When I first heard about the pirate debacle, Roland Martin was breaking it on CNN and I was hopeful that President Obama would see the wisdom is resolving this scuffle peacefully, but the when the Seals come out, they almost always get to shooting.
So, you buck down three pirates and capture another, and alls well that ends well. Except that the problem with pirates is they have nothing to lose, and they will come back for revenge. I know this because I know that by the time you're at a point where grad school's a fail and taking freight tankers is a viable career option, you are offically down for whatever.
So when these Somali cats, from the most dangerous place in the world, say that America will pay, you can put cash money down on that one, son. That's real talk. We have effectively made a bad situation worse, where our freighters will not only be targets, but somebody is going to be trying to collect blood and a pound of flesh in the name of thier fallen countrymen who, after all, weren't hobby-pirates: those dudes were trying to survive. I doubt they were trying to rob up on Sean John and spinning rims. People are trying to eat out there, and this is how serious it's gotten. This incident will embolden them.
The handling of the pirates was a misstep. What were the options? I don't know—-that's probably why you didn't elect me as your president. But I know that as much as you are inclined to goof on these dudes in thier tiny boats with outrigger motors trying to take on the U.S. Navy, but the problem with pirates is they are professional grudge-holders who aren't known for thier sense of humor.
Single Father, Author, Screenwriter, Award-Winning Journalist, NPR Moderator, Lecturer and College Professor. Habitual Line-Stepper