These pirates aren’t fictional; let’s give ’em a real fight

First, a couple of givens regarding the pirate situation near the Horn of Africa.

We can’t just shut down the waters around Somalia.

Merchant vessels from around the world cross the Indian Ocean, enter The Gulf of Aden, sail the Red Sea, and transit the Suez Canal to reach the Me

diterranean. Traffic flows the other way too. It’s a major shipping route and the economic fallout would be immense.

Second, you’ll never stop piracy or kidnappings by paying ransoms. These are ruthless thugs who’ve found a cash cow and they’re not going to give it up easily. Pay the ransom, get more of the same. It’s as sure as night follows day.

That said, I followed the news regarding the four hostages taken when the yacht Quest was hijacked off the coast of Somalia. Last Tuesday, the Associated Press printed a story that prompted this column. It began as follows:

“Four Americans, including a couple from Seattle, taken hostage by Somali pirates off East Africa were shot and killed by their captors Monday, the U.S. military said, marking the first time U.S. citizens have been killed in a wave of pirate attacks plaguing the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean for years. Phyllis Macay and Robert Riggle, both from Seattle, were on board the S/V Quest last week when it was hijacked by pirates along the coast of Oman. The Quest is owned by Jean and Scott Adams, who were also onboard.”

I believe this happened because the civilized nations of the world (forget the U.N.) haven’t taken appropriate and long-overdue action. I’m sorry, but diplomatic words and maneuvering — polite, guarded, tough, kind, harsh, pleading, warning, or what have you — will never put a stop to this.

Words and diplomacy, to thugs, are meaningless. These are schoolyard bullies writ large who respond only to what they dish out. And, to capture their undivided attention, they have to receive a “serving” off of their own menu that’s an order of magnitude tougher than they offer others.

In other words, if they start a fist-fight, you bring a bat. If they start a knife fight, you bring a gun. If they start a gun fight, you bring bigger guns along with all of your friends and their bigger guns too.

Truthfully, I don’t understand why, given all that’s gone on over the past several years, private individuals even want to transit these waters. However, if that’s what they choose to do, it’s their right to do so and governments worldwide should do all in their power to ensure that they — and all commercial vessels — can do so safely.

I don’t know if a response to what happened is being planned but, if this latest incident doesn’t warrant one, I’m not sure what does. Since the Somali pirates aren’t likely to quit on their own, it wouldn’t bother me one whit to read where something along the lines of “commerce raiders” were used to bring them to heel. If you haven’t heard the term, during the First World War, the German navy used disguised — and heavily armed — cargo vessels (“commerce raiders”) to sneak up on, attack and sink cargo vessels.

The modern-day version would go something like this: Several maritime nations would outfit nondescript commercial vessels with weapons whose bores were measured in inches. Other weapons whose rate of fire would be in the hundreds (or thousands) of rounds per minute would be added. These ships would be staffed with a gaggle of special warfare types who would allow the hulls to rust a bit and then sail them slowly past the coast of Somalia. If the pirates showed up, the shooting would start at the first sign of weapons and stop as the last bubbles from what was once their vessel reached the surface. Numbered leaflets would then be dropped ashore and a message saying “Now serving No. 2” would be broadcast along with a statement that ransoms are a thing of the past and all hostages should be released immediately.

Four good people are dead because the “civilized world” hasn’t put a stop to this thuggery. And, to my Neanderthal brain, we’re years late in putting a very “hard” stop in place.

Larry Simoneaux lives in Edmonds. Send comments to larrysim@comcast.net.