Great news.
A French Warship has dealt to a Pirate mothership and captured eleven pirates in the process.
Meantime Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, has unveiled a "four point plan" to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
Ms Clinton said
Maybe so, provided that the 21st-Century assets consist of more than talkfests and breast-beating.
A French Warship has dealt to a Pirate mothership and captured eleven pirates in the process.
Meantime Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, has unveiled a "four point plan" to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
- Send an envoy to the Somali donors conference set for April 23 in Brussels. The envoy will work with U.S. partners on ways to improve the situation in Somalia.
- Call for immediate meetings with U.S. partners in the Contact Group on Piracy Off the Coast of Somalia to coordinate an expanded multinational response. Specifically:
- Work to forge a renewed determination that states take responsibility for prosecuting and imprisoning captured pirates.
- Develop strategies to secure the release of ships and crews now held by Somali pirates.
- Explore ways to track and freeze pirate assets.
- Reiterate to everyone the U.S. policy of making no concessions or ransom payments to hostage takers.
- Organize meetings with Somali government officials from the Transitional Federal Government as well as regional leaders in Puntland and elsewhere.
- Press authorities within Somalia to take action against pirates operating from bases within their territory.
- Work with shippers and the insurance industry to address gaps in their self-defense measures.
Ms Clinton said
"We may be dealing with a 17th-Century crime, but we need to bring 21st-Century assets to bear."
Maybe so, provided that the 21st-Century assets consist of more than talkfests and breast-beating.