Are the "shoot first, ask questions later" crowd giving any thought to the fate of the 200 to 300 hostages once you back this group of thugs into a corner by blasting them to the skies? When you leave no options, there will be sad families around the globe.

Not that I am advocating much in the way of negotiations, but this is not as simplistic as you make it, at least not until we get the innocents out of there. In order to end the problem, first a coalition must be built among the nations that are affected. And I am not talking about one of these coalitions where countries say they are with us, but not willing to commit troops and arms. There must be a committment to act in concert. Then an Entebbe style raid, with first rate intel, planning, and execution, understanding that there will be casualties among troops and hostages. Once they have no hostages, then and only then, can we elevate the conflict at sea. And at that point there should be a clear message. Commit an act of piracy and you will be destroyed.

The real long term solution lies in encouraging the establishment of a stable government in Somalia. And that is a years long process which, again, must be supported, really supported, by all nations. The USA cannot act unilaterally. If the other nations won't support that, then our obigation is to protect our own shipping and leave others to protect theirs.

All the best,

Mick