Nature Called, Snipers Responded

Nature called. The snipers responded. Three pirates left p*ssin' into the wind. Heh!

As one of the four pirates who had been holding Capt. Richard Phillips, 53, negotiated onboard the USS Bainbridge, special forces on the same U.S. ship saw Phillips move to the side of the lifeboat to relieve himself, a senior U.S. official told George Stephanopoulos, ABC News' chief Washington correspondent.

At that point, forces saw their opportunity and killed the other three pirates on the lifeboat, the source told Stephanopoulos.

Better make sure you have a coffee can on hand for guests next time, fellas.

Somali pirates are vowing to retaliate for the deaths of three fellow pirates at the hands of U.S. Navy snipers.

One of the pirates told the Associated Press that, "In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying."

Comments

[Judith]

The world (and the pirates) have now seen obama in action and I do not think they are impressed. The only thing standing between us and our enemies is the good sense of our military. I expect a lot more attacks and with a powerless president, I worry a lot.

[Peg C.]

There seem to be conflicting storylines. I thought the captain jumped over the side (for the 2nd time). He was relieving himself? (Trying to relieve yourself while your captors are being killed might give you a spastic bladder!)

I worry about Obama incessantly but this is an interesting development. Either he found some cojones or cooler heads in the WH prevailed and impressed on him the importance of putting these pirates DOWN. In which case I hope pirates retaliate and we do a lot more killin'.

[Dan Riehl]

Unfortunately, it looks as though the military acted prudently but not as Obama intended. Going to post on that now.

[Dan Riehl]

Actually, not going to bother. But the point is, the military took advantage of an opening that arguably didn't really change the dynamics that much. I'm not sure Obama wanted them shot just because Phillips had to relieve himself. The gun(s) were likely trained on Phillips the whole time. What changed was opportunity, not the dynamics so much, perhaps.

"The Navy special forces were positioned on the fantail, or rear, of the Bainbridge and authorized to take action "in extremis" as a result of President Obama's approval of a recommendation from his top military advisers ."

[Philip McDaniel]

"The Navy special forces were positioned on the fantail, or rear, of the Bainbridge and authorized to take action "in extremis…”
If the result was not as Obama had intended we will probably see a closing of that ‘hole’ and a more precise set of instructions [read micromanagement] for future military involvement.