re: #472 lightspeed

Sorry, can’t give the President much credit here. According to current information, his orders were to NOT DO ANYTHING provocative unless the hostage was about to be killed (“imminent danger”). “

Well, sorta. It was a legal nicety. Apparently you can’t shoot pirates unless attacked or to another against imitate danger.

“Obama’s involvement in the decision to authorize lethal force was legally required, officials said, because it was a hostage situation, not combat, and unrelated to the already authorized U.S. effort against al-Qaida and other terror groups, officials said.”