By Michael D. Shear | Washington Post

It was one of the earliest tests of the new American president — a small military operation off the coast of a Third World nation. But as President Bill Clinton found out in October 1993, even minor failures can have long-lasting consequences.

Clinton’s efforts to land a small contingent of troops in Haiti were rebuffed, for the world to see, by a few hundred gun-toting Haitians. As the USS Harlan County retreated, so did the president’s reputation.

For President Obama, last week’s confrontation with Somali pirates posed similar political risks to a young commander in chief who had yet to prove himself to his generals or his public.

But the result — a dramatic and successful rescue operation by U.S. Special Operations forces — left Obama with an early victory that could help build confidence in his ability to direct military actions abroad.

Throughout the past four days, White House officials played down Obama’s role in the hostage drama. Until yesterday, he made no public statements about the pirates.

In fact, aides said yesterday, Obama had been briefed 17 times since he returned from his trip abroad, including several times from the White House Situation Room. And without giving too many details, senior White House officials made it clear that Obama had provided the authority for the rescue.

“The president’s focus was on saving and protecting the life of the captain,” one adviser said. Friday evening, after a National Security Council telephone update, Obama granted U.S. forces what aides called “the authority to use appropriate force to save the life of the captain.” On Saturday at 9:20 a.m., Obama went further, giving authority to an “additional set of U.S. forces to engage in potential emergency actions.”

A top military official, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of the Fifth Fleet, explained that Obama issued a standing order that the military was to act if the captain’s life was in immediate danger.

“Our authorities came directly from the president,” he said. “And the number one authority for incidents if we were going to respond was if the captain’s life was in immediate danger. And that is the situation in which our sailors acted.”

After the rescue ended, White House officials immediately offered expanded information about Obama’s role, though the president simply released a statement praising the troops and expressing pride in the captain’s bravery.

The operation pales in scope and complexity to the wars underway in Iraq and Afghanistan. And Obama’s adversaries are unlikely to be mollified by his performance in a four-day hostage drama.

Nonetheless, it may help to quell criticism leveled at Obama that he came to office as a Democratic antiwar candidate who could prove unwilling or unable to harness military might when necessary.

And as Obama’s Democratic predecessors can attest, a victory — no matter how small — is better than a failure.

Clinton’s decision to send the USS Harlan County to Haiti loaded with troops was seen as a half-measure taken by a president spooked by the earlier downing of a Black Hawk helicopter in Somalia.

After the Harlan’s failure to get ashore, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote in a column that year that the incident “makes the administration look feckless and the country look weak.”

Thirteen years earlier, Democratic President Jimmy Carter authorized a military rescue of the 52 hostages being held by Iranians in Tehran. The 1980 attempt, called Operation Eagle Claw, ended when two helicopters crashed in the desert, killing eight servicemen.

The incident was a permanent blemish on Carter’s reputation.

Had yesterday’s rescue at sea gone badly, the political damage for Obama might have been severe. But aides said the outcome should be seen as a success.

“This is the latest indication that the national security team is working well together,” a senior White House official said last night. “These folks have spent a lot of time together, including with the president, in the first couple months, and they have a good working relationship. ”

Somali pirates vow revenge on US – Al Jazeera

A Somali pirate chief has vowed to target Americans in revenge for the death of three pirates killed during a US raid to free an American hostage held by the pirates.

Abdi Garad said on Monday that the US forces had shot and killed the men, even after they had agreed to free the hostage.

“The American liars have killed our friends after they agreed to free the hostage without ransom,” Garad was reported by the AFP news agency as saying.

“But I tell you that this matter will lead to retaliation and we will hunt down particularly American citizens travelling our waters.”

The news agency reported that Garad was speaking by phone from Eyl, a pirate base on Somalia’s eastern coast.

Sniper attack

Navy snipers on the USS Bainbridge shot and killed three of the four pirates holding hostage Richard Phillips, the captain of a ship the pirates had attacked.

The pirates had attacked the US-flagged container ship the Maersk Alabama and while the crew seized back the ship, the pirates kept hold of Phillips, the ship’s captain, on a lifeboat.

He reportedly jumped from the vessel in an attempt to escape, but was quickly re-captured.

The Bainbridge was one of two US navy warships sent to the scene to monitor the situation and rescue Phillips, a plan approved by Barack Obama, the US president.

The US navy said the snipers opened fire when Phillips’ life appeared to be in danger.

“They were pointing the AK-47s at the captain,” Vice Admiral William Gortney, head of the US naval central command, said in a Pentagon briefing from Bahrain.

“The on-scene commander took it as the captain was in imminent danger and then made that decision and he had the authorities to make that decision and he had seconds to make that decision,” he said.

Hostage situation

Before the raid, the pirates, who demanded a $2m ransom for Phillips, warned the US government not to use force.

Meanwhile, the Maersk Alabama arrived in the Kenyan port of Mobassa on Saturday.

Abdulkadir Walayo, a Somali government spokesman, hailed the operation.

“I hope this operation will be a lesson for other pirates holding the hostages on the ships they hijacked,” he said.

The raid occurred only two days after French commandos stormed a yacht to rescue two French couples and a child being held by Somali pirates in a separate incident.

Hijackings are an ongoing problem in the busy shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia.

At least a dozen ships have been seized in the Indian Ocean and more than 200 crew members are being held hostage.

How Captain Phillips was rescued – BBC

US Navy snipers made a split-second decision to shoot dead three Somali pirates holding a cargo ship captain hostage on a lifeboat, officials say.

US Navy spokesman Vice-Adm William Gortney said the pirates were shot because Capt Richard Phillips’ life appeared in “imminent danger”.

Snipers on a US warship towing the lifeboat fired after seeing a pirate pointing a gun at him, the navy said.

Capt Phillips was not hurt, and a fourth pirate surrendered.

The US Navy had had contact with the pirates as the stand-off continued, attaching a tow rope and taking one pirate on board for medical help.

Negotiations involving Somali elders had been going on throughout Sunday to secure the captain’s release, with the fourth pirate still on board the USS Bainbridge.

He was taken into military custody.

The lifeboat, which had no power, was attached on a tow line about 100 ft (27 metres) behind the warship after the pirates had accepted an offer to be moved out of rough seas.

One pirate was seen through a window pointing an AK-47 at the back of Capt Phillips, who was tied up.

The commander ordered the shooting, with snipers aiming at the pirates’ heads and shoulders when two of them appeared at the rear hatch, Vice Admiral Gortney said.

It was unclear how long the shooting lasted, with some reports saying it was several minutes, while the New York Times reported that three single shots were all that were needed.

Navy sailors then sailed to the lifeboat in a small inflatable craft and rescued Capt Philips.

He was unhurt despite being just a few metres away from his captors during the shooting.

He was then taken on board the Bainbridge, and later moved to the USS Boxer where he underwent a medical examination.

Tied up

Capt Phillips had been held hostage in the lifeboat since Wednesday, when pirates attacked his ship, the Maersk Alabama.

He had agreed to become a hostage so that his crew could go free, the crew said.

Vice-Adm Gortney said the pirates were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and small-calibre pistols.

US President Barack Obama had given clear orders to shoot if Capt Phillips’ life was in danger, he said.