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ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: Captain Richard Phillips' Leap of Faith (4/10/2009 8:04:55 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: TheHeretic
quote:
ORIGINAL: dcnovice
I'm reserving judgment until the story is over.
Well, that is the problem, DC. It should BE over. The hostage was off the boat. The pirates fired weapons. The US Navy has a modern destroyer right on top of them. There are a lot of ways that hand can be played, and sitting there with your thumb up your ass is the worst. That includes the hostage getting killed in his escape attempt.
This is much bigger than one guy on a boat. It goes all the way up to what the rest of the world is going to think of our new President. WTF!? The FRENCH get this stuff, for crying out loud!
I don't know if killing one of the hostages they were trying to rescue could really be called getting it right.
Frankly, I don't see many ways this hand can be played. I only see a couple, and it looks like the Powers That Be have chosen the gambit that they judge is least likely to get the hostage killed. They're in a boat in the middle of the ocean; there's no conceivable way to sneak up on them and surprise them suddenly enough to ensure they don't pop a round into the captain. I think at some point, it's going to come down to where that is their only option, but as long as he's still alive and the situation is not overtly escalating, we're not at that point yet. Short of coming up under them with a submarine and capsizing the boat, I'm not sure what more they can do but wait for something to change.
Why they didn't take the pirates out last night when he jumped over the side, I have no idea. I'm guessing that whoever's on the trigger on that destroyer has been given strict rules of engagement by an overly-cautious commanding officer, and were not allowed to shoot without explicit orders. It sounds like it happened so fast, somebody seriously blew a golden opportunity. I'm willing to bet body parts that there are snipers on the trigger pretty much round the clock now, and every single nuance of the pirates' emotional states and body language is being meticulously scrutinized, constantly. I'm sure (or at least, I would hope) that if another such opportunity presents itself (which seems unlikely now), it won't be wasted again; and if there appears to be any significant escalation of tensions or sudden change in the pirates' demeanor, I would think there's a good chance the commander on the scene will make the split-second call and try to take them out.
It's not an easy task, though, even for a team of experienced snipers - getting clear shots and dropping several targets all at once, while they're bobbing around in a boat in the middle of an ocean. That moment last night when the one guy they didn't want to shoot was in the ocean, and all the others were still in the boat, was as good as it gets. I'll bet there are people on that destroyer who need crutches right now from kicking themselves in the ass so much over the way they dropped the ball there.
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