Today we see Somalia pirates vowing revenge for the death of their fellow pirates.
"From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages)," Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old pirate, told the Associated Press from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl. "(U.S. forces have) become our No. 1 enemy." "Every country will be treated the way it treats us. In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying," Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding a Greek ship anchored in the Somali town of Gaan, told The AP today. "We will retaliate (for) the killings of our men."
According to Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, via ABC News, "It "could escalate violence in this part of the world, no question about it."
While Washington Post is calling this a "military victory" for Barack Obama, the New York Times has an interesting tidbit hidden away in their article
The Defense Department twice sought Mr. Obama’s permission to use force to rescue Captain Phillips, most recently on Friday night, senior defense officials said. On Saturday morning, the president agreed, they said, if it appeared that the captain’s life was in imminent danger.
When all is said and done, Phillips was rescued after days of being held captive and after one failed escape attempt, but the military shouldn't have had to wait around for permission when they were prepared to save Phillips at an earlier time.
The question becomes, when the Defense Department first asked for permission to use force, why on earth did Obama wait days before giving it to them?
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