Come for the Politics, Stay for the Pathologies



Monday, April 13, 2009

A Little Credit Where Credit is Due

I was going to write this post about the rescue of Captain Phillips, but Bruce McQuain at Q and O beat me. He said the left is wrong about it being a “military victory”, and the right is wrong about it being “nothin’.” Quite so. Obama didn’t stare down the Communist Chinese army: it was a raft with 4 Somali pirates in it. Nor was he oblivious and uninvolved as the right would have us think. For god’s sake, that’s what the left would’ve said about Bush.

McQuain summarizes:

So? So Obama did the right thing (at the right level of visibility) and so did the military. The situation was resolved. To the right - Obama did a good job. Get over it and understand that it wasn’t his job to “call the shot.” He gave the on-scene commander, through his authorization to use deadly force, the latitude to make that call himself without seeking further permission.

To the left - this was no more a “military victory” than was Ruby Ridge or Waco. Quit trying to make it more than it is. If you think popping 3 rag-tag pirates is going to be interpreted by Iran or North Korea as a demonstration of our military might, you’re dreaming. Obviously, had it gone bad, it would have reflected badly on the US. However it didn’t (thankfully). But it proves nothing more than in the situation presented - a hostage situation - we were able to resolve it to our advantage. That’s good and it reflects well on us. But a “military victory”? For heaven sake, get a clue.

This is what we want our president to do: make the right choice and get out of the way. No doubt the over-the-top adulation from the MSM will continue. Maybe all that positive reinforcement will turn our little community organizer into Rambo (I think Rahmbo would like that.)