I think there are 2 possible things going on here.

1) Obama may want to look tough ala Clinton in Wacko or That Gonzales kid and
could use this situation to do that.

OR
2) More likely, he will be afraid to pull the trigger, and will pay the ransom and
Treat this as a “legal” matter and issue arrest warrants for the Pirates. That
is ultimately how the Democrats want to fight terror anyway.