Johnny Depp Part II

I have to commend President Obama on his actions that led to the rescue of Captain Phillips. I apologize for the lapse in time from the first post to this one. I have been doing a bit of traveling. During my travels I took a private poll. I asked people how they would rate the Presidents performance in regards to the successful rescue of Captain Phillips.

I was not surprised to hear almost everyone thought he acted appropriately and very Presidential. I was actually proud to say he was my President. He did not give into the demands and brought an American hero back home to his family. A clear sign was sent to the pirates and my article should end at that. However, I did come across one detractor. I was discussing the incident with a few friends and he interjected. He had some very interesting points.

I need to premise the rest of the story by saying my friend is very conservative. He is not blinded by his beliefs but is very steadfast in his resolve. He is fair and I have always known him to give credit where credit was due. I was actually surprised to hear his argument.

He started off by stating that he was happy Obama ordered the Navy Seals to take the shot, but he believed they should have shot sooner. He then justified his statement. President Obama did not make many statements concerning the kidnapping. He was cool and collective and wanted all the facts. Most good leaders do. The issue he had with this was Obama was actually attempting to negotiate with the pirates. While the line of communication was being opened Captain Phillips jumped out of the raft and attempted to swim to safety. What if the Seals have been given the order to take out the pirates when they had an opportunity to without risking the life of the captain. What better time to take the shots - he wasn't even in the boat.

We know that Seals were present when the attempted escape occurred. Why was the order to shot not given. Did the President want to show the world that he was the great negotiator. My friend believes Obama was shamed into ordering the snipers to fire.

The news coverage of the escape attempt was almost non-existent. No one mentioned an attempted rescue. No one. Was it safer to let the snipers shot from one moving boat to another with Phillips on board or was it safer to shot when he was in the water. The point here is the order was not given. The Seals had to wait.

I am very happy that Captain Phillips is home and well. I hope that President Obama has realized that negotiation with terrorists will never work. Thank God for the Navy Seals and their quick actions. I am sure Easter Sunday would have been less eventful if the President had only given the simple order to protect an American hero.