Great News! Im happy everything worked out for this man.

One more: SIERRA HOTEL!!!!

The USN stands proud, nobody wants to be bullied or see criminal acts flounted unaccountable. I stated when this first happened that it was up to the USN to ‘put on a cape’ and make this situation right.

There was no other po;icing institution available or capable but the USN. Sometimes difficult and dirty deeds are thrust upon you.. the USN did well.

Thankfully the military was allowed to do their job at their own pace.

As an active duty Surface Warfare Officer, I have been following this story with interest. I am presently attending the Army Command and General Staff College, where asymmetric warfare and counter-insurgency operations are rightfully the subject of the day. Over the past six months, I have often been asked “What is the Navy doing about piracy?” I told them about the establishment of Task Force 151, whose mission is counter-piracy operations. While this was met with general approval, other nations’ ships continued to be taken, and ransoms continued to be paid.
The successful freeing of Captain Phillips from pirate custody is a great thing for the Navy and the nation. Three things in particular stand out from this story. First, we successfully demonstrated to the pirates and the nations of the world that the United States will act when its property or citizens are threatened by lawless regimes. Much of the credit for this belongs to the brave crew of the Maersk Alabama, who refused to let their ship be captured without a fight. Second, the US did not give in to the 2 million dollar ransom demand levied by the pirates. Third, in today’s New York Times an article written by R.M. Schneiderman reported that “President Obama had previously authorized the use of force if the commander on the scene believed the captain’s life was in danger…” This is exactly the kind of flexibility that naval units require to function most effectively.
The U.S. should continue its policy of not negotiating with terrorists or pirates, and commanders should still be empowered to make decisions on the scene. What needs to be shored up is the capability of our merchant fleet. Few things could do more to deter piracy than an adequately armed merchant fleet.

The viewpoints I present here are mine, and do not necessarily represent the policies of the United States Navy or the Army Command and General Staff College.

LCDR Jim Drew

Bravo Zulu all involved. Don’t you love it when a plan comes together.

Next step, Naval Armed Guard Detachments embarked in all US Flag vessels transiting area.

Blood remains the price of Admiralty. Make pirates pay in full.

(Hat tip, memory of R. Kipling)

I took another lesson away from this beyond rewarding criminal behavior that is practiced with impunity. I have read the 2015 report, Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, and other periodicals and materials that clearly enumerate the value of free trade and cooperation. In addition the http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/ is a narrative of the history of commerce since the turn of the century.

But when we look at the headlines we see that this effort on internationalism and trade has left many behind, it is as if the promises of bnenefit rang hollow, as if the need to ‘rescue’ international finance, reinforce international troops, all left Americans who pay their taxes to the IRS and not the UN wondering what had happened?

I really think that there was no real panacea solution to piracy and observe that nearly 250 mariners still are held hostage. However the same values that state we have a ‘dog in the fight’ in Afghanastan and Pakistan, that international norms do not allow small non-nation groups to abrogate laws unto themselves, and that preserving interntaional norms and behaviors matters was at play in the response to this most recent piracy attack.

In a morallity sense, there was ‘the bad guys’ the ‘good guys’ and an American response. I mean sincerely I ‘get it’ that maritime law was the basis of ‘international law.’ In addition I understand that in a world of declining natural resources and competition for those resources that cooperation and international efforts best meet the challenge.

But the real issue is this as I sum things up. If there is no law or laws can be abroggated in defiance of international standards, in absence of international cooperation, in defiance of norms that serve all; and we do nothing.. all arguments of international efforts are undermined.

This is a real gut-check time for the international community to decide what type of future that they want? More failed states, more riots and discord, or do they want a set of standards and laws? You guys are supposed to be the tomorrow of the navy. If you get the time watch the commanding heights, ask what type of world we will have if trade turns into conflict? That said, do not be surprised if Americans applaud a uniquely American act until such time they cease paying their taxes to the IRS.

Beyond the olympics, name me the last time “Americans Won” and then conversely; why Americans should have allot of affinity to the concept of “international” in light of the financial difficulties?

Yeah.. America was in need of a hero..