That is at least the impression I got from this AP article. In short: President Obama twice authorized the military to use force against the pirates who had taken captain Richard Phillips hostage. After the second approval, Navy Seals (finally) went in, killed three of the pirates, wounded one, and freed the American hostage.

Administration officials told the news organization that has declared war on the New Media that Obama first gave permission for a rescue operation Friday evening. He upgraded it at 9.20 AM Saturday.

As said in the headline, Obama has proved to be tougher than most gave him credit for. Well done.

Writing for Blue Crab Boulevard, Gaius points out that the article makes clear that Obama and his team were more concerned about their own reputation than about the fate of captain Philips. A bit sad, perhaps, but logical nonetheless: every single top politician first thinks about him- or herself. Especially when something bad happens.

Should politicians act in such a way? Of course not. But it is not a perfect world. Bush, Bush, Reagan, Ford, Nixon and Eisenhower would have done exactly the same, as would Clinton, Carter, LBJ, and JFK.