It is a strange mix of motivations for these guys. Many of the pirates were conscripted by the warlords who fund the attacks, and their payment for taking part is your family doesn't get murdered. Many more are nothing more than children who are slaves to the warlords. Other pirate networks are Somali fishermen whose goal is to protect Somali waters and seek retribution through piracy for pollution and fish kills caused by shipping companies. One of the large pirate networks calls itself the Somali Volunteer Coast Guard. The first step is to cut off the financing these guys get. Without that support these guys can't operate. Yemen is a big part of the problem. Shutting down the exchange where financiers buy shares in upcoming attacks would go a long way. Some really detailed analytics would go along way in freezing assets of those who sponsor these attacks
bullchit. we are gonna hemp and haw for a while and the go back to doing absolutely nothing. We (THE USA) no longer have a spine to do what is needed. Lot of lip service and no real action.
No the First real step is to napalm the beaches where the Pirate and their financiers have set up town to facilitate the business of piracy. Once the immediate threat is finished, then go after the money.
Really, how is that working out for ya? Going after financing first does not work. It did not work against the mob, Al Queda, North Korea, Iran, Hezbollah, etc.
Going after financing is exactly what put the squeeze on the mob. It has also greatly reduced the threats posed by terrorist organizations. That is why it is one of the first responses.
So you want to just stay locked in the never ending cycle of pirates and hostages? Coordinated strike, spec ops retakes moored boats off the coast of Somalia, then napalm the damned beach. Just sitting there playing tiddlywinks is doing nothing but encouraging more piracy.
Nice fantasy, Captain America. But in the real world, taking 60 ships and 800 hostages simultaneously is impossible. Spec Ops are good but there ain't enough of them. Do you remember our last outnumbered Special Operation in Somalia? The solution is: 1. Stop any new ship captures by requiring all vessels to travel in escorted convoys. The countries that own the ships pay the costs and all navies contribute warships. It doesn't take much to ruin a pirates day. 2. Play down the ships and hostages on the line by getting the countries that own the vessels to pay the ransoms. 3. When the captured ships and crews get down to a handful and the Somalis start realizing that when they have no hostages at all that they are going to get hammered badly . . . THEN send in the SEALS with an mission that is doable. 4. Then hammer them badly.
