Unless things have substantially changed, we should not expect the "official" Pentagon story of Maersk Alabama Captain Richard Phillips' rescue to bear any resemblance to what actually happened.
We've already gotten what sounds like conflicting accounts about how Phillips' life was in imminent danger with guns pointed at back, but then he also jumped overboard, enabling the SEALs to take out all the bad guys. All except for the one who had already surrendered so someone could look after his injured hand.
Lindsey Beyerstein sounds a little skeptical too:
The on-scene Navy commander aboard the USS Bainbridge reportedly gave the order to fire because the hostage's life was suddenly in danger. If that's true, then of course the SEALs did the right thing.
Despite the blanket coverage of the SEALs who fired the shots, very little has been reported about the evidence that moved the commander to order the shooting. So far, nobody has explained why the commander decided that the hostage was in jeopardy at that particular moment.
The standoff was dragging on and there was intense political pressure to resolve the situation. Maybe he just seized an opportunity to get three clean kills.
I'm not saying I'm not glad the guys was rescued, just that high-fiving ourselves for what sounds like the shooting of 3 armed teenagers under our control just might turn out to be a little premature.
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