USA! USA!

Since when do conservatives and the right have a monopoly on patriotism and the American flag? Since when does a pretty clear case of using legitimate force for self-defense equal “scoring ‘conservative points’”?
It’s perfectly fair to point out that the roots and origins of Somalia’s problems have much to do with out failed intervention there and abandonment that followed, and it’s even fair to point out that in the absence of a coast guard or navy, foreign ships cruise, dump, and over-fish in Somali waters at will, and the Somali pirates claim this as a justification of their activities.
But none of that actually justifies the taking of hostages, the collecting of ransoms, and the brazen attacks upon unarmed merchant ships on the high seas. This was a ship with Americans that was attacked. Surely, the American government has a right to send in the American navy to deal with the situation. This is the nice part, sometimes, of having a military force — that you get to use it to protect yourself — it’s not always just for beating up other people, even if feels that way to leftists.
It’s like the cops — you hate them because they harass you for petty issues, give you parking and traffic tickets, are rude and unfriendly, arrest you during peaceful protests — but when you’re actually being attacked by a criminal, you call the cops. And you’re happy when they come.
So what would have made this visual narrative less nationalistic or jingoistic to you, Michael, if the sailors were waving a DANISH flag, (as Maersk is a Danish company), would you say they were celebrating Scandinavian socialism, or if they were waving the ALABAMA state flag, would you accuse them of being segregationists or overly avid football fans?!?
What options did the Administration really have? Pay the ransom? Allow the pirates to get to shore with their hostage and the crisis to spin out over weeks, even months? That might work for an Italian shipping company, or a Spanish one. But once the pirates and the world knew that this was American life, property, and prestige at stake, no way. There was no way that the American government could do that. With superpower status comes the responsibility to use that power.
It was pretty clear from the beginning, once we knew that Captain Philips was in the lifeboat, that either the pirates would surrender, or there would be the use of force. And that use of force would be very, very risky, with a good chance of Philips getting killed, as per the parallel to the unfolding story of the Maersk Alabama, what happened to the French yacht, on which one hostage died during the French military’s rescue operation.
And if Philips had been killed, it would have been a disastrous outcome for Obama and this Administration. That was a clear, understood, risk. But the President and the military concluded, I believe correctly, that they had no other feasible options. This took some courage, and confidence. They should be non-partisanally applauded for that. We got lucky this time.

with the Democratic President scoring “conservative points” for approving a winning commando mission?

Really? Was BHO on the headset, giving minute-to-minute guidelines?
Yes, congrats to the Navy SEALs, and to Captain Phillips for having courage beyond the ordinary.
Do I give Obama any credit for this? No.
I’d guess the operation was a success in spite of Obama’s involvement; not because of it.
Captain Phillips decided the timing of this mission, by jumping overboard again. The Navy’s SEALs immediately took advantage of the situation. Obama just allowed their success to happen by staying out of the way; the professionals did their jobs.
If only Obama could learn something from this episode, and allow market professionals room to work, then we might manage to keep a market economy. But there’s something else coming his way..

I was thinking this morning the very thing you said in your post. “We got lucky this time.” Capt. Phillips is very lucky and so is President Obama. It sounds as if our president did sign off (twice) on taking action if the captain’s life seemed threatened. The events make a great story with a positive outcome, so we can all be relieved and begin calling all parties heroes.
I am personally thankful that the captain is safe now.
I don’t find the image or the story jingoistic or too nationalistic. This was a genuine crisis that had a good outcome. Americans have apparently acted with honor and bravery. There isn’t anything wrong with being proud and happy in this cirucumstance.

Uh, Serr8d, Obama is the commander-in-chief. Period. The responsibility for the success or failure of any military operation devolves upon the C-in-c. Blame him if it goes wrong. Give credit when due. The military never would have opened fire without authorization from the highest level, in such a delicate and difficult situation. And what does this operation have to do with a market economy? Would Nikita Khrushchev have reacted differently in a theoretical attack on a Soviet vessel, back in the day? Would Kim Jong Il or Fidel Castro? Please give it up.

This is how our military should be used. And even this action would have been completely unnecessary if the much larger (and ignored) issue would have been addressed. Somalia being the basically lawless state that it is, Italian organized crime has dumped all sorts of chemical and nuclear waste on their northern coastline, resulting in hundreds of Somalis dying of radiation poisoning. In addition, several countries sent their massive fishing trawlers to rape Somali coastlines clean of remaining fish. So what else do fisherman do in a country awash in weapons and deprived of its one and only viable industry? Go figure.

Note the backwards, left-flying flag. This ties in well with Mr. Shaw’s second interpretation, both that the Obama approach is a reversal (“inversion”) of Bush/Cheney et al, and that this is a depiction of a new America, flying more liberal.
One thing Obama has done to great effect is redefine what it means to be patriotic. The Republicans had cornered the market on patriotism for six or seven years, but Obama has made being liberal and American synonymous again for many people. I think this photo falls squarely into this current American center-left euphoria: we’re smart again, we’re all mutts, and we’re still strong, perhaps even stronger than before. Many of us who would have rolled our eyes at Bush’s Mission Accomplished banner feel teary-eyed proud at this photo.

First you say Obama deserves no credit, then you give him credit. My guess is you would have damned Obamano regardless of the outcome, no matter what he did or didn’t do.

“I’d guess the operation was a success in spite of Obama’s involvement; not because of it.”
Right – you’re making a guess informed by your prejudice against the president. It’s a guess – you said so yourself.
A “guess” is not a valid argument.

This whole thing has been politicized to such a high level, its really strange.
Does he get credit or does he not? Well, he did what he did and the Navy got the results. So…I would suppose so, wouldn’t you? Is he now required to personally bash down the wall and sweep up the hostage barehanded?
Am I wrong to assume everyone followed protocol? Is this not precisely how these things are supposed to happen?
What is the nature of the counter-argument? Is it, at its core, just another ‘Oh, so now everyone is going to start uncritically praising Obama because he did one little thing right’ argument?

Serr8d:
Captain Phillips did not jump overboard again.
Please stop lying.

yes, We did get lucky this time
The professional negotiators in stalling for time learned that the pirates were ” untrained teenagers with heavy weapons” – Gates. The longer the negotiations the greater the stress these teenagers experienced which was a desired state delicately managed by the FBI in advancing rescue possibilities to the next stage. I’m not convinced the pirates were about to shoot the Captain, they were not suicidal, it was rumoured they believed shore based colleagues were coming with a cargo ship or smaller vessel with multiple foreign hostages aboard to rescue them.(now that would have been one hell of a confrontation) They were psychologically stressed to the max and consequently let their guard down making a hoped for silly mistake which was to collectively expose themselves. These kids knew the Navy saw their comrade holding a gun to the Captain through the small window that’s why they placed him there, assuming this tactic protected them, they both popped their heads out the top of the lifeboat…and the rest is history, and a movie is coming soon to a theatre near you starring ???
This incident conveys a number of messages starting with Don’t mess with the USA, to Lessons Learned by Somalia Brigands whose modus operandi may tragically be adjusted to meet changing conditions. I don’t believe this commendable rescue will necessarily protect American sailors from future attacks.
Is this what we may expect soon;
‘Pirates operating from safe havens along the Somali coast could become the target of hot-pursuit missions by American commandos for the first time, after approval was given by the United Nations Security Council to launch land and air attacks on pirate bases.’
December 18, 2008 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5361682.ece

So, in a nutshell, why do bad people do bad things?

Wingnut Pundits Who Trashed Obama over Pirate Stand-Off, Proved Wrong for the Zillionth Time
http://www.juancole.com/

A Test Case for Habeas Corpus
Will Obama Prosecute the Somali Pirate in a US Court By JEREMY SCAHILL
http://www.counterpunch.org/scahill04132009.html