Prompted by skepticism from Blackfive, Adam Serwer at TAPPED gets Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman to clarify President Obama’s role in yesterday’s rescue of Captain Richard Phillips’ rescue from the Somali pirates:

Bryan Whitman from the Office of the Secretary of Defense told me that “The Secretary of Defense requested the required authorities which were approved by the President to conduct this military operation.” Whitman adds that “In this particular circumstance, it was a matter of providing authority to the folks on-scene to immediately react to a very fluid situation.  Not really unusual.”

Adam’s conclusion, at least, should attract broad support:

I’d say in general though, it’s probably a mistake to assign a great deal of credit to the President either way–I think it’s clear that those who carried out the operation deserve the plaudits.