Obama, piracy and a pup: Winning week

by Mark Silva

In a week dominated by news of puppies and piracy, President Barack Obama has emerged from the first potential flash-point of his administration with a victory in hand.

The president, who said nothing publicly about the pirate-attack on a U.S.-flagged container ship in the Indian Ocean last week until its captain was rescued by U.S. Special Operations forces on Sunday, had taken part in more than a dozen briefings and meetings on the situation. Friday night, the White House says, the president gave the Department of Defense "policy guidance and certain authorities to set of U.S. forces to engage in potential emergency actions.''

Act they did on Sunday, with snipers felling three of the four pirates with three shots and rescuing Richard Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama whose American crew had fended off the attempted piracy of the container ship last Wednesday.

Obama had gotten his first briefing on the foiled attack as he returned before dawn on Wednesday from his trip to Baghdad and Europe, and he got a report on the captain's rescue just after noon on Sunday, as he was returning from his first church service in Washington as president, and as the White House was basking in the "news'' coverage of the new first puppy, a Portuguese water dog dubbed "Amigo's New Hope'' in the registry of the American Kennel Club and named "Bo'' by the president's daughters.

The U.S. military's encounter with the pirates of Somalia had gone off swiftly and successfully.

"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,'' Michael Shears writes today in the Washington Post.

"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.

"I am very pleased that Captain Phillips has been rescued,'' Obama said Sunday night with congratulations for the Navy and Special Operations commanders: "We remain resolved to halt the rise of piracy in this region.'' .

(In a frame from video provided by the Navy, Maersk Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips is shown at his welcoming aboard the USS Bainbridge on Sunday after his rescue from pirates. Navy photo via AP. The president got news of the rescue after leaving Easter services at St. John's Church in Washington, shown above, in a photo by J. Scott Applewhite / AP)

"The president's focus was on saving and protecting the life of the captain," Shears reports of one adviser saying. 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."

Jennifer Loven of the Associated Press writes: " President Barack Obama's "no drama" handling of the Indian Ocean hostage crisis proved a big win for his administration in its first critical national security test.

"Obama's quiet backstage decision to authorize the Defense Department to take necessary action if Capt. Richard Phillips' life was in imminent danger gave a Navy commander the go-ahead to order snipers to fire on the pirates holding the cargo ship captain at gunpoint,'' the AP's chief White House correspondent notes.

"For Obama, the benefits were instantly clear: an American life saved and a major victory notched against an increasingly worrisome scourge of the seas off the Horn of Africa. Obama's handling of the crisis showed a president who was comfortable in relying on the U.S. military, much as his predecessor, George W. Bush, did.''

So today, the president is able to step out to the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House without a military crisis hanging over him, and Tuesday, the White House will roll out a dog named Bo.