Rest Peacefully, America... Barry's Calling The Shots
Literally

(Helmet tip to NYPD Green)

It's enough to make you puke. A lot. Here's some of the article from The Telegraph (UK); (Emphasis mine) Having been authorised by President Obama to kill the pirates if Richard Phillips was in imminent danger, the US commander on the scene ordered a team of snipers to open fire when it looked like his captors were about to shoot him.Such bullshit. In case any one's interested in what The Department of the Navy Rules of Engagement happen to be, here they are; (Emphasis mine) Self-Defense and Defense of Others. When deadly force reasonably appears to be necessary against a hostile person(s) to protect law enforcement or security personnel who reasonably believe themselves or others to be in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm by the hostile person(s).With that said, I would hope that numb-nuts was kept appraised of the situation... but for anyone who's ever served in the Armed Forces (or law enforcement, period) already knows, you don't need the personal approval of the Dooofus-In-Chief to whack a bad guy. The skipper of the Bainbridge already had approval to kill bad guys the second he was commissioned an Officer in the Armed Forces of the United States.

But could you imagine our fearless Dingle-Barry on the phone with the on-scene commander? I wonder if The South-Side Stooge had to use a teleprompter? "Ummm... shoot if you, I mean ahhh... if it looks like, like, like, there's going to be a, a, a, terrori... I mean "man-made disaster" is, 'er... well, ahhh... be nice, say please."

But speaking of nautical terrorists, I think Charles Krauthammer said it best (Fox News); "Well, what do we do with pirates? We shoot them. That appears to be the American way, and it rather works..."