Capt. Phillips Freed, 3 Somali Pirates Killed

It was a victory for America and a defeat for the Somali pirates.

Capt. Richard Phillips was freed and the pirates didn't get their ransom. They got killed.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Navy SEAL snipers on the fantail of a destroyer cut down three Somali pirates in a lifeboat and rescued an American sea captain on Easter Sunday. The surprise nighttime assault in choppy seas ended a five-day standoff between a team of rogue gunmen and the world's most powerful military.

It was a stunning conclusion to an Indian Ocean odyssey that began when 53-year-old freighter Capt. Richard Phillips was taken hostage Wednesday by pirates who tried to hijack the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama. The Vermont native was held on a tiny lifeboat that began drifting precariously toward Somalia's anarchic, gun-plagued shores.

The operation, personally approved by President Barack Obama, quashed fears the saga could drag on for months and marked a victory for the U.S., which for days seemed powerless to resolve the crisis despite massing helicopter-equipped warships at the scene.

Negotiations with the three pirates were growing heated, Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said.

One of them pointed an AK-47 at the back of Phillips, who was tied up and in "imminent danger" of being killed when the commander of the nearby USS Bainbridge made the split-second decision to order his men to shoot, Gortney said. Navy snipers took aim at the pirates' heads and shoulders, he said.

The lifeboat was about 25-30 yards away and was being towed by the Bainbridge at the time, he said. The pirates had agreed to the tow to move the powerless lifeboat out of rough water.

A fourth pirate surrendered after boarding the Bainbridge earlier in the day and could face life in a U.S. prison. He had been seeking medical attention for a wound to his hand and was negotiating with U.S. officials on conditions for Phillips' release, military officials said.

The rescue was a dramatic blow to the pirates who have preyed on international shipping and hold more than a dozen ships with about 230 foreign sailors. But it is unlikely to do much to quell the region's growing pirate threat, which has transformed one of the world's busiest shipping lanes into one of its most dangerous. It also risked provoking retaliatory attacks.

Retaliation?

The pirates were in the wrong.

The dead aren't victims. They aren't martyrs. They lived like thugs and died like thugs.

I'm so proud of the skill and bravery of our Navy SEALs. I am so thankful that the family of Capt. Phillips is looking forward to his joyous return rather than planning his funeral.

...Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding the Greek ship anchored in the Somali town of Gaan, said: "Every country will be treated the way it treats us. In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying," he told The Associated Press. "We will retaliate (for) the killings of our men."

Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told the AP from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl, that: "From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages)."

"Now they became our number one enemy," Habeb said of U.S. forces.

Abdullahi Lami is a bad guy. He and his colleagues are pirates.

He talks as if the U.S. actions were unjustified and the Somalis were victims. The Somali pirates were just doing their jobs.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Reuters quoted a pirate it called "Hussein" yesterday saying that "The French and Americans will regret starting this killing. We do not kill, but take only ransom. We shall do something to anyone we see as French or American from now on."

Yes, the pirates are a peaceful lot. They only take ransom. They don't kill.

Right. Literally holding a gun to an innocent person's head isn't a typical business transaction.

Adm. Rick Gurnon, head of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, describes the pirates' "business model."

"The pirates have a great business model that works for them: See ships, take ransom, make millions," he told reporters.

The pirates' "business model" wouldn't work unless the threat of great physical harm and death were part of it.

I don't see how anyone can seriously discuss the pirates' actions as if they're businessmen. They're terrorists.

(Read a great column by Joe Queenan on the new administration's new war terminology: "War By Any Other Name." Spot-on.)

This situation is resolved. It was resolved successfully, but not peacefully. Capt. Phillips is alive. But the crisis isn't over. The U.S. now must exhibit resolve.

In "Saving Captain Phillips," the Wall Street Journal makes the case for a continued display of U.S. strength.

The Easter Sunday rescue of cargo ship Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates is a tribute to his personal bravery and the skill and steel nerves of the U.S. Navy. Now the Obama Administration has an obligation to punish and deter these lawless raiders so they'll never again risk taking a U.S.-flagged ship or an American crew.

The story of Captain Phillips and the Maersk Alabama is full of the kind of divine providence or good luck that can't always be counted on. Not every merchant marine vessel will have a crew that fights back against armed raiders, or a captain willing to trade his own safety for that of his crew. It's also fortunate the U.S. Navy arrived before the pirates could make it back to land, where they would have been much harder to track down.

We can be grateful that the pirates exposed themselves long enough for U.S. Special Forces to shoot and kill three of them and free Captain Phillips. Any such rescue carries risks, as we saw when a passenger was killed during the weekend French rescue of a pirated pleasure boat off Somalia. Patience was rewarded in the U.S. case, but also so was preparation and the willingness to act when Navy officials say Captain Phillips appeared to be in "imminent danger."

White House and Navy officials say President Obama had issued a general authorization to use force in these circumstances, and that is to his credit. With all the world watching, the U.S. Navy couldn't afford to be long stymied by sea-faring kidnappers. No doubt Mr. Obama would have been criticized in some quarters -- though not by us -- had Captain Phillips been killed once the order was given to shoot the pirates. But that is the kind of decision that has to be left with commanders on the spot. The pirates made themselves potential targets of deadly force under the law of the sea the second they took Captain Phillips hostage.

A fourth pirate was captured, and we hope the Justice Department tries him under U.S. laws rather than transfer him to Kenyan control. Better still if he's transferred to Guantanamo and held as an "enemy combatant," or whatever the Obama Administration prefers to call terrorists.

Last week, I was criticized for saying Obama "has to make it clear that he's continuing President Bush's approach. It's a mistake to mess with the U.S. Those who do will suffer the consequences."

Turns out, that's the approach Obama chose to take. Sometimes, apologizing to the world, talking down America, and promising not to be arrogant, dismissive, and derisive, won't get the job done.

We know that Obama authorized the use of deadly force TWICE.

The Washington Post is praising Obama's handling of the incident. It's deemed a military victory for Obama.

I support Obama's orders, though I think it was a big mistake for him to fail to address the matter when asked by the press.

As president, he is the "comforter in chief" during times of crisis and tragedy. I think he should have said a few words, just a few words, like "Capt. Phillips is in our prayers."

Obama needs to learn what to say and when to say it. In this matter, he failed on that count.

But I give him credit for showing the spine to have the Somali pirates killed to save Capt. Phillips. He didn't let the Somalis mess with the U.S.

This was a very small "overseas contingency operation," but significant.

Obama will issue orders to kill.
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Raw: Navy Releases Video of Captain Richard Phillips After Rescue