JAMES JONES DOES A LITTLE MYTHBUSTING…. The story about Somali pirates and the hostage standoff with Captain Richard Phillips has faded from the front page, but some of the president’s conservative detractors have pushed a variety of spurious claims about what transpired. National Security Adviser James Jones wants to set the record straight.
President Obama dispatched two separate teams of Navy commandos to carry out last week’s rescue of a merchant ship captain held hostage by Somali pirates but left the operational details and rules of engagement to military commanders, National Security Adviser James. L. Jones said Tuesday.
“I can tell you from a White House and presidential standpoint, there was no conflict, no gnashing of teeth, or excessive influence in trying to manage this thing,” Mr. Jones, a retired Marine Corps four-star general, told The Washington Times in an interview.
He and other military officials gave the most detailed account to date of how Navy SEAL forces were dispatched — first from a base in Africa and later from the United States — to carry out the mission, and how Pentagon officials communicated with the White House. They sought to dispel Internet reports that the military was delayed from taking action by indecision inside the White House.
“I don’t recognize” the information being circulated on the Internet, Mr. Jones said.
Conservative bloggers, I think he’s talking about you.
Jones, talking to the conservative Washington Times, added, “This was, from my perspective, a textbook operation. There were two things [the president] was asked to approve and he did. And the military executed flawlessly.”
So, what are the claims that bothered Jones? Some of the rumors include claims that Obama was slow to approve action, and had rejected two proposed rescue attempts. The assertions, Jones said, are simply false.
In fact, Jones described this as a “real-world test” of the president’s new National Security Council crisis system, which Jones heads. “I think everybody played their part well and there wasn’t any overstepping on anybody’s equities,” he said. “The right questions were asked and the right actions were taken.”
Now you know.
