Obama Signals More Active Response to Piracy – NYTimes.com.
While the national security team discusses the long-term challenge, the Justice Department said it was deliberating whether to try the lone surviving pirate in the United States or to turn him over to Kenya for trial. The rescue of Captain Phillips drew widespread praise for the Navy and Mr. Obama, but some experts warned that it could escalate the campaign by Somali pirates who have vowed to take revenge on Americans and are holding more than 200 hostages from other countries.
I think a quote from G. W. Bush is in order here.
Bring. It. On.
“…to the shores of Tripoli…”
With the “Black Hawk Down” episode in Somalia in 1993, where two American helicopters were shot down and 18 American soldiers were killed, still in the American consciousness, Mr. Obama and his advisers are wary of becoming deeply involved in the region again. That wariness comes at a time when Mr. Obama is already trying end a war in Iraq and win another in Afghanistan. White House officials on Monday played down suggestions that the United States could attack pirate bases on shore, portraying that as unlikely.
Really, why the hell not? It’s not like the goal here is regime change, or nation-building. Nation-building, I realize now, is a really bad idea. But what’s wrong with just showing up and causing some havoc?
Eyl, Somalia:
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