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One of the things I find interesting is how our news media is a creature of fashion and popularity. For example, piracy has been a problem off the Somalia coast for at least the past five years. Modern piracy has also been a problem in the Java straits, although the recent tsunami put a lot of those folks out of business. However, until the past few months, mainstream media coverage of the problem has been slim at best.
Now, all of a sudden, we have today not one but two editorials in the Wall Street Journal, coverage on CNN and all sorts of other media attention. This sudden herd descending on Somalia produces both interesting perspectives (more on that in a minute) and concern. The concern is, "what other crisis or problem is brewing that we're not talking about?"
A corollary concern is, "when this new crisis pops, are we going to get useful information or just hot air?" For example, during the buildup to the recent Iraq war, it would have been very useful to hear of the British experience in Iraq in the 1920s. Sistani and Al-Sadr were names of influential folks back then too.
Back to the topic at hand, piracy. One article asks Why Don't We Hang Pirates?. The article points out that US law only calls for life imprisonment for attacks on US-flagged ships, after a trial. My recollection of history was that US law always so, and during the "good old days" of the 1800s, US captains routinely handed over pirates to British ships. The Royal Navy then routinely hung said pirates.
The other article points out the high cost to consumers of piracy. What I find interesting is that the article, written by the managing director of the Hong Kong Shipowners' Association, rejects arming merchant ships. In other words, "we don't have a responsibility to protect ourselves."
Now, all of a sudden, we have today not one but two editorials in the Wall Street Journal, coverage on CNN and all sorts of other media attention. This sudden herd descending on Somalia produces both interesting perspectives (more on that in a minute) and concern. The concern is, "what other crisis or problem is brewing that we're not talking about?"
A corollary concern is, "when this new crisis pops, are we going to get useful information or just hot air?" For example, during the buildup to the recent Iraq war, it would have been very useful to hear of the British experience in Iraq in the 1920s. Sistani and Al-Sadr were names of influential folks back then too.
Back to the topic at hand, piracy. One article asks Why Don't We Hang Pirates?. The article points out that US law only calls for life imprisonment for attacks on US-flagged ships, after a trial. My recollection of history was that US law always so, and during the "good old days" of the 1800s, US captains routinely handed over pirates to British ships. The Royal Navy then routinely hung said pirates.
The other article points out the high cost to consumers of piracy. What I find interesting is that the article, written by the managing director of the Hong Kong Shipowners' Association, rejects arming merchant ships. In other words, "we don't have a responsibility to protect ourselves."
