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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mph who wrote (300790)	4/13/2009 3:53:06 PM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793885

What if Bush was president. According to Somalis with knowledge of the discussions, the pirates, who at one time had demanded $2 million for Phillips's release, had grown desperate with their situation — adrift under a searing sun in waters infested with sharks, staring at two massive Navy ships armed with guided missiles, running low on fuel and having spent their ammunition. A relative of one of the pirates, who said he spoke with the men by satellite phone at about 3 p.m. — four hours before the Navy opened fire — said they "were getting scared" and trying to persuade the Americans to let them go in return for the captain's release. "They were trying to save their own lives," said the relative, Hassan Mohammed Farah, speaking by phone from Haradheere, a coastal town in central Somalia where pirates are known to operate. "The only thing they could bargain with was the captain, but the Americans would not accept." The pirates had appealed by satellite phone to other pirate groups to sail captive ships and hostages to the scene of the standoff, to put some pressure on the U.S. forces. But Guled Farah, who belongs to another pirate group that had hijacked a German ship last week, said that the presence of the U.S. vessels scared them off. "Their little boat was surrounded," Farah said by phone from Haradheere. "We couldn't go to help them, and for that we are sorry."

To: mph who wrote (300790)	4/13/2009 5:20:21 PM
From: gamesmistress	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793885

I wish I had confidence that I could trust Obama's instincts in responding to these situations. But I don't. I don't even want to know what his first, instinctive response was.

To: mph who wrote (300790)	4/13/2009 9:31:25 PM
From: KLP	2 Recommendations Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 793885

I have read that Obama's words were "....if the Captain's life was in "eminent danger"... What the heck does that mean...that any second the people holding the gun to his head "maybe/might/kinda thinking about/etc" would/could shoot now/later/or whenever it came to their mind?.... Does our Military have to have a revision of a dictionary to deal with the President on any of these issues? What other definition of "eminent danger" would there be? One would think that ANYTIME ANYONE (let alone two or three people) was/were holding a gun.....ANY type of gun to anyone's head or any other place on his/her body, that their life just might be in danger....!!!! I can believe that if ANY of our Presidents had someone holding a gun to their head, that the Secret Service would shoot to kill if they themselves still had a gun....and they wouldn't have to get permission to do it after 4 days, would they?