This time, they go into Somalia to raid a pirate compound and rescue two hostages.
And they did it wrong, but I don't blame the SEALs, I blame the National Command structure.
The US just blew away, not only 9 pirates, but the chance to use a little psy-war on the rest of the pirate nest that is Somalia.
We have to have targeting intell on more than just the pirate nest that we just raided.
What we should have done is raid the one nest, recover the hostages, and simultaneous with the choppers lifting the SEALs out of there, B-52s would have bombed all the nests we had targeting info on. Simultaneous to THAT, the Navy and the multi-national anti-piracy force should have taken out ever pirate dhow they were shadowing, and we know about a few of THOSE.
If we had hit the pirates hard from the air, sea and land, simultaneously, the word would have gotten out, and probably half those engaged in that outlaw way of life would have given up their jobs on the spot. In a few weeks, we gather more intell, hammer them again from three axes of attack, and my guess is that the threat would be over by March.
And here's one for Buckingham Palace: have the Royal Chamberlain march over to the Old City, have a friendly chat with those blokes running Lloyds of London, and see to it that they REQUIRE armed crews on ships in those waters, as a condition of issuing them insurance. Slow down the process of paying piracy insurance claims to the shipowners. Slow it WAAAAY down. When it becomes a non-starter for the shipping industry to tolerate piracy from Somalia (or elsewhere), piracy will end.
In the short term, pay the Russians what they ask for providing armed crews for the ships transiting those waters. The Russians know how to handle the pirates, and any dhow seeing a Russian ensign on a ship turns away.
That is something that should have happened long ago. If so, there would not have been the need to rescue these hostages.
But then, this President is not close to smart enough to know this.
Posted by: Titan Mk6B | January 26, 2012 at 06:37
The timing stinks - just in time for Osama to be able to crow about how he ordered it just in time for his STFU messsage...sorry - SOTU...
Posted by: Chuck Kuecker | January 27, 2012 at 09:04