According to Der Spiegel, National Security Adviser James Jones nixed a proposed German assault on a ship seized by Somali pirates. The assault would have been launched from the USS Boxer, and would have involved up to 200 German counterterrorism personnel. The operation planned to take the Hansa Stavanger, a German freighter with 24 hostages on board. Jones canceled the operation, apparently, because he believed that the pirates were reinforcing their position and that the attack could thus result in a bloodbath.
There are several interesting points to consider in this story. The first is that states that don't have an amphibious/expeditionary capability of their own are deeply dependent on the United States and others in order to carry out operations abroad. Germany is one of very few major states that lacks an amphibious warfare vessel; even New Zealand has some expeditionary capability. The French, for example, would not have been forced to ask for U.S. assistance or permission.
The second point is that states seem to be getting tired of dealing with pirates with kid gloves. The French have further stepped up anti-pirate activity, seizing another 11 pirates this week. Last week, a Russian destroyer captured 29 pirates after a failed attack on a Russian freighter.
Finally, the shut down of the German rescue gives us some sense of how far the Obama administration is prepared to go in terms of special forces operations. It's hard to know the precise details, but Jones was unwilling to risk U.S. involvement in a failed operation that didn't even include U.S. troops. One would suspect that the Germans would have taken the hit if the hostages had ended up dead; perhaps the plan was just so inadequate that Jones couldn't authorize the follow through.
--Robert Farley
