The Rest of the Story…

This was waiting in my inbox at work this morning, from a source I know well, and is pretty damning. It also proves I was wrong on my post on Easter that the Lightbringer actually made a decision… sigh…

1. BHO wouldn’t authorize the DEVGRU/NSWC SEAL teams to the scene for 36 hours going against OSC (on scene commander) recommendation.

Hence the required parachute drop…

2. Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions on their ROE that they couldn’t do anything unless the hostage’s life was in “imminent” danger

3. The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the raggies all sighted in, but could not fire due to ROE restriction

4. When the Navy RIB came under fire as it approached with supplies, no fire was returned due to ROE restrictions. As the raggies were shooting at the RIB, they were exposed and the SEALS had them all dialed in.

5. BHO specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the Bainbridge CO and SEAL teams

6. Bainbridge CO and SEAL team CDR finally decide they have the OpArea and OSC authority to solely determine risk to hostage. 4 hours later, 3 dead raggies.

Editoral note- Commanding Officers in the Navy are NOT shrinking violets…

7. BHO immediately claims credit for his “daring and decisive” behaviour.

A commenter on the email chain said the following…

As usual with him, it’s BS.

So per our last email thread, I’m downgrading Oohbaby’s performance to D-. Only reason it’s not an F is that the hostage survived.

Read the following ACCURATE account.

Philips first leap into the warm, dark water of the Indian Ocean hadn’t worked out as well. With the Bainbridge in range and a rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Philips threw himself off of his lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters onboard the destroyer a clear shot at his captors and none was taken.

The guidance from National Command Authority ” the president of the United States, Barack Obama ” had been clear: a peaceful solution was the only acceptable outcome to this standoff unless the hostages life was in clear, extreme danger.

The next day, a small Navy boat approaching the floating raft was fired on by the Somali pirates and again no fire was returned and no pirates killed. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed by Navy personnel thanks to the combination of a lack of clear guidance from Washington and a mandate from the commander in chief’s staff not to act until Obama, a man with no background of dealing with such issues and no track record of decisiveness, decided that any outcome other than a peaceful solution would be acceptable.

After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the onscene commander decided he had enough. Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear and present danger to the hostages life and having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before, the Navy officer unnamed in all media reports to date decided the AK47 one captor had leveled at Philips back was a threat to the hostages life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.

Three rounds downrange later, all three brigands became enemy KIA and Philips was safe.There is upside, downside, and spinside to the series of events over the last week that culminated in yesterdays dramatic rescue of an American hostage.

Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama administration and its supporters claimed victory against pirates in the Indian Ocean and declared that the dramatic end to the standoff put to rest questions of the inexperienced presidents toughness and decisiveness.

Despite the Obama administrations (and its sycophants) attempt to spin yesterdays success as a result of bold, decisive leadership by the inexperienced president, the reality is nothing of the sort.

What should have been a standoff lasting only hours as long as it took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to steam to the location became an embarrassing four day and counting standoff between a ragtag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship.

Sadly, I’m betting there will be lawyers reviewing this for end to end and probably changes to ROE to disallow OSC discretion in action…

Comments

The Rest of the Story… — 21 Comments

  1. If you look at how our commander in chief handled this situation you can only imagine what he’ll do when facing a country like North Korea instead of 4 criminals with guns and a boat.

  2. I assumed at the time that the only reason the “standoff” lasted so long was because of orders from Obama.

    Unfortunately my judgment of the President’s character is proving to be correct.

  3. Thanks to folks like you Jim, we will get to the truth; knowing full well that what we hear in the main-stream media is not even close.

    How many days until the election in 2012?

  4. KLR- Sadly I agree…

    Alan- You are correct, there was also an issue of 20 hours steaming to get Bainbridge in the area.

    FF- I do post what I can from “inside” sadly, not a lot of it is good news.

  5. It is a sad day for SEALs when they have to refer back to a lawyer before they pull the trigger.

    Actually, allow me to modify that,it is a sad day for the military.

  6. I guess that what happens when the POTUS votes “present”.

    Good job by the field commanders and SEALS.

    My problem is that if anything goes wrong, your chain of command will not be able to save your ass.

    Gerry

  7. Very disappointing. There are political considerations to any action. However, the ability to recognize what is important, to place the right people on scene, and to allow them discretion based on their specialized experience, is what was needed – not a symbolic presence.

    President Obama isn’t the first president to make this mistake. He won’t be the last. But he certainly is not giving us the impression that his super duper education is relevant to the job of Commander in Chief. Let’s hope he learns from his mistakes.

    Let’s hope the Commanding Officer is not punished for exceeding the spirit of his orders. If he does suffer for this, let’s hope that somebody makes him an offer to use that critical judgment in the private sector, so that he can retire very comfortably.

  8. Every use of force brief I’ve had in the past few years began with instructions that nothing in this briefing superseded my right of self-defense: IOW, no matter what the ROE was, if your life is threatened, engage.

    John

  9. CS- yep, and that is what I’m afraid is going to happen…

    Gerry/ADM- you are correct dammit…

    Rogue- He was the OSC, so he does have some protection there… What he did was allowed under ROE.

    JR- That is correct, however nothing is said about hostage situations in FOF briefs… Or at least not that I remember.

    TOTWTYTR- Yep

  10. I better load up all my AR mags for when our land is set upon by enemy combatants looking to do us harm.

  11. The points covered in your post, Jim, bring together all the loose ends of the story as read in the media..

    Not unexpected, but sad in any case. Good for that commander… and we owe him our thanks and respect. It was galling to me, that situation.
    The operators on hand did a fine job too, and earned their pay.

  12. Orange- Mine already are…

    Carteach0- Yep…

    JR- Agreed! That SHOULD be standard ROE, however in this case it was not…

    Kris- I’m not either

  13. You sure can’t be the leader of a country and worry about the welfare of pirates more than the life of an American citizen.

  14. Elm- that pirate that is here now will become a hero and he will go free thanks to the lawyers… mark my words!