Still Using That Towel

Greetings from the Left Coast, where we here at Left Coast Blues do the heavy thinking for those who just can’t be bothered.

Continuing the Hitchhiker’s theme from our last post, the Obama administration continues to wrap its towel around its collective head in the apparent belief that if it can’t see the bad guys, they can’t see us either.

South Korea tests a long range missile, despite our stern warnings. (Gee, who would have thought that they would ignore our stern warnings?) In response, we…well we didn’t do anything other than bluster and go to the United Nations. Are you kidding me? The United Nations? The same bunch that passed umpteen Security Council resolutions against Iraq and refused to enforce any of them? That United Nations? I’m sure that Kim Jong Il is quaking in his boots.

Hard on the heels of that comes the attack by pirates on a U.S.-flagged vessel. Kudos to the crew, who managed to take their ship back…but it came at the cost of having their captain taken hostage. According to the administration, President Obama is staying “apprised of the situation.” According to the Secretary of State, “we are deeply concerned and we’re following it very closely.” But are we going to do anything? Apparently not, because “the world must come together to end the scourge of piracy,” which she goes on to describe as “criminal activity…on the high seas.”

“The world” isn’t going to do squat, and Mrs. Clinton knows it. "The world" is lazy and cowardly, and even more in denial than the Obama administration about the dangers of Islamic terrorists – of which the Somali pirates are just another manifestation. Some nations in the world might be willing to follow our leadership, but we haven’t got any. And “the world” did not end the scourge of piracy the first time around as Mrs. Clinton implied – the United States Marines did.

Ever wonder about that line in the Marine Hymn about “the shores of Tripoli?” That happened when President Thomas Jefferson unilaterally sent the Marines in to wipe out the pirates who had been preying on international shipping, literally selling their captives into slavery, and demanding ransoms that grew to represent a substantial percentage of U.S. revenues. These pirates were backed by the Ottoman Caliphate, whose ambassador told Jefferson and John Adams, who went to London to attempt to negotiate with him, that according to the Koran, “all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave.”

That war lasted 14 years – but we ultimately eliminated the Barbary pirates as a threat to our shipping. And we could do it again. According to the New York Daily News, “U.S. military commanders have already prepared battle plans for ending the scourge of piracy on the high seas off Somalia if President Obama pulls the trigger.” The article quotes retired U.S. Ambassador Robert Oakley as saying, “Our special operations people have been itching to clean them up. So far, no one has let them.” He went on to say that our Special Forces “could take care of the pirates in 72 hours.”

So…what do you think? Anybody want to lay odds on whether President Obama will give the green light to an operation to take out the pirates? Don’t hold your breath. The 3:00 am phone calls that Hillary warned us about during her campaign are starting to come in, and just as she predicted, Obama obviously isn’t up to the task.

North Korea will continue to do whatever they want to do. Obama will do nothing about it. Iran will continue to pursue nuclear weapons. Obama will do nothing about it. Pirates will continue to prey on shipping off the coast of Somalia. Obama will do nothing about it. He can’t see through that towel.

Thanks for listening.