The New York Post has an article today about the Somali pirates. They have been pretty successful (by their standards) so far this year. But there were a lot of things I hadn't been aware of. According to the article--
"Pirates have made an estimated $150 million in ransoms this year, according to the Kenyan government. But the bulk of that wealth goes to the pirates' handlers - usually Somali warlords or cartel leaders living in Europe or the Middle East.
"The Somali pirates are the ones taking all the risk and get only a small share of the reward. But even that is enough to launch them into the stratosphere of the wealthy in Somalia," says a reporter working in the region."
I never considered the challenges of piracy--they work for a boss just like the rest of us. Are we supposed to feel sorry for them because they only receive a small part of their ill-gotten gains. Even the small percent they get allows them to live like kings in Somalia. It seems to me that, like terrorism, until we go after the source of this behavior--the people making the profit from it, we will have to endure it. The Indian Navy has shot a number of pirates in this area this past week, we need to learn from them. Obviously, since this is happening in their backyard, they are going to be on top of it. To the Indians, these are the neighborhood thugs. We have come a long way from the Pirates of Penzance and even Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean. These are not romantic figures--they are common criminals who need to be dealt with harshly and by the world community--not just one country.
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