The Somali pirates who are stalking the waters off the horn of Africa are not terrorists. They are not motivated by ideology or by the desire to gain political advantage over any country or society by terrorizing its citizens. They are not engaging in the indiscriminate killing of civillians.
The pirates are criminals. They are motivated by money. They hijack seafaring vessels and hold the crews and cargo for ranson. They are kidnappers and thieves. That is not terrorism. That is crime.
With that in mind, it is distressing to see Time's Joe Klein attempt to fit for-profit hijacking into the "War on Terror" frame even as he praises the Obama administration for its successful resolution of last week's hostage crisis.
[P]resident Obama appears to have been crisp and decisive throughout...and what can one say about the SEAL sharpshooters--firing from a bobbing ship at a bobbing dinghy and recording three headshots?I expect this kind of intellectual laziness from the likes of Debbie Schlussel and Red State.
But it could easily have gone wrong, through no fault of the President and the SEALs--a gust of wind, whatever...and then the Administration would have had to waste all sorts of energy on damage control, fending off the second-guessers--Republicans and, all too often, people like me--and perhaps overreacting to the pirate "threat" as a result. Presidencies are, sadly, built or crippled on such quirks of fate.
As it stands, our socialist, pacifist, crypto-Muslim President has bagged three terrorist in the most dramatic fashion and saved a Captain. Congratulations to all concerned--and let's hope that the good luck continues to roll.
But Time Magazine? One would imagine they can do better.
