I don't entirely understand the tactical situation off the Somali coast. What I've heard is that the pirates have taken Capt. Richard Phillips of Underhill, Vermont hostage in a lifeboat currently adrift at sea. There is a destroyer on station. Since I don't understand it, I would really like somebody to explain to me why you can't simultaneously kill the three or four pirates on the boat with sniper fire, or why a SEAL team can't go in the water, come up underneath that boat and take these guys down. Apparently Capt. Phillips jumped in the water and tried to get away, but was dragged back. How come we don't have some divers in the water just hanging out beneath the boat to be ready for just such an attempt?
I don't know anything about dealing with this sort of thing in real life, so perhaps there are very good reasons why the kind of rescue scenario I've come to expect from a steady diet of action flicks is not currently playing itself out in the Horn of Africa.
I pray that the intrepid Capt. Phillips escapes this situation alive and well and is safely returned to his family.
