Man, that President Obama can keep a secret – Navy SEALs rescue pirate hostages

We all remember the amazing raid into Pakistan by the Navy SEALs to take out Osama bin Laden and how proud we were of them, and the president who had the balls to give the go ahead for the operation. Not only were they successful but the whole operation was kept such a secret that not even the First Lady knew what was happening. Man, talk about keeping a secret eh.

Well do you remember the State of the Union address from the other night? You know that long boring and full of political double-talk two hours of television.

If you had been playing close attention you might have noticed President Obama the very quiet congratulations that he sent Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s way as he entered the House chamber, and you might have even wondered in passing before settling in with the popcorn what it was all about.

It turns out folks that President Obama was holding onto another little secret that he was holding very close to the chest.

Just two hours before Obama was to step onto the podium to give his address the same Navy SEAL team that had gone into Pakistan had carried out another secret mission – to rescue two aid workers, one of whom was American Jessica Buchanan, that were being held hostage by Somali pirates.

Yes Nave SEAL Team 6 struck again, and once more succeeded in their mission, a mission that only a very few people knew anything about.

In a predawn White House statement, Obama praised U.S. Special Operations Forces who rescued Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, who had been kidnapped at gunpoint by Somali pirates in October.

“As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts,” Obama said in a statement.

Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the top secret operation, said the operation was carried out by U.S. Navy SEALs. The team parachuted in to the site of the rescue, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details.

Obama was briefed on developments throughout the day, the White House said.

Panetta, in a separate statement, said Buchanan and Hagen Thisted “have been transported to a safe location where we will evaluate their health and make arrangements for them to return home.” He said the two hostages were not harmed during the operation, and no U.S. troops were killed or injured.

“This was a team effort and required close coordination, especially between the Department of Defense and our colleagues in the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Panetta said.

via BuzzFeed

Immediately after his speech Obama returned to the White House to let Jessica Buchanan’s father know that she was safe and on the way home.

image of Jessica Buchanan 32, and Poul Hagen 60, courtesy of BuzzFeed

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Tags: Navy SEALs, Obama, rescue

About the Author

Steven Hodson Steven has been around the tech world long enough to see most of the stuff we think of cool happen before which leads to a certain bit of cynicism that has contributed to him being known as the cranky old fart of the Internet. Besides sharing some of the goodness that he finds with you here at 42x you can also find him curating some digital goodness at Winextra (tech type stuff) and Rotten Gumdrops (for your daily dose of WTF).