UNION – This morning, shock jock radio commentator Laura Ingraham denigrated the United States SEALs’ heroic efforts to rescue Capt. Richard Phillips and stated, “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency could have taken these teenagers.”
In response, Senator Raymond Lesniak released the following statement:
“The SEALs are highly trained and dedicated US Servicemen who are counted on for precision fire from concealed positions, including taking aim from a ship at a small boat riding the waves. They are also trained to wait for the right moment so as to minimize the risk to any hostage, like Capt. Richard Phillips.
“They deserve as much praise as we can give them, and more, not cheap shots by master cheap shot artists like Laura Ingraham.
“Ingraham so much wants America to fail under President Obama’s leadership that she is willing to make fun of and minimize the heroic rescue by our men and women in the Armed Services.”
Chief Donald Domanoski, Commander of the Union County (NJ) SWAT Team, added:
“In general terms, it was this team’s superior skill and training that allowed them to flawlessly and safely recover the hostage, Capt. Phillips. There are probably a handful of teams that can confidently execute such a precision operation and make it seem nonchalant.
“According to reports, there was an automatic rifle pointed at Capt. Phillips when the operation commenced. Team members also had to contend with a less-than-stable shooting platform from the ship in rough conditions. To have this coordinated, synchronized effort requires the team engage at only a head-sized target from whatever distance they were. Anything other than this specific target area, while potentially lethally wounding the subject, would not immediately incapacitate him. This would afford him the chance to pull the trigger at or near contact distance from the Capt.
“At a distance of 100 yards, that head-sized target appears to be the size of a thumbnail. It could get exponentially smaller at the ranges they may have worked from. To give an idea of how difficult it is to perform that while on a moving, swaying platform, imagine having three people seated in different cars of a roller coaster. At a predetermined time, all three will throw bulls-eyes at different dartboards while the coaster is in motion, having all three darts hit at the same time, in the same area. If any of the three fail, the Capt. could have been killed. That is what makes it so impressive.”