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How to End Piracy in the High Seas

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By Elan Journo from The Ayn Rand Institute Media Releases,cross-posted by MetaBlog

How to End Piracy in the High Seas

Washington, D.C., April 20, 2009--In a dramatic rescue operation a week ago, U.S. Navy Seals succeeded in freeing Capt. Richard Phillips from captivity by Somali pirates.

 

According to Elan Journo, analyst at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, even though the operation was successful, it did not teach the pirates the appropriate lesson, as evidenced by news of a pirate attack on another American-flagged ship, the Liberty Sun.

 

“The pirates have not been deterred,” said Mr. Journo, “because we have emboldened them for years through an entrenched policy of passivity and accommodation--and the freeing of Capt. Phillips was unfortunately just one halting step in a better direction.

 

“What we need--in response to piracy as well as other foreign threats--is an across-the-board reversal in U.S. policy. When, for example, it became clear more than a year ago that the waters off the coast of Somalia are a playground for pirates, the minimum that Washington should have done was to lay down an ultimatum to the pirates to leave Americans alone or else--and lived up to it.

 

“The substance of that warning: if any American vessel is captured by pirates, we will use military force to destroy every last pirate base in Somalia. When such a threat of retaliation is made fully credible, it can be sufficient to deter would-be aggressors. If any dare test us, then we must unapologetically respond with force.

 

“When America has once again earned a reputation as a power that none dare cross,” Mr. Journo concluded, “we won’t have to worry about pirates.”

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Cross-posted from Metablog

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  • 3 years later...

A group of private businessmen is creating a force of about 200-strong, to defend against pirates.

It will escort its first convoy of oil tankers, bulk carriers and the occasional yacht along the east coast of Africa in late March or early April. They will aim to deter pirates rather than engage in firefights.

They will sail under a British flag, which would give them the legal right to carry their weapons into harbor rather than keep them on platforms in international waters.

The navy will be funded by shipping firms in much the same way as the cargo ships sailing under Russian, Chinese and Indian flags hire private convoys.

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Is that any reason to be merciful with pirates?

ruveyn1

I didn't mean to imply that. I just think the end to the piracy problem will start with the establishment of a nation state in somalia, They live under feudalism, piracy is directly caused by that.

You could just kil every pirate you see also, which is fine, but I am not sure how much that will solve.

Edited by Hairnet
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