It sure felt like it me… and it appears that the Department of Defense was itching to nip it the bud well before Sunday.
President Obama’s reaction to the hostage drama involving a U.S.-flagged ship off the coast of Somalia was on the mind of a U.S. Congressman visiting Johnson County today.
U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., was in the city for a news conference about his request for federal funding to help construct a new interchange at I-65 and Worthsville Road.
But Buyer made a point to talk about the rescue of U.S. Capt. Richard Phillips by Navy SEALS on Sunday.
Buyer said the U.S. Department of Defense had twice asked Obama for permission to use force against the pirates, who took Phillips from the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday and held him in a lifeboat.
“It is pretty stunning to me it had taken the president so long to say ‘OK’ to the Department of Defense to use force,” Buyer said. “Any time a captain of a U.S.-flagged vessel finds themselves in imminent danger, you shouldn’t have have had to ask that question.”
Buyer said Obama’s action during the crisis tipped the presidents’ hand at how he is going to act as commander in chief.
“He has shown the hand of appeasement,” Buyer said, “and he’s going to have to learn quickly that if he does not make these tough decisions when time is of the essence, that lives could hang in the balance.”
Obama was lucky this time that his hesitation didn’t cost an American lives. But this was a relatively small test of leadership, and Obama clearly failed to act quickly.
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