Bando
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
I've got some regrets!
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Post by Bando on Apr 13, 2009 12:00:45 GMT -5
Just to echo everyone above, Obama obviously shouldn't be micromanaging the situation, so moving more assets in and leaving a standing order was the right call.
I'm still impressed by the SEALs. 3 kills shots at a moving target from a moving platform. Freaking unbelievable!
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TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 9,480
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Post by TC on Apr 13, 2009 13:11:06 GMT -5
Disagree heavily. Piracy is an increasingly important issue, and Somalia is being increasingly linked to Al Qaeda. Those are both valid issues that are Presidential issues. However, neither explain why the isolated issue of the Maersk Alabama situation in particular is one, other than for political points. |
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theexorcist
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by theexorcist on Apr 13, 2009 13:21:20 GMT -5
Disagree heavily. Piracy is an increasingly important issue, and Somalia is being increasingly linked to Al Qaeda. Those are both valid issues that are Presidential issues. However, neither explain why the isolated issue of the Maersk Alabama situation in particular is one, other than for political points. But the presidency, especially now, is ALL ABOUT politics and political points. If Obama does anything strategic on this issue (working with the UN to address piracy, etc), the Maersk will come up. The reaction to this will affect how those discussions play out, and the turf will be different than if the US (or Maersk) had paid off ransom, or if Phillips had been shot, or if the Navy had fired on the boat. Yup, it was one captain and one ship. But the politics of this event can reach further beyond. |
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The Stig
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by The Stig on Apr 13, 2009 13:24:12 GMT -5
Piracy is an increasingly important issue, and Somalia is being increasingly linked to Al Qaeda. But those priorities run against each other. The only group with real power on the ground in Somalia right now that is against the pirates is the Islamic Courts. When they were at the peak of their power a year or so ago, they cracked down on the pirates in a big way. Unfortunately, the Islamic Courts leaders are the ones who have alleged links to Al Qaeda. The US has backed local warlords and other groups to make sure that the Islamic Courts don't come to power. Unfortunately that undercuts all our anti-piracy efforts. I'm not criticizing the US stance on the Islamic Courts - we obviously can't have Al Qaeda sympathizers or worse controlling the Horn of Africa. However, this is one case where our foreign policy goals are mutually exclusive for now, so we have to pick which is more important. |
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
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Post by SirSaxa on Apr 13, 2009 13:45:25 GMT -5
Sir Saxa, excellent post about the situation. Thank you Ed. Spec Ops, Hoya Hoops, maybe we have more in common than we realized. TheStig -- thanks for the link to that article. It's the best one I've seen yet. As for how this will play out? That, of course, remains to be seen. But the US has made it clear we won't be paying ransoms, we won't be letting pirates go free in return for the release of hostages, and we will reply with lethal force to any piracy attempts vs. US ships and sailors. My guess is plans are already being implemented to beef up US Naval presence including the Boxer and ships like her -- carriers equipped with attack helicopters for rapid response. It is fortunate the French also launched an assault against the pirates to rescue 4 of the 5 French hostages being held on that yacht. It signals a growing, international determination to stop the pirates. And we can be sure that Special Operations Command will be a key element of this fight as well. |
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Bando
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
I've got some regrets!
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Post by Bando on Apr 13, 2009 14:20:13 GMT -5
Sir Saxa, excellent post about the situation. Thank you Ed. Spec Ops, Hoya Hoops, maybe we have more in common than we realized. TheStig -- thanks for the link to that article. It's the best one I've seen yet. As for how this will play out? That, of course, remains to be seen. But the US has made it clear we won't be paying ransoms, we won't be letting pirates go free in return for the release of hostages, and we will reply with lethal force to any piracy attempts vs. US ships and sailors. My guess is plans are already being implemented to beef up US Naval presence including the Boxer and ships like her -- carriers equipped with attack helicopters for rapid response. It is fortunate the French also launched an assault against the pirates to rescue 4 of the 5 French hostages being held on that yacht. It signals a growing, international determination to stop the pirates. And we can be sure that Special Operations Command will be a key element of this fight as well. From what I hear, the Littoral Combat Ship would be of great use in these sorts of situations. Unfortunately, they don't really work yet. |
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
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Post by SirSaxa on Apr 13, 2009 22:18:40 GMT -5
W Post: Precision Volley by Navy SEALs Ended a Five-Day Ordeal For an American Seaman, but Piracy Off Somalia ContinuesEXCERPT"It was pretty remarkable that these snipers nailed these guys," said a senior military official familiar with the details of the rescue operation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "You think of rough seas, 75, 80 feet away, and under darkness, and they got them. Three pirates, three rounds, three dead bodies." W Post: SEAL Snipers Shot 3 Times, Each Round On TargetEXCERPT"Standby. Three, two, one . . .," goes a standard order.
"There is a countdown, a tempo. It gets everyone on the same sheet, and they release their shot at the same time," said Scott Tyler, who led a SEAL sniper cell in Iraq and now works as a contractor protecting ships from piracy.
"You don't want to drop one guy and have two others with weapons who can start shooting, especially when there is a hostage involved," Tyler said.
In this way, with deadly accuracy, three SEAL snipers fired their rifles in synchrony on Sunday, instantly killing the three pirates who held a ship's captain, American Richard Phillips, at gunpoint, according to military officials and experts familiar with SEAL sniper operations.
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
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Post by SirSaxa on Apr 13, 2009 22:39:26 GMT -5
Perhaps this is too much information the the SOF team of snipers. If not, read the story linked below. Also, if you are really interested to know more about the SOF community, the book Black Hawk Down is very well researched and written -- and tells a helluva heroic tale. We now know that Al Qaeda was directly involved with advising the rebel warlords in the Black Hawk Down incident. W Post:
A Sniper's Precision View to A Kill (Essay)[/url] EXCERPTSunday's mission demanded the utmost in skill and concentration, this after an arduous trek inward (by parachute and small boat to the Bainbridge at near dark on Saturday). Details will emerge, but I'm guessing the three SEALs were each equipped with a rifle called the SR-25, said to be the choice of SEAL snipers. It's a semiautomatic, for fast follow-up shots, and looks like an M-16 on growth hormones.
It almost certainly wears a tube at the muzzle, what you would call a silencer, what the community calls a suppressor. The point, for this kind of shooting, is that it's unlikely the three shooters would try to fire simultaneously; they probably shot over a few seconds, and the unthwarted report of the first rifle might have caused Targets 2 and 3 to withdraw. As it transpired, no pirate likely figured out what happened to his colleagues in the seconds before it happened to him.
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One thing that suggests the Navy may have had this ending in mind all along was the command decision to tow the lifeboat to calmer waters. Even at a relatively short range, shooting for blood from one vessel to another in high, rough seas would be a challenge difficult to meet, much less three times, more or less simultaneously.
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