As Kenneth Anderson points out over at Opinio Juris, the pirates operating around Somali and Kenya and elsewhere are getting to be a problem.
International Maritime officials say at least 83 [ships] have been attacked off Somalia this year, with 33 of them hijacked. The pirates are currently holding about 11 ships, including a Ukrainian cargo vessel carrying 33 tanks.
The British Navy has apparently been told to “ignore” the pirates “out of the remarkable fear that any captured Somali pirates might have asylum claims on metropolitan Britain.”
Mr. Anderson has some suggestions for the Obama administration on dealing with the pirates. Imagine being in the US Navy and getting to fight pirates at sea. What a life that would be.
I’m sure it is probably not as entertaining as it sounds.
(Title taken from Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum, the first verse having been written by Robert Lewis Stevenson for his book “Treasure Island.”)
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