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Apr 13 2009, 7:11 am by Marc Ambinder

Obama And The Pirates

"An Early Military Victory for Obama," says the Washington Post. "[I] may help to quell criticism leveled at Obama that he came to office as a Democratic antiwar candidate who could prove unwilling or unable to harness military might when necessary. Meanwhile, RedState tastefully reports that "Captive Captain Helps Save Obama."

Perhaps I'm reading this wrong, but I'm fairly certain that the pirate drama and its resolution says absolutely nothing about President Obama. You could make the case that the White House wants to show that Obama is deliberate and cautious when it comes to authorizing military force -- fine -- but this was a hostage rescue mission, the U.S. has specially-trained counterterrorist forces for precisely this sort of thing, and military aciton was almost inevitable. Really, what this weekend's drama was, was a test of the National Command Authority, the NSC's ability to communicate with commanders in the crisis, and some good field training for Navy SEALs.

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Tracked on April 13, 2009 1:16 PM

Comments (14)

Rhoda

That ignores the fact that in reality: this was morphing into a judgment of Obama and his foreign policy. On the Sunday shows you had the Gingrich on This Week saying this was a do nothing president and you had the very serious David Gregory and his crew saying this was an early test of the administration.

He was already being called weaker than Carter.

So this, was a good outcome for the president. He was going to own any tragedy as a failure on this administration and he is reaping the upside since his critics painted him and coupled him with this crisis.

You're right; this says nothing about Obama. It does say he put together a great team and the communications between these departments and the interagency work that occurred is fantastic and should be a harbinger of good things. But it's a victory for Obama because politically; people were teeing up to call this a defeat.

Ignoring that political reality doesn't make it go away; and it says some sad things about the state of the GOP. They really are looking for him to fall down.

Darius (Replying to: Rhoda)

Well put, Rhoda. And just to add to this, it fascinates me how some right-wingers are still trying to spin this negatively for Obama, regardless of the actual facts of the situation. (For example, see the RedState.com article Marc has inexplicably linked under his "Six Clicks" section.)

ottovbvs

Rhoda is absolutely right. As an event it was a pimple on an elephant's bum, in fact the whole issue of the two bit pirates is a pimple on an elephants bum, but the punditry and in particular Republicans were trying to make it into an issue of Obama's competence. It therefore became an issue of Obama's competence. Unfortunately for the right they were so gloatingly obvious in their desire for failure that it all blew up in their faces when it turned into a success. It's essentially the same story of the economy....the can't see that hoping for national failure is a totally self defeating strategy. Strictly in PR terms Obama was pitch perfect again. No bloviating, leave it to the professional, give the clearances needed and then hand out praise when it's all over. By comparison Gingrich and these fulminating Republican bloggers and pundits look ridiculous.....and rather nasty.

Black Saint

Now for the rest of the store the ACLU will be suing the Navy seals for violating the pirates civil rights by shooting them!

Darius (Replying to: Black Saint )

... er, what? I have no idea what you're trying to say here.

ottovbvs (Replying to: Black Saint )

With a big success for the president and America on their hands the wingnuts have to invent situations. In fact that's all they do these days invent situations that have no link to real life. Beck, Bachmann, Black Saint.... no difference really.

The Moon (Replying to: ottovbvs)

I'm pretty sure that was a joke.

Kreb

The event was useful in that many on the right buy into narratives that say that liberals necessarily obstruct the military from accomplishing their missions. Otherwise, there wasn't a lot of political capital to be gained, and much to be lost. Had the captain been killed, Obama would somehow have been blamed, whereas as things went down, The military (rightfully) takes most of the credit.

Im-Not-ted

Kreb,
Good points and quite as it should be, on the credit side. Any good leader has faith in his followers and primarily serves as an enabler. When things go well s/he will give credit to "the team". When things do not go well s/he will say "my fault".

These actions give the people closest to the situation, the ones with true expertise, the freedom to act without fear of failure. That is how you make big gains in any organization.

Unfortunately, over the last 8 years, we all grew accustomed to the grandstanding that comes from incompetent leaders who have to grab glory at every opportunity because it comes so infrequently.

Personally, I was very proud to hear that the pirates were killed and the Captain was safe. This is not a war, the Captain is a civilian and we acted to protect a citizen who was just doing his job.

Voice of reason

One - The rescue team could not have been trained to the expert level in the short time Obama's been in office.
Two - The dithering with the media is a indication that Mr. Obama will not react in any reasonable time frame to prevent other major issues.
Three - When in the throes of combat decisions must be made instantly.
Four - All the U. S. Military including the onsite commander has instant authority to deal with situations.
Five - GROW UP!

Jaybird (Replying to: Voice of reason)

One-ok, I guess then we can credit GWB with this one, right?
Two-BHO didnt "dither"-he really kept his mouth shut until it was over, and even then had very little to say
Three-We weren't "in the throes of combat"--it was a hostage situation
Four- yes, by the authority of the POTUS
Five-Yes, grow up, indeed

Elmer_Stoup

I notice that a lot of Obama supporters want to believe the Republicans are disappointed the pirate episode turned out well.

Sorry to disappoint you, but I think most Republicans believe that the President handled the situation about as well as could be expected and are happy that the event turned out well.

ottovbvs (Replying to: Elmer_Stoup)

Elmer that may be true but you'd never know it from listening to people like Gingrich, the talk radio crowd and right wing bloggers. The disappointment arises from the very fact that these moderate Republicans of whom you speak are deserting the GOP and becoming independants or Dems. Independants meanwhile are gravitating to the Dems. That why the GOP is shrinking and all that polarization stuff you were hearing from the right was baloney. I'm sure the vast majority of the country including a goodly number of Republicans are delighted with the outcome and impressed with Obama's handling of the situation. But that just makes the folks who have control of the GOP megaphone look even more out touch an attractive.

lebecka

Most normal Republicans-- yes.
The ones we hear from on TeeVee whining are disappointed.