by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 13, 2009
All Rights Reserved.

           Navy Seal sharpshooters stationed on the destroyer Bainbridge picked off pirates from about 20-50 yards, holding Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips hostage.  President Barack Obama gave the green light to the Navy Friday, April 10 to use force if needed to save brave Capt. Phillips.  When Somali pirates commandeered his freighter April 8 carrying food and medicine for Kenya, he ordered his crew to lock themselves inside their cabins and offered himself as ransom.  By the time the crew seized control of the ship, the pirates escaped with Capt. Phillips in a 24-foot fiberglass lifeboat.  He was held at gunpoint until diving off the boat April 8, in a failed escape, recaptured and threatened.  Somali pirates hold about 12 cargo ships and 200 hostages from various countries.  When the pirates demanded $2 million ransom and safe passage, Obama decided it was time for action.

            Cowing to pirates’ demands would have sent the wrong message not only to pirates but to America’s enemies seeking any chink in the superpower’s armor eight years after Sept. 11.  Somali pirates distinguish themselves from terrorists, boasting they don’t kill or torture innocents in the course of their criminal activity.  Somali’s anarchic coast stretches further than Western Europe including the British Isles, representing a formidable waterway joining the Arabian Sea to the Indian Ocean.  Preventing piracy along the unwieldy coast is next to impossible.  A joint anti-piracy task force, including naval support from France, Russia, China, India, etc., hasn’t dented the furious pace of Somali piracy in 2009.  Whether or not they make political statements, pirates have disrupted maritime commerce for countries seeking safe passage via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea.

            Like Islamic terrorists seeking to upend stable governments in the Middle East or fulfill Osama bin Laden’s dream of a new Muslim caliphate that runs from Indonesia to Western Europe, Somali pirates blight the civilized world.  Hijacking freighters with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, pirates have become the ocean’s train and bank robbers, returning booty to criminal warlords now controlling Somali’s ungoverned lands.  Obama’s decision to take the fight to the enemy prompted threats from Somali pirates to U.S. national security.  “There really isn’t a silver-bullet other than going into Somalia and rooting out the bases” of the pirates, said James Carafano, a senior fellow at Washington’s conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.  Multilateral action through the United Nations has gone nowhere, leaving Somali pirates with impunity to conduct criminal operations.

            Americans haven’t forgotten the disastrous Somali mission under former President’s George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, resulting in 42 deaths, 18 resulted when two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in 1993 by rebels, possibly loyal to Bin Laden.  Clinton ordered U.S. forces out of Mogadishu in 1994 after terrorists dragged dead U.S soldiers through the streets.  Just like Barack couldn’t pay ransom for Capt. Phillips he also can’t ignore pirate operations in the coastal town of Eyl, where numerous ships and hostages are kept.  Foreign governments are worried about losing their ships and nationals should the U.S. attack pirate bases.  “The French and the Americans will regret starting the killing.  We do not kill, but take only ransom.  We shall do something to anyone we see as French or American from now,” said a pirate named Hussein speaking to Reuters.

            Obama can no longer count on multilateral action to deal with an untenable situation.  Bin Laden fired many warning shots before launching Sept. 11.  When Clinton fired Cruise missiles into Bin Laden’s training camps after the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, it did nothing to deter him from Sept. 11.  Former President George W. Bush got it right after Sept. 11 taking the fight to the Taliban in Afghanistan less than a month later.  While Capt. Phillips is safely in U.S. hands, Obama can’t wait until Somali pirates plot their next attack.  Before the pirates become mobile, the Pentagon should dial in the coordinates and bomb terrorist camps in Eyl.  Debating the doctrine of preemption or implementing a U.S. foreign policy doesn’t prevent the U.S. from taking action against enemies announcing plans to attack the U.S.

            Obama pulled off his first major military operation as commander-in-chief with force and precision.  He redeemed bad memories of a botched U.S. hostage rescue mission April 12, 1980 in the Iranian desert, killing eight U.S. soldiers.  Unlike other countries lacking resources, the U.S. has what it takes to put Somali pirates out of business.  When President Thomas Jefferson sent the Navy to neutralize Barbary pirates in 1802, the world was beginning to take notice of a budding superpower.  Despite setbacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. has more than enough resources to end Somali pirates’ reign of terror.  Targeting pirate bases in Somali will help buy the civilized world more time to coordinate an effective multilateral response.  Interdiction alone isn’t enough to disrupt pirates’ networks.  If there’s any lesson from Sept. 11, the U.S. can’t wait until the next attack.

About the Author

John M. Curtis is editor of OnlineColumnist.com and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He’s director of a Los Angeles think tank specializing in political consulting and strategic public relations. He’s the author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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