I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Monday, April 13, 2009

Blathering Blatherations Out Their Porthole

I've been watching Fox News again. Yeah. I know. They've been going crazy over this whole piracy thing.

First, let me say, three head-shots, single shots, from one pitching platform with targets on a separate pitching platform, in rough chop, nearly simultaneously, those SEALs know their stuff. Okay, and because not many people are commenting on it, think of just how long they must have been in position waiting for their opportunity. How many hours do you think they stayed on station waiting for their opportunity? And in case you missed it, right after the shot the rubber boat was on it's way to the life-raft as a back-up.

And the thing the Fox Newsies can't stand is that Obama gave the order in a proper form. And Brid knows a pinko-liberal, tree-hugging, election stealing President just can't be good with military matters. So now he's being pilloried for 1) not going far enough or 2) dangerously escalating the conflict or 3) putting the captain at risk 4) not getting a UN mandate. Their little minds have gone all 'splody.

And now their all, well, we're going to try the remaining pirate and that means were handling this like a police action which we can't do because in over 3000 years of dealing with pirates, we've never dealt with it this way.

One, they're so very wrong. Two, while piracy is old, back 3000 years ago there wasn't much difference between a merchant and a pirate. Modern piracy is not more than a 1000 years old. Also, pirates were often taken and tried in the courts that held jurisdiction (often maritime courts or colonial-governors courts) and subject to the law (which was by necessity enforced by the military commanders on the scene).

Finally, these bastards want to open up a Third War by reinvading Somalia, or at least performing military actions on the ground there. So my question to all these blowhards is this, just how much can we raise your taxes to pay for this third war front you're all so gung-ho for? These blowhards are small, mean, ex-bullies who just don't understand that the world changed since sixth-grade and they're no longer in charge.

President Obama did it correctly. Yes, there is a chance of escalation, but the other direction wasn't exactly diminishing activity. We don't need a UN Mandate to protect our nationals and property (US Flagged ship, US Crew). Declaring open war would 1) extend our forces beyond their stretched point, 2) it's a damn big ocean out there, and 3) most of the boats the pirates use have hostages on them (usually their former captains). Yes, Obama is becoming very popular among the military for promising to get us the heck out of Iraq, and focus on Afghanistan, keeping Gates in position, and listening to the Joint Chiefs. Also, for a President not in office for four months and without prior military service, he made the decision to use lethal force on foreign nationals in international waters and then delegated the final decision to the commander on the scene (while standing behind he decision, and I believe if it had gone pear-shaped, Obama would have taken the blame on himself). That's actual courage. Unlike the chicken-hawk kind we've scene from the former administration and the blowhards on Fox.

5 comments:

Rick said...

Hey, Steve. Are you doing any writing these days? Are you doing any panels at Penguicon in November? I'm headed to DragonCon in Atlanta to check things out this year. Hope I catch you at one of these places.

Steve Buchheit said...

Hey Rick, I see you're surfacing. Yeah, short answer is I'm in the middle of a novel that I'm workshopping in May (right now I'm reading/critiquing more than writing). I thought Penguicon was in May? I'd like to go, but with the various economic funness, I can't (see the tag "The Day Thing" so see why). As it is I'll have to fight for a day to workshop. DragonCon is the same for me (and a little more so). The day thing just isn't what it used to be and I have to scale back the writing fun stuff (hopefully not the actual writing) to compensate. I'd really like to hang out with you all again. I had some time with William at Confusion, but not nearly enough.

And hey, I hope your training went well and things wrapped up, uh, satisfactorialy(?). I know you went to learn, but the timing was because of other circumstances that a happy ending was probably not in the cards. Hopefully we can cut wood, carry water together soon.

sheila, who is definitely not lurking today, said...

Hi guys! Glad to hear you're still "write" on track for the upcoming conventions.

As for the recent events in the far-away oceans, the thing that surprised me the most in the whole rescue-the-captain-from-the-pirates operation is that the snipers had to be dropped in by helicopter.

Seriously?

Perhaps things have changed a bit since WWII and the US Navy is a bit different from the Queen's Navy, but I was just gobsmacked when I heard that.

No precision shooters, especially when they're on patrol in an area of known pirate activity? What's up with that?

Jim Wright said...

Sheila, navy crews all have people specially trained in boarding and assault and weapons, I used to be one of them. It is possible that the ship's gunner's mates could have made those shots, with a somewhat lower probability of simultaneous kill. However, SEALs have advanced training and very specialized skills - and these SEALs where specially trained as snipers. They were in the area (and by area I mean the Arabian [Persian] Gulf) and could be on scene in hours via air. Dropping them from air was the quickest and easiest solution, and the navy does that kind of thing all the time - we specifically train for it.

Now, adding the SEALs gave the on-scene commander (probably Bainbridge's CO's or the Squadron Commodore if embarked) greatly expanded options (assume that sniper capability wasn't the only thing they brought with them). More options are always a good thing in any military situation.

The biggest problem in a situation like this, is failure to take action. The longer you wait, the more the tactical equation shifts to the adversary. Every second counts, and the longer you allow the adversary to have the tactical advantage, the more likely you are to loose all options. If the pirates could secure world favor, if they could secure assistance from shore, or escape in the night, or get the captive off the life boat and onto a fueled go-fast (and I can think of at least half a dozen ways to pull that off) and then to shore the show is over - then everything is on their terms, including whether the hostage lives or not. The pirates are clever and intelligent men, and growing more bold and experienced every day. Most are experienced and hardened guerrilla fighters from the wars in Somalia - every second that the hostage remained on that lifeboat, the odds shifted towards the pirates.

What most people fail to understand is that a ship like Bainbridge has limited force options in a situation like this - they can choose to blow the pirates out of the water or not. They could make an armed assault using ship's boats, and most likely loose a couple of sailors and most certainly the hostage. They could negotiate, which they were doing. But between no force and deadly force they don't really have a lot of options (there are a few, but I'm not going to discuss those at the moment). Adding the SEALs gives the them those intermediate options, just like adding a SWAT Team or FBI Hostage team to a police standoff gives the cops additional options.

As to why there aren't SEALs on every ship, well, because SEALs are expensive. And because 99% of the time their special skills would be wasted, and going stale. And it's not necessary, special assets such as SEALs, Diver Rescue, Salvage, and Special Transport and Weapons and Intelligence can be on-scene anywhere in the world usually within 24 hours or less. Far more efficient, far more specialized and tailored to the situation, and far more cost effective for you the taxpayer.

Hope that answers your questions.

Steve Buchheit said...

Sheila, yeah, what Jim said. If the SEALs weren't the ones doing the shooting (or Delta) there would be a good chance they would have needed several rounds, which might have been long enough for the pirate with the AK pointed in the back of the captain to pull the trigger.

Also, what Jim doesn't say is that the SEALs and Delta (and other SpecFor/SOCOM forces) are tasked to performing the wetwork for various agencies of the government and are still very busy. Normally in short supply, they're in even more short supply because of that reassignment.