The Somali pirates' next move

“Just as the cheers were dying down for the daring rescue” of sea captain Richard Phillips, said Martha Raddatz and Lee Ferran in ABC News, Somali pirates hijacked four more ships. President Obama, who authorized the use of force against the pirates who held Phillips hostage, has vowed to defeat piracy, but that hasn’t stopped these outlaws from thumbing their noses at the world.

The Navy SEALs who freed Phillips demonstrated how to solve this problem, said Jonah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times. “Shoot the pirates.” These aren’t jihadist terrorists—“pirates are in it for the money. Raise the cost of being a pirate—in denominations of pirate blood—and you'll lower the supply of pirates.”

The latest attacks prove that military commandos can only do so much, said Matthew Yglesias in Think Progress. Two of the vessels seized Monday were Egyptian fishing boats, which may have been among those seeking to take advantage of the anarchy off East Africa to “gain access to Somali fisheries.” So mark down illegal fishing, along with hostage-taking and cargo hijacking, as a crime in need of a crackdown.

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