REPLIES TO THE CURRENT QUESTION

Our question last week was:

Was President Obama's use of force to free Captain Phillips a reflection of his true leanings, or a cynical move to deflect critics who see him as soft?  Give reasons for your answer.

Here are your answers.  The name of a writer is included only if he or she actually placed a name at the end of the message.  Otherwise, we assume the writer wished anonymity and "name withheld" is inserted.

Attempting to assess motivation from observable actions is a tenuous exercise, at best.  When observable actions are like the tip of an iceberg, as in this case, it is downright foolhardy.  What we can be sure of, though, is that the post action spinmeisters on both sides will attempt to rewrite history to serve their own ends.  Rather than join that group, let's give credit where credit is due.  In this specific instance, President Obama did the right thing.  If he did it for the wrong reasons, eventually that will come out.  

There is a danger in over-analyzing a situation like this one.  If there is an interminable media frenzy of dissection of ever action, parsing every sentence, etc., then the "pirate community" will see that as a success as it will give their activity credibility where none should accrue.  It will exacerbate every future pirate vs. "X" negotiation in the future until the pirates are removed from the scene.  

What will really be interesting is to see how long it takes for the Administration to take action against all the pirates, onshore, offshore or wherever they roam.  Acting to save a single individual is one thing, resolving a significant international right-of-passage question is something else, entirely.  If President Obama uses the current successful rescue as a springboard to making piracy so costly that it is abandoned by the Somalian lawless, then he can take credit and it will be deserved.

Don Newell
Vancouver, WA

It is clearly not a reflection of the true leanings of the Obama I know. By
using his own mumbo jumbo against him (i.e., using his own standards of
judging President Bush) Obama's alleged authorization to kill the pirates
has "made us less safe" and will "undoubtedly serve as a recruiting tool
for future pirates." 

I try to give credit where it is due, and, if Obama deserves it, then so be it. However, it is this administration's partisanship (i.e. the diametric opposite of what Obama sold himself to the world on) that makes it hard for me to give him credit for anything without
thoroughly scrutinizing the circumstances. The standoff with the pirates
could have gone badly. If the captain was killed and Obama was involved in
the decision process, we would be all over his case right now. But the
outcome couldn't have been better, and I am just as proud as can be of
American military excellence. I just wish we were that good at sharpshooting our economic problems.

(name withheld)

The use of force is certainly not a reflection of President Obama’s true leanings, quite the opposite. Like the crafty politician he is, he kept his mouth shut during the standoff and waited until a successful conclusion before jumping in with both feet to claim his part of the glory. If things had gone badly, he was in a position of deniability. The true reflection of his feelings is displayed every time he meets with foreign leaders, whining about how awful the United States is and groveling to former and present adversaries.

Tom Bullock

West Covina, CA