Pirates

Admittedly, I've been giving these Somalian pirates only casual attention since their most recent wave of activity began earlier this year. From what I can tell - these pirates have worked out a fairly crude operation, that has until today, proven to be quite profitable. Given what I can only imagine are their living conditions, I can almost understand their motivation. Almost.

Not that I'm particularly versed in the inner-workings or for that matter existence of Somalian or other African governments, but it seems as if more than anything, they have turned a collective blind eye to what goes on in the waters off of their costs. What I DO know, is that for some time, during and on the heels of the recently replaced Bush administration, a large contingent of Americans have pushed for the United States to remove ourselves from foreign involvement. "This _______ is not our problem and / or we have no place to exert our influence in ________," seems to be the "in" consensus these days.

Now, I would like to point out that what is currently going on, by way of an American destroyer approaching the recently hijacked / retaken / etc. Maersk Alabama, is at this point an American effort to retake what is ours, albeit in international waters. What I would like to really point out, is that I cannot wait to see what the international (and domestic) reaction is tomorrow morning, when I assume the situation will be resolved.

From my abbreviated research into the current piracy wave, I understand that the instant standoff between the U.S. and the pirates is the FIRST whereby the home nation of a captured ship has made any effort, other than to pay the pirate's ransom demands, to recover what's been taken.

Will the world look at us as leaders again? Will our traditional mentality of international badassness be scorned, or perhaps chalked up as another brilliant success of our new president?

Honestly, I do not know the answer. In fact, all I know is, that I'm proud that the US is the first country to take a significant stand against these lawless individuals. Similarly, I am almost proud that, 1.) the US has remained uninvolved in the hijackings of other country's ships, and 2.) now the international community will see just what the US could have offered if asked to intervene.

Finally - what I REALLY want to know, is why in God's name are these giant ships running around with no protection after the length of time these pirates have been taking ships? I mean seriously - has anybody seen the pictures or videos of these pirates? It's unbelievable. To draw a completely accurate analogy - these pirates, in the grand scheme of things, when compared to the tankers they overtake appear to pose the same threat that squirrels pose to drivers on 695. I truly believe that if the shipping companies that manage these vessels provided for MINIMAL security, these pirates would effectively pose no further threat.

Soap box. SNAP.