Three Shots
By Mitch Berg
Military spokespeople say the the SEAL snipers took only three shots to kill the three pirates yesterday. It’s the kind of thing that you roll your eyes over when you read it in a Tom Clancy novel.
But yes, SEAL/Delta/Marine snipers are that good:
Asked how the snipers could have killed each pirate with a single shot in the darkness, Gortney described them as “extremely, extremely well-trained.” He told NBC’s “Today” show the shooting by the snipers was ordered by the captain of the Bainbridge after the pirates “exposed themselves” to attack.Military officials were widely praising the snipers for three flawless shots, which they described as remarkable, coming at night and from the stern of a ship on rolling waters.
Yeah, that’s pretty praiseworthy…
April 13th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Marksmanship still has a place in the world. Good shooting.
Since this is all over now, we can get to the bigger question:
Are Somali pirates obtaining their AK-47s in the USA at gun shows along the Mexican border? High Seas piracy has only increased since the expiration of the “Assault Weapons” ban in 2004, you know.
I expect an expose on 60 Minutes next Sunday.
April 13th, 2009 at 8:43 am
True story – every single AK used in the Battle of Mogadishu? They all came from one gun show in Lexington Kentucky!
Really!
April 13th, 2009 at 8:52 am
True story – every single AK used in the Battle of Mogadishu? They all came from one gun show in Lexington Kentucky!
That explains all the “Eat More Possum” bumperstickers stuck all over the buildings in downtown Mogadishu.
April 13th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I see, so you domestic gun nuts are protecting us from invasion by Somalia.
Angryclown thinks it’s a good thing the armed forces have guns and are well trained in their use. Unbalanced wignuts in suburban neighborhoods – kind of a different deal, dontcha think?
April 13th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Unbalanced wignuts in suburban neighborhoods – kind of a different deal, dontcha think?
Oh, unbalanced wingnuts? Sure!
Of course, it’s an objective fact that the typical law-abiding gun owner is better-balanced, happier and better educated, on average, than non-gun-owners, so it’s a win-win for me.
it’s a good thing the armed forces have guns and are well trained in their use
And where do you think those trained armed forces come from? Some Spartan warrior caste?
Nah. It’s the kids from the ‘burbs and Mississippi and Texas and Wyoming (who are 4-6 times more likely, per capita, to serve than someone in Manhattan).
Hey, didja know Special Forces are overwhelmingly likely to be fundamentalist Christians from down south? Y’know – those people you bag on constantly?
I bet not!
April 13th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Unbalanced wignuts in suburban neighborhoods – kind of a different deal, dontcha think?
Hey, it keeps you off my lawn, so it’s all good.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:09 am
“Of course, it’s an objective fact that the typical law-abiding gun owner is better-balanced, happier and better educated, on average, than non-gun-owners, so it’s a win-win for me.”
Sure, until the voices in their heads overcome the “law-abiding part,” as they inevitably do. Like that typical law-abiding gun owner who went berserk in Binghampton last week.
Hey, can you provide a link for that statistic about how suburban kids from Mississippi and Texas and Wyoming are 4-6 more likely to enlist than kids in New York? Cause that would be really interesting to see.
I’m sure you didn’t pull it out of your ass.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Beck says we should be organizing Maersk Parties to dump our Maersk-shipped products in protest of Obammy’s role in using the Somalis to conceal his African afiliations and origins.
This is all just misdirection. Don’t fall for it.
Gasoline on the fire, Glenn, we’re with you!
/jc
April 13th, 2009 at 10:14 am
angryclown said:
“as they inevitably do”
and then said something about other folks pull stuff out of nether regions.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Source: I got it from Robert Kaplan, in his book “Imperial Grunts”. I can dig up the specific cite when I get home.
And I said “Manhattan”. Blue-collar kids from suburban NYC and the boroughs are well-represented in the military, although proportionally at a much lower rate than the South, the West, and especially Texas.
And yes, the Kates/Harris study did in fact show gun owners are happier with their lives, better-educated, and less likely to approve of police brutality than the rest of you. The odd exception doesn’t disprove the rule.
Of course, we all know that with clowns it’s no big thing to be happier than they are; yer all crying on the inside, I know.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:31 am
AssClown quipped: “I’m sure you didn’t pull it out of your ass.”
Couldn’t have; no way to get it past your head. Q.E.D.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:35 am
By clownie’s reasoning, we now know that the Clown is really just John Wayne Gacy. It makes his homophobic “jokes” and “commentary” completely understandable now!
April 13th, 2009 at 10:57 am
OBAMA DEFEATS THE AQUATERRORIST; WINGNUTS STYMIED
April 13th, 2009 at 11:01 am
I got it from Robert Kaplan, in his book “Imperial Grunts”.
Oh, and he got it from the military, who takes its demographics pretty seriously.
Kaplan – whose main gig is with The Atlantic – notes, anecdotally and empirically, that special forces like the USSF (“Green Berets”), SEALs and Deltas tend to have extremely high representations of southern fundamentalists.
April 13th, 2009 at 11:01 am
ANGRYCLOWN SPANKED, CREATES DISTRACTION
April 13th, 2009 at 11:03 am
“OBAMA DEFEATS THE AQUATERRORIST”
Really? According to that bird dropping specialist in NY Obama gave permission to use force only if it appeared that the captain’s life was in danger.
Of course, by limp-wristed clownish standards, that is aggressively defeating the enemy.
April 13th, 2009 at 11:03 am
WINGNUTS STYMIED
“Stymied” – is that a fancy word for “caught in flagrante with Scarlett Johannsen?” Because that sounds pretty cool.
Also more realistic.
April 13th, 2009 at 11:30 am
FUNDAMENTALIST CHRISTIAN SEALS KILL AQUATERRORIST; OBAMA APPROVES; ANGRYCLOWN GLOATING, CONFUSED
April 13th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Oh, Angryclown certainly approves of training ignorant farm boys to do simple tasks and obey commands without question. Now that we have an intelligent Commander-in-Chief to give the orders.
April 13th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
“Ah, er, Gates, what should I do?”
“Follow the procedure already in place, Mr. President.”
“Er, ah, um, yes. Yes We can.” I’m going to go play with the new puppy now. Cute little er, ah, thing.”
April 13th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
He doubts it, but then he believes. And comes up with a convenient rationalization.
April 13th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
“Oh, Angryclown certainly approves of training ignorant farm boys to do simple tasks and obey commands without question.”
Keep your kinks to yourself, will ya? ….friggin’ clownperv.
Sheesh.
April 13th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
“Now that we have an intelligent Commander-in-Chief to give the orders.”
Yeah, the Preznut of the 59 United States of ‘Merica.
I’m waiting for his formal apology to the pirate community.
April 13th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Oh, Angryclown certainly approves of training ignorant farm boys to do simple tasks and obey commands without question.
Wow. Do you know what that means, guys? We’ve finally figured out AC’s secret identity! Angryclown is Princess Buttercup!
April 13th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I’m waiting for his formal apology to the pirate community.
Actually, Swiftee, seeing as how the preznit is from Hawaii, he will likely take a page from the Hawaii politician’s gloss and refer to pirates as ‘maritime commerce stakeholders’.
April 13th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Isn’t our Republican SecDef responsible for a good portion of the success of this mission. Boy, whoever appointed Gates as Secretary of Defense was one sharp cookie.
April 13th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Think you mean “dead maritime commerce stakeholders” Terr.
April 13th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I anticipate a triumphal march down the National Mall in DC, with Obama resplendent in a purple toga riding a golden chariot. Behind him the pirate will be borne in an iron cage. The march will stop at the Washington monument, where the pirate and Obama will climb to its peak. There Obama will break the pirate’s limbs with an iron bar (to represent the fasces of state power), then garotte him with a cord made from Hillary Clinton’s hair and cast his body down to the rabble, who will gleefully tear it to bits.
April 13th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
April 13th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Terry indulges in delighfully macbre Roman fantasy. Will Clownie enjoy the irony?
April 13th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
I noticed this line from a WaPo article on the shooting of the pirates:
Three deft sniper shots ended a drama that appeared initially as another example of a muscle-bound U.S. military unable to adapt to today’s unpredictable security threats.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/13/AR2009041303068_pf.html
This is an example of something so stupid only a young MFA could write it. One wonders where whoever wrote the line got the idea that the modern US military is ‘muscle-bound’. Does he or she simply not know what the word ‘muscle-bound’ means?
April 13th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Agh! Open tag!
April 13th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Fixed it.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Good God. How do you adapt to an ‘unpredictable security threat’?
I otta start my own newspaper.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Sorry I’m late to the party, but I’ve got a question for Angryclown. By your standards I’m an unbalanced wingnut, but I’m also in the military. Do I get a gun?
And Mr Clown might want to hold off on the celebratory parade for Pres Obama-it appears he had much less to do with the ‘rescue operation’ than reported.
April 14th, 2009 at 6:37 am
Well done, Dave Thul. Armed unbalanced wingnuts belong in the military, where they can indiscriminately attack our enemies, rather than our own citizens.
And yeah, turns out Barack “The Pirate Slayer” Obama didn’t actually squeeze off those three sniper shots all by himself. But there’s no question you slavering kooks were getting all prepared to blame him if the operation failed. It didn’t. Good guys win, terrorists and their wingnut supporters lose.
April 14th, 2009 at 6:39 am
Dave,
Clown answered that; you’re a wingnut led by a genius. Oh, yes.
And it matters not that Obama may have dithered. He’s the CinC, so he’ll get the credit. From the media.
Look, all’s well that ends well. PBO isn’t the star of this show; Cap’n Phillps, his crew, the SEALs and the Captain of the Bainbridge are. I think most people know it.
April 14th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Led by a genus? Hmmm.
The last CIC that led us crazy wingnuts in the military freed 60 million people from tyranny.
This CIC didn’t want to let the crazy wingnut military free one American from tyranny.
I’m not concerned if Pres Obama dithered. The on scene commander almost always knows the situation on the ground better. I’m concerned that Pres Obama instructed the CO of the Bainbridge not to shoot unless Armageddon was upon them.
April 14th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Dave Tool said: “The last CIC that led us crazy wingnuts in the military freed 60 million people from tyranny.”
Iran thanks you.
April 14th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Iran thanks you.
The majority of the people of Iran do, and wish that they had been freed, too.
And if PBO doesn’t deal with Iran before they get nukes, Israel and the rest of the world will wish the same.
April 14th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
In the last 8 years, the number of democratic countries bordering Iran has doubled.
I’m pretty sure Iran’s thank you to the US came in the form of all of those EFP’s they gave to the insurgents in Iraq.
Remember, AC, the dissenting viewpoint you offer on this site would get you landed in prison in Iran.
April 14th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Dissenting viewpoint, Dave Tool? More like majority viewpoint. Check the election results or an opinion poll sometime, you fringe-right kook.
April 15th, 2009 at 6:45 am
Angryclown calls me a ‘fringe right wing kook’? Doesn’t that qualify me for a free year’s membership in the MOB or something?
April 15th, 2009 at 8:07 am
No, Clown, Sgt. Thul is correct. Wearing a fez and floppy shoes violates a couple of shuras in the Quran.
This blog eschews sharia for the ancient Norse tradition of strongman justice. I’ll allow you to (rhetorically) live.