by Ted Sherman

Created on: May 01, 2009

It is the Constitutional duty for the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces to apply military action whenever and wherever it is needed to protect the lives of American citizens. That should end any argument as to whether the President should have ordered deadly force in rescuing the American ship captain from captivity by Somali pirates.

Of course, there will always be post-mortem questions and political arguments about the rightness of such actions. Every President will have to deal with them, as with many similar problems that are sure to arise in the future. Some Americans, uneasy about the execution-style killings of the two young pirates may ask: should Mr. Obama have attempted first to negotiate with the Somali government?

That could compare with what happened on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese launched an unprovoked attack on American military and naval facilities in Pearl Harbor, causing thousands of casualties. Instead of asking Congress to declare war the next day, should President Roosevelt have waited and tried to negotiate with the Japanese Emperor in an attempt to prevent further attacks?

The answer in both cases has to be a resounding no. In President Obama's situation, even if he would have wanted to plead his case, he knows there's no viable government to contact in Somalia. The country has been in political and economic turmoil for the past two decades, and is ruled by fierce warlords, each with his own army and political territory. Intelligence indicates the pirates are supplied and armed by the Somali warlords, and nothing will stop them except to understand that pirate force will be opposed by bigger force.

In the case of President Roosevelt in 1941, he immediately realized the Pearl Harbor attack was just the beginnings of a massive Japanese campaign to defeat the U.S., and he had to act quickly and decisively. While what the U.S. Navy Seals did to rescue the captured ship captain was admirably effective, President Obama knows it is just the beginning of what is needed to prevent more pirate attacks on shipping in the ocean off the Somali shores.

Negotiations and plans are now underway to create a multi-national land, sea and air force, including participation by the U.S., Great Britain, Russia and other nations, that will patrol the area and fight all pirate activities. Whatever happens when that force takes actions to track down and destroy the pirate gangs and their sanctuaries ashore, we can be assured that the Command in Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces will issue the right orders.

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