but IF Obama has given the Navy permission to do what it thinks is right… then they are just biding there time.

When Obama learned that his refusal to wear our flag on his lapel might threaten his election, like a coward, he sought the protection of that US flag by pinning it on his lapel.

Now he refuses to grant the protection of that flag to every US Citizen by doing nothing about the situation in the Indian Ocean.

We should be demanding that Obama remove his flag pin until he resolves the crisis in the Indian Ocean.

Coward Obama should not be allowed to wear the US flag unless he shows he is willing to extend the protection of that flag to every US traveler expecting safe passage on the high seas.

Make it clear that if the pirates harm thier hostage, they will be killed on the spot, thier remains stuffed into a 50-gallon drum of bacon grease, and dropped overboard. If they don’t harm him, they get to spend the rest of thier lives in a nice, cushy American prison (which beats hell out of a palace in Mogadishu).

Then send the navy in to pick up that boat. If the captain dies, he dies at the hands of his captors.

Hey, now that I’m one of Barak’s ‘advisors’, does that mean I don’t have to pay my taxes?