What Machiavelli could teach us about how to deal with Somali Pirates (UPDATE)

The U.S. faced its first test on dealing with the Somali Pirates plaguing other governments for a long time. What did we choose to do when confronted with the Situation? We chose to engage in a military way and eventually shot and killed 3 of the Pirates by sharpshooters about the U.S. Bainbridge. What happened as a result of this effort? They saved and freed the Captain of the ship. We are all thrilled for the freedom of the Captain, who by the way lives in Vermont, my home for 20 years. What has been the Somali Pirates reaction to having 3 of their members killed and one captured? They have vowed revenge against the U.S.

From yesterday to today 4 other ships have been hijacked. None of them with American crews but it is only a matter of time and you know what will happen. I pity any of the sailors and crew members of the ships taken as there will be killings for sure. How would Machiavelli have dealt with the situation?

Well first he would have said to never strike at an enemy unless you plan to totally destroy them. Unless we were willing to go to their home base and to engage and destroy them there, we should never have agreed to start the violence in the first place. No sailors have been harmed as a result of these Pirates. They just wanted worthless paper called "money" which is being printed faster than it can be counted by government printing presses. Now we face a significant escalation by a people who while thugs and criminals are just trying to survive as we all are. Now don't mix up understanding with leniency or understanding with being soft, as I am not soft as many of my friends will tell you. My point is this, we don't have a winning strategy here and by our actions have guaranteed an escalation of events and the killing of innocent people next time, ours!

Unless we are willing to take the battle to Somali itself, Machiavelli would have done either nothing or been willing to go all the way. It doesn't seem like the world has the will to go all the way as they have all paid their captors ransom. Now some of their innocents are in danger as well. You might be interested sometime to read "The Prince" by Machiavelli. It will be an eye opener in how best to deal in crisis.

UPDATE: 9:00am PST April 15th

Here's the latest news on the Somali Pirates response to the killings on the Pirates by American forces.

Somali pirates vow to hunt down, kill Americans

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer – 15 mins ago

MOMBASA, Kenya – Somali pirates vowed to hunt down American ships and kill their sailors and French forces detained 11 other brigands in a high-seas raid as tensions ratcheted up Wednesday off Africa's volatile eastern coast.
Pirates fired grenades and automatic weapons at an American freighter loaded with food aid but the ship escaped and was heading to Kenya under U.S. Navy guard.

The Liberty Sun's American crew successfully blockaded themselves inside the engine room — the same tactic that the Maersk Alabama crew used to thwart last week's attack on their ship. They were not injured in the attack Tuesday night but the vessel sustained some damage, owner Liberty Maritime Corp. said.

One of the pirates whose gang attacked the Liberty Sun said Wednesday his group was specifically targeting American ships and sailors.
"We will seek out the Americans and if we capture them we will slaughter them," said a 25-year-old pirate based in the Somali port of Harardhere who gave only his first name, Ismail. "We will target their ships because we know their flags. Last night, an American-flagged ship escaped us by a whisker. We have showered them with rocket-propelled grenades," boasted Ismail, who did not take part in the attack.

The French forces launched an early morning attack on a pirate "mother ship" after spotting the boat Tuesday with a surveillance helicopter and observing the pirates overnight.
A "mother ship" is usually a seized foreign vessel that pirates use to transport speedboats far out to sea and resupply them as they plot their attacks. The ship was intercepted 550 miles (900 kilometers) east of the Kenyan city of Mombasa.

The French Defense Ministry said the raid thwarted the sea bandits' planned attack on the Liberian cargo ship Safmarine Asia. The detained pirates were being held on the Nivose, a French frigate among the international fleet trying to protect shipping in the Gulf of Aden.

The attack on the Liberty Sun foiled the reunion between the American sea captain rescued by Navy snipers and the 19-man crew of the Maersk Alabama who he saved with his heroism.
Capt. Richard Phillips had planned to meet his crew in Mombasa and fly home with them Wednesday, but he was stuck on the USS Bainbridge when it was diverted to help the Liberty Sun. The crew left without him, flying to Andrews Air Force base in Maryland in a chartered plane.
Despite President Barack Obama's vow to take action against the rise in banditry and the deaths of five pirates in French and U.S. hostage rescues, brigands seized four vessels and more than 75 hostages since Sunday's dramatic rescue of Phillips.

That brought the total number of sailors being held by Somali pirates to over 300 on 16 different ships — a distinct surge in the number of captives over the last few days.

Pirates can extort $1 million or more for each ship and crew seized off the Horn of Africa — and Kenya estimates they raked in $150 million last year.