The big news on Sunday was that the Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama, taken captive by Somali pirates on Wednesday, had been rescued unharmed by the U.S. Navy. Three of his captors were shot by snipers, and one was taken into U.S. custody.
After celebrating the rescue performed by the U.S. Navy, RedState bloggers declared the rescue represented a failure for President Obama.
RedState blogger Jeff Emanuel wrote:
"What should have been a standoff lasting only hours -- as long as it took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to steam to the location -- became an embarrassing four-day-and-counting standoff between a rag-tag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship."
He continued:
"Like the crew of the Alabama, which took swift and decisive action to take back their own ship rather than wait for help from Washington that they knew could not be counted on, Captain Philips took matters into his own hands for the second time in three days this afternoon, leaping into the water to create a diversion and to allow the NSWC team to eliminate his captors."
While reading Emanuel's suggestions as to how to rescue Capt. Phillips, I was surprised to learn that Phillips leaping into the water was an integral piece in one of his own bullshit theories as to how to rescue Phillips and kill the pirates. I call his theories bullshit because in none of the scenarios he provides would Phillips have likely survived. Here's that first "option":
(1) 2 helos, 2 snipers each: pop the [pirates] in their heads, then drop a rescue swimmer to escort the hostage up to one of the choppers. This works best if the hostage is aware of what is happening and can help without getting in the way — say, by hopping overboard as the gunships near, to divert attention and get out of the line of fire.
So, he says that this idea wouldn't work without the captain jumping overboard. However, he then claims elsewhere that the captain's decision to jump into the water was prompted by his realization that there is no leadership in Washington. Right!
It's probably important to note that the story given by U.S. officials to the New York Times is that Phillips was tied up within the boat when the snipers managed to kill the three pirates aboard the boat:
"Two of the captors had poked their heads out of a rear hatch of the lifeboat, exposing themselves to clear shots, and the third could be seen through a window in the bow, pointing an automatic rifle at the captain, who was tied up inside the 18-foot lifeboat, senior Navy officials said."
This means Phillips did not jump into the water. But Emanuel continues onward and speculates as to how the pirate taken into custody will fare in the Obama legal system.
"One thing that will bear watching will be what the Obama DOJ attempts to do with the captive pirate," Emanuel writes. "My money is on a life of welfare checks, a plot of land (in a red state, naturally), and voting rights in Chicago, New York, and Seattle."
... I don't think I can actually respond to that. Why don't you try?
Cross-posted at The New Argument.