Somali Pirates Kill 4 Americans

So, this morning's news brings a report that 4 Americans held hostage on a captured yacht were killed. Based on preliminary reports (which may not be accurate) it appears that the pirates started shooting during negotiations, and the US Navy stormed the ship. It's possible that the hostages tried to resist, although unless they were being actively threatened that doesn't make much sense. On the other hand, the same preliminary report said that the Navy killed two pirates and found two additional bodies aboard.

I'm sad about the loss of American lives, and note that this was a tough situation from the get-go. A 57-foot yacht is just not that big, and with 17 people aboard (13 pirates and 4 hostages) it's hard to see how anybody had room to breathe, let alone move. A rescue attempt with that amount of people in that space would be impossible. Allowing the ship to get to the Somali coast would have been even worse, as the hostages would have surely been moved inland and thus been even harder to get.

I fear that this is not the last such incident we'll see. I also suspect that we'll be seeing US Marines on the shores of Somalia in the relatively near future. If you're in the Department of the Navy, you might want to invest in a Somali phrasebook.

ETA: Per the US Navy's official release, up to 19 pirates were involved in the S/V Quest attack.

On Stopped Clocks...

I usually agree with the folks over at Balloon Juice. Today, with this post, I don't.

For those not clicking through, it's an argument that neo-cons will use the recent American deaths due to piracy as an excuse to invade Somalia. A few thoughts:

1) Somali piracy is a serious and growing problem.
2) There are real limits to addressing it from the sea.
3) Somalia's political and economic problems are largely of their own making.
4) This problem will have to get addressed - too many ships have to pass through at-risk waters.

Now, it's true that similar incidents have been used to stampede America to war since at least the Maine was sunk in Havana harbor. They say a stopped clock is right twice a day. I'm not sure yet that the clock is right, but it may be soon.