Yea! We got the Americans!

CHART: "Ships held by Somali pirates," by Dave Merrill and Julie Snyder, USA Today, 16 April 2009.

WORLD NEWS: "U.S. Unveils Plan to Halt Sea Attacks," by WSJ staff, Wall Street Journal, 16 April 2009.

While we celebrate our awesome takedown of three teenagers in a rubber raft, "at least 15 ships and about 300 crewmembers are being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia."

111 pirate attacks for all of last year, and 79 so far this year.

But you have to love all this breathless cable news coverage of Alabama crew-member returns.

USA! USA! USA!

This is the Powell Doctrine at its finest.

Some upgrade will be required eventually, something bigger than Obama's recently offered plan. I just don't think that freezing pirate assets will be enough.

Comments

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Tom's Quote: I just don't think that freezing pirate assets will be enough.

Heh, heh . . The pirates will just go out and get MORE assets! And put them under their mattresses this time . . and then, if it's the assets we want, we (Obama's USA) will have to go get them . . not a pretty picture being conjured up here . .

[vanderleun]

How about we freeze some pirate assets here and blow up some pirate assets there? A combined policy of "More money, less funny." and "More trouble, more rubble."

[Louis Heberlein]

Too much spin and not much rational analysis in media.

[Joe Michels]

Freezing assets; that can't be the whole Obama plan is it? Can't be. If it is, it is laughable and makes me wonder what they are thinking about Iran and the NoKos.

[David Emery]

Best comment I heard:

Those SEAL sharpshooters are amazing! With 3 shots, they took down 3 pirates, without harming a single feather on the parrots on their shoulders :-)