Pirates of the Horn of Africa

I know this post is a little late following the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, but I felt it was important to send such much needed praise.

First and foremost, I am happy Captain Phillips is now home with his family. His family should be so proud of him, it is refreshing to know there are people out there in this world that are willing to put their lives on the line for the safety of others. Captain Phillips made himself a hostage so that his crew and his ship could be safe. How many of us can honestly say we would make ourselves a hostage for our coworkers?

Secondly, I need to pass praise to the Navy Seals who rescued Captain Phillips. There is no doubt they are incredibly skilled. What we can learn from this experience is that our military knows what it's doing.

Lastly, I feel it is appropriate to pass praise to President Obama. I admit I was very worried how the hostage situation would end going into the last weekend. I was worried because it appeared the pirates were at least willing to challenge the US Navy and the White House was rather quite on the issue. After Captain Phillips was rescued and I learned that President Obama had authorized the use of deadly force multiple times, I grew confidence in our commander in chief. I don't celebrate the death of anyone, but, unfortunately we live in a world where extreme military action is needed in appropriate situations.

The pirate situation has fallen out of the daily news cycle at this point but I don't think it is an issue that is going to go away. There is so much commerce and ship traffic that goes through the Horn of Africa it is only a matter of time that a hostage situation occurs.