"L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace!"
("Audacity, audacity — always audacity!")
-incorrect quote incorrectly cited to Frederick the Great
in the movie Patton* (see below)
From Foreign Policy's Passport blog:
Apparently Dutch Navy Captain Hans Lodder didn't think it worthwile to check in with EU headquarters when he was gaining on a German freighter seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia:
The pirates surrendered the moment they saw the marines," Lodder said in a telephone interview Tuesday from the Dutch frigate Tromp. No one was injured.
Monday's successful rescue showed that, when swift decisions are needed, it can be quicker to work around the European Union's command. It was the first time a Dutch ship involved in the EU mission had used force to recapture a hijacked ship. ...
Lodder said he decided to seek permission from his own command for an "opposed boarding" - one where pirates may resist - rather than act under procedures laid down by Brussels.
The EU didn't seem particularly bothered by Lodder's unilateral action...MORE
The last I saw on the pirated oil tanker was:
Destroyer nears oil tanker seized by Somali pirates
*"De l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace..."
-Georges Danton
