Finally, Pirates Get What They Deserve in Somalia

Score one for the good guys: I read today on Times Online about the Royal Navy’s first shootout on the high seas in living memory. Pirates off the coast of Somalia were trying to hijack a cargo ship, and made a bonehead move. They opened fire on one of her Majesty’s warships, full of heavily armed Royal Marines.

The marines shot and killed three pirates before boarding the fishing dhow and found a handful of terrified pirates. It was full of guns. The marines had circled the renegade dhow before the pirates took a few shots at them, unleashing the fury of the better armed marines. This is a far cry from the last time the Royal Navy encountered a boatful of armed men. That time they were encircled by Iranian Revolutionary guards, and 15 troops were taken hostage for almost two weeks. But now, it’s maximum robustness on the high seas, says the navy.

Piracy is one of the problems I think about a lot. It seems to me that anyone who dares to attack a ship should be shot, and the patience that the French showed a few months ago amazed me. I would go in with guns blazing, or use that device that was in the news last year, on top of the cruise ship. It emits a piercing loud noise, so loud that anyone within earshot will hightail it as fast as they can to get out of the noise blast.

Why don’t the navies use the sonic blaster to keep the pirates at bay?