Thanks for posting about this again. I wanted to comment on your earlier post, but it would have been lost in the shuffle.
First of all, not all conservatives are denying President Obama credit for his role in the Maersk Alabama incident. For one, Jonah Goldberg congratulated him. So do I.
By relying heavily on the good counsel of the commanders on the scene, keeping quiet about our intentions, and acting decisively, our new Commander-in-Chief is to be commended. I was pleasantly surprised.
That being said, don't be surprised if this military success doesn't exactly win the President friends abroad.
Watching the German newscast Tageschau and its news magazine counterpart, Tagesthemen, the Germans were pretty much underwhelmed. Word of the successful resolution didn't appear in the newscast until about 8 and a half minutes into the 15-minute program, and although it got more prominent play in the news magazine, it was pointed out that there were still 270 hostages being held by the pirates (by my count, that number is now at around 292), five of whom are German.
Personally, I'm not particularly concerned about what the Germans think. President Obama did the right thing and should be commended. The fact that so many other countries (Germany included) have capitulated to the pirates is not our fault, although we should now do whatever we can to fully resolve this problem once and for all.
One last thought. The crew of the Maersk Alabama should also be commended, especially the captain. I doubt if you'll appreciate this, but for me as a Christian, the symbolism of Captain Phillips agreeing to be taken hostage in exchange for his crew, only to be "resurrected" on Easter Sunday, didn't go unnoticed.
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Wow! With only a small investment, one could create a wealth of pirates!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting about this again. I wanted to comment on your earlier post, but it would have been lost in the shuffle.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, not all conservatives are denying President Obama credit for his role in the Maersk Alabama incident. For one, Jonah Goldberg congratulated him. So do I.
By relying heavily on the good counsel of the commanders on the scene, keeping quiet about our intentions, and acting decisively, our new Commander-in-Chief is to be commended. I was pleasantly surprised.
That being said, don't be surprised if this military success doesn't exactly win the President friends abroad.
Watching the German newscast Tageschau and its news magazine counterpart, Tagesthemen, the Germans were pretty much underwhelmed. Word of the successful resolution didn't appear in the newscast until about 8 and a half minutes into the 15-minute program, and although it got more prominent play in the news magazine, it was pointed out that there were still 270 hostages being held by the pirates (by my count, that number is now at around 292), five of whom are German.
Personally, I'm not particularly concerned about what the Germans think. President Obama did the right thing and should be commended. The fact that so many other countries (Germany included) have capitulated to the pirates is not our fault, although we should now do whatever we can to fully resolve this problem once and for all.
One last thought. The crew of the Maersk Alabama should also be commended, especially the captain. I doubt if you'll appreciate this, but for me as a Christian, the symbolism of Captain Phillips agreeing to be taken hostage in exchange for his crew, only to be "resurrected" on Easter Sunday, didn't go unnoticed.