The recent spate of piracy in the Gulf of Aden/Red Sea area is obviously spiraling out of control, setting up an eventual showdown, by somebody. Somewhere.
The US media has largely yawned at these stories especially during the pre-election maelstrom. But with news slowing down they've now taken mild interest, especially after the British killed a few pirates last week coupled with the Saudi tanker captured this week, and others.
Oddly, the capture of an Iranian-owned ship several months ago that was said to have been carrying a mystery mineral cargo from China was almost completely ignored by the majors, despite reports that several pirates perished upon inspecting the booty. And very little has been said about it's release.
At any rate, decisive action is imperative lest the entire shipping lane be rendered too dangerous for passage. Problem is, "action" can be quite dangerous in and of itself due to that area's geographic sensitivity to world commerce, particularly oil transit. Perhaps the pirates grab of the tanker was a statement to that effect. If so, the ante has been upped. All the way.
So, what's to be done? Will small wars break out leading to an AQ resurgence in the anarchist colony formerly known as Somalia? Will certain well-known leaders suggest talks with the lead pirates without preconditions? If so, will our new Secretary of State get involved? Will carrots and sticks be used, or just sticks? Is it time to call Kofi Annan out of retirement or should Bush just ignore everyone and gather another coalition of the willing to start one final unilateralist pirate ass kicking contest?
And what of Bill Ayers and Reverend Wright? Will they soon pop up on for the defense of international piracy, suggesting it's a only a forced social justice movement responding to the evil white capitalists who run the world, with the solution found in spreading the wealth? Stay tuned.
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