How many pirates does it take to embarrass the world's strongest military?

How many pirates does it take to embarrass the world's strongest military? Apparently, only four.

Does it bother you, that apparently we, and we have to conclude the decision maker here is the president, do not have the will to deal with four thugs in a manner that might prevent a larger crisis? I mean, armed thugs boarded an American flagged vessel, have taken the captain of the ship hostage, and we are apparently unwilling to respond in kind. And not only that, they shot at the captain when he tried to escape! All within view of the sailors on the USS Bainbraidge, an $800 million dollar USN destroyer. I wonder what the life boat the thugs, and the US citizen are in, cost?

At one level this is silly. The Captain of a United States warship, and presumably, the Admiral of the Navy, the Secretary of State, and the President of the United States have all been involved in the decision to do--nothing!

But at another level this is scary. If we will not deal with four thugs in a lifeboat holding a gun to the head of a US Citizen, what will we deal with? Do you think for a second that the Chinese, the Russians, and the North Koreans are not taking notes? There will be a price to pay for our lack of resolve. And unfortunately, the people to pay that price will probably be our military.

I live in an area in which you would not be terribly surprised to encounter a bear, or a wolf. If you turn your back and run when encountering either of these types of animals, you are inviting them to chase you down and attack you from the back. We are doing exactly the same thing by how we are handling this stupid, silly situation. Our enemies, and make no mistake we do have enemies, are taking note of our lack of resolve, and will no doubt test us in some meaningful way in the future. God bless those citizens and our military, who will be at the forefront of that test, brought on by our bungled handling of four bungling pirates.