It seems that Dutch naval commandos came to the rescue of a tanker under assault in the Gulf of Aden. The commandos followed the pirate’s attack boat and were led to a so-called pirate “mother ship.” That “mother ship” had been captured some time earlier by pirates; and the Yemeni crew was being held hostage, even forced to help the pirates attack other ships.

The commandos captured the pirates, seized their weapons, and freed the hostages. They then let the pirates go free. It seems that the Dutch are part of a NATO anti-piracy operation and that, according to them, NATO has no “detainment policy.” The only way the Dutch could have detained those pirates is if the pirates were Dutch themselves.

Catch and release. One Hell of a stupid way to fight piracy. Wonder how long before the same NATO policy is applied to terrorists? Oh, I forgot, we are already doing that with regard to Gitmo, aren’t we?

However, it does call them out as one way thinkers, which was another point I tried to make.

Jacob, you don’t recognize by-the-way. He hates you because you are not Dem. You didn’t understand that he was doing a dig on ol’ Bush. His sarcasm is his calling card.

“Providing military escorts was a necessity.”

because of submarines! Somali pirates use-what-zodiacs? Johnny Walker Red with a rag stuffed in it would take that thing out. AND it would also keep you from becoming arrogant.

Lovisa, Different time, different problem. During WWII, many merchant vessels were pressed into server to ferry troops and supplies into war zones. Providing military escorts was a necessity.

I am thoroughly impressed. No matter what else is happening in this country, our military guys have still got what it takes.

Savages do not understand restraint and think it is always appeasement. This is a fact of life. The Romans, (4th Century BC to 14th AD) understood that if you want peace, prepare for war (Seneca).

Sorry to see you so sad … till now.

BTW, the Captain not Obama made it happen. Obama did the right thing. He did not get in the way. That is what a good commander does.

Guess there’d be a problem since the ships in the area in question sail under various flags. It would take a lot of cooperation and coordination. Nah, it probably wouldn’t work.

You won’t see headlines, “Pirates not afraid of Americans” again.

The only thing I question, is some press accounts say Obama was approached twice by the military to be able to use force if the captain’s life was in danger, and Obama did not give permission at first. He wanted to “talk” to them to try to work it out before he gave the permission, supposedly.

I think Obama should have given permission immediately, but it worked out. In the end, we got an excellent result. We looked reasonable and not weak, so I am very proud of our government, out Navy Seals, and the captain.