dagblog - Comments for "American hostage in Somalia rescued by US Navy SEALs"

The details that Jeffrey

artappraiser — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:49:29 +0000

In reply to American hostage in Somalia rescued by US Navy SEALs

The details that Jeffrey Gettleman, Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker could dig up on the op are now up at the NYT
(along with contributions from Helene Cooper in Washington, Mohamed Ibrahim in Mogadishu, and Timothy Williams in New York):

U.S. Swoops in and Frees 2 From Pirates in Somali Raid

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/world/africa/us-raid-frees-2-hostages-...

Gettleman is currently reporting from Khartoum, but he's got a lot of past boots on the ground (& sea) experience and contacts with both pirates and in Somalia

On Emptywheel, I got to the

NCD — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:46:08 +0000

In reply to I really got a kick out of

On Emptywheel, I got to the title "What if Obama sent Navy Seal Team 6 After Online Pirates" and quit. It's nonsense navel gazing rubbish. What if we elected Republicans again and they lied us into another war, re-instituted 'free speech zones', including on the internet with DARPA monitoring by a private contractor program called 'PATRIOT WATCH'.

It is parody. I don't watch

NCD — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:14:21 +0000

In reply to I was assuming that was NCD's

It is parody. I don't watch the MSM news shows anymore, it's all deja vu.

I was assuming that was NCD's

Verified Atheist — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:49:53 +0000

In reply to Wow. 2, 3, 5 and 6. I'm sure

I was assuming that was NCD's parody, and not actual statements, although I'll admit to not being certain about it. NCD, would you clarify if my assumption was correct?

Wow. 2, 3, 5 and 6. I'm sure

erica20 — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:40:05 +0000

In reply to "John Boehner was in a

Wow. 2, 3, 5 and 6. I'm sure they didn't give a rip about 4, and if they'd known about 1, they probably would have mentioned it.

Thanks for that AA, I found

tmccarthy0 — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:05:08 +0000

In reply to I really got a kick out of

Thanks for that AA, I found Wheeler's piece very puzzling and not entirely coherent. She is advocating occupying Somalia sort-of and also slamming the President for not rescuing everyone that is a hostage in Somalia. I don't get it, oh well.

I really got a kick out of

artappraiser — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:40:11 +0000

In reply to Possible Obamanot comments on

I really got a kick out of your list, NCD, so much so that I did a quick surf around of the usual suspects of the left variety to see if any were expressing teh outrage yet and how. I must admit I didn't find much so far (though I also didn't look very hard.) But I did come upon what I interpret as Marcy Wheeler twisting herself in knots trying to figure out what she might be outraged about in this story once she learns more about it. Mostly the post is questioning, questioning, with some prejudice, which to me is fine, though I can always do without the "the Obama administration must be doing something nefarious" approach. The killer for me, though, was her conclusion:

I don’t know the answer to any of this. But the question seems particularly pressing given Obama’s Defense strategy, which foreswears the kind of nation-building that might make this region more stable and allow an alternative economy to flourish.

We rescued one American woman and one other humanitarian aid worker. Other hostages remain, including an American journalist. Did we make piracy less likely in the future?

Correct me if I am wrong, but is this not askin': I'm not so sure of the value of this police action stuff as regards pirates and terrorists, maybe the Neo-Con vision of nation building rather than police action is the way to go!? Seriously strikingly funny to me--it's like she doesn't realize that in trying to prove the Obama admin is probably always doing something stupid or wrong, she's willing to make Paul Wolfowitz 101 arguments.

I must admit Wheeler is doing a service though, in bringing up the strategic frame here; it made me go look for more on that. (Though I am not going to try to find analogies with strategy on internet piracy, sorry, I just don't think that would be too fruitful or useful, only feed setting up a template where you were looking to prove what you had decided to believe. I believe it's best to start out with the presumption that our government is not so very well-organized or unified.)

This Christian Science Monitor piece is a nice roundup of some analyst opinions on that. It does seem that the same principle is being used as against Al Qaeda--i.e., really chase them far into their retreats and even if they alter their ops, and then chase them some more until they are too debilitated to have much of an effect. That does reasonable to explain this rescue--it's a warning to all who have done or are considering similar that the big nationals can and will continue to chase you into the rogue areas even if you change your tactics (here, sea to land,) so why not just find another, easier way to earn a living? (or in the case of Al Qaeda, another way to fulfill your desire for "jihad.")

"John Boehner was in a

NCD — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:53:48 +0000

In reply to Well done, NCD. I checked

"John Boehner was in a hopping rage that neither he, nor Eric Cantor, were briefed on the risky military operation into a sovereign nation. Rumors were the Republicans wondered how long Obama and European socialist do-gooder governments, and the UN, would coddle the known terrorists with free food and free medical care. Meanwhile US forces have to save the aid workers necks when, inevitably, black anti-colonialist Islamic jihadists, fed with US grain supplied to the UN, capture them and hold them for ransom".

Some quoted Darrell Issa as saying "So what, Obama cleaned up a problem he created, and risked the lives of Navy Seals doing it, and this is supposed to be smart leadership?"

Well done, NCD. I checked

Oxy Mora — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:36:27 +0000

In reply to Possible Obamanot comments on

Well done, NCD. I checked over on HuffPo and you pretty well nailed it.

But what about the European Socialist angle.

I think you have fairly

tmccarthy0 — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:24:18 +0000

In reply to Possible Obamanot comments on

I think you have fairly covered the probable objections to the rescue, well done NCD.