James Bond Territory

I'm taking the Vessel into treacherous waters today, with a ripped-from-the-headlines post. I could only be speaking of the ongoing incident off the coast of Somalia. First, a little history:

Back in the early 90s, the people of Somalia were in some hot water. They were desperately poor in a land where what little there was to be had lay in the hands of vicious warlords. The international community send aid, but it was intercepted by the warlords. The response was to go after the warlords, but as is so often the case, they proved to be more than a match for the force which we had the political will to send. Because Ridley Scott made a movie about it, people are more apt to remember that part of the story.

So, we got out of there, and the whole thing collapsed. No government, no civil institutions. It was what they call a failed state. Not much about that has changed, and those who can give Somalia a wide birth. It is, though, necessary for commercial ships to pass through the waters east of the coast. Those ships represent the greatest source of wealth within reach of any Somalian. Since no authority in the region is capable of policing the area, the coastal waters offer harbor to sea-faring armed criminals who hijack vulnerable ships and hold them for ransom. Among their most headline-grabbing victories have been the capture of a major oil tanker and that of a Russian ship laden with military hardware.

Most recently, an American ship bearing- you guessed it- humanitarian aid materials was seized. The gallant crew retreated to a safe room. The unarmed sailors then came back at the pirates. They were able to retake the ship thanks to the ship's captain, who gave himself up to the pirates for the sake of his crew. He attempted to escape his captors, but did not manage to get away. As I write this, the pirates are holding him in the only thing they came away from the cargo ship with- a lifeboat. Evidently, their own skiff conked out. They have no fuel, and numerous US Navy warships are surrounding them, blocking their comrades from coming to their aid. CNN is also reporting a violent encounter between French Naval forces and other pirates in the area.

These thugs have gotten our attention by attacking Americans, but it should not have come to this. The situation is intolerable and unacceptable. International waters must be safe for commerce and recreation. We must muster the political will to smash these pirates.