Mistake number one--they paid the ransom--and when you pay-–you will always be paying.

Never pay the ransom.

How about this idea. There are a lot of ships going through the Gulf of Aden.Why not lump everyone together and have one crossing each way
each day gaurded by aircraft. The millions in ransom paid each year
would go a long way to finance these aircraft. Any pirates who come
close to the crossing route, open fire. At the same time find out where
some of the pirate bases are and destroy the boats and base camps.
If we do nothing after this last week, then the pirates will carry on business as usual.

Being that this man has the trust, respect and clout with the very people that we want to stop, it would be a good idea to defend this man. Soley on the basis that until the US decides to use our brothel on the water, aka the navy, or drones to monitor the seas this man is all we have at this point. So we are forced into protecting this man and his knowledge until we decide to handle the situation.

As long as the ransom money goes up so will the number of highjackings. While I applaud our recent handling of the hostage situation, it's going to take far more dramatic action than killing three men to deter these pirates. We are still a long, long way from inflicting the kind of pain and damage that will actually deter this activity.

when u have a group of people who have been forgotten by the world and who have nothing to live 4 what do u expect.u have rich people making billions of the resources on there land and they dont even have food to eat for there familes.its only going to get worse every time they get the ransom money because there will b more people willing to try it

sick and twisted people these days, rapists, killers, thieves , peace haters canabals, womanizers-maybe shooting them is best perhaps slavery and beat them into reality!

In our city we have a program called the "Bait car program" and it has been very effective catching car thiefs. In fact car theft rates have dropped significatly (once known as the car theft capital of north america). Why not have a bait ship program where ships with armed forces go into the gulf of aden disguised as cargo ships only to be taken by pirates who will find out that they have in fact taken a "bait ship". Soon pirates will not know if a ship is a regular cargo ship or a "bait ship". This the only way to lure these criminals and finally keep them guessing if they were taken or not.

I sent a previous message but it was not posted – I don't know why as it was being moderated but this was the general content of my message: It was about why the Somali's were forced into piracy as a means of survival – and it was not just to play "pirate." Their oceans have been used as a dumping ground for toxic chemicals and nuclear waste; their oceans fishing stocks have been ravaged of millions of dollars of fish by foreign trawlers. ( ...just think Europeans and who else probably eat this highly contaminated fish). They turned to piracy to survive since they could no longer be fisherman. The Somali people are ill from being a toxic waste dump for years.

I really like the 'bait ship' idea. I can imagine it to be rigged with video cameras and remote controlled doors to trap the poor thugs. And then watch them panic as they find themselves trapped with no hostages (or food or water or light). While we are rigging the ship, we might as well install a number of jail cells. Do you think the old practice of 'keel-hauling' would be considered torture?

Not knowing whether or not Mr. Mwangura's remarks are verifiable – I must say there is more information in this article about Somalian pirates than any other I've read or heard lately. The additional information about the Kenyan governments attempts to silence reporting on the Ukrainian ships hijacking with weapons aboard smacks of subterfuge. There seems to be more to this piracy story than simply desperate Somalians.

Perhaps with what our Navy Seals accomplished yesterday in rescuing the Captain of an American boat, other companies and countries will begin to deal with the pirates in a like manner. As long as no one pays any more ransom piracy goes from being a high profit venture to a no profit dangerous venture in which you can lose your freedom if not your life. As victims we all need to act in the same way and not negotiate or the piracy will continue to plague us. Hopefully Obama will talk with other nations having this problem and get some ground rules laid to use against the pirates that will not only rescue any captured crewmen but put the pirates out of business.

If the Somalis have turned to piracy because they have been made deranged by chemical pollution as Evelyn says, then how is it that their offshore fishing grounds are so profitable for others? The pollution is so bad as to make people violent and lawless (but not kill them), but it is not bad enough to kill off fish or make them unacceptable for sale. That must have taken a BIG conspiracy to figure out. But no one is talking about it. Why? Because it never happened. These people are ruled by evil warlord Islamic murderous thugs. Civilized people have the right to protect themselves from them. They also are commanded to have compassion for them, and especially for the innocents. But America has tried a number of times to help them, and we have failed so far. I say arm the ships. When they stop being thugs, maybe we can help them.

The world cannot allow pirates to declare war on all of us. Armed guards should be on these ships. Since these ships are defenseless
they are easy prey to these cowards. Just like prior to US entry into WWII, our merchant ships must be protected by the Navy. Go after the mother ships and sink them on site!

D Smith: Just for clarification, nowhere in my message did I state that "...they have been made deranged by chemical pollution as Evelyn says". I also said nothing related to "...pollution is so bad as to make people violent and lawless (but not kill them)..." In reference to your "..Because it never happened" – I find that quite insulting – I am not making this up – you can check it out if you bother to do a little bit of true research yourself. You are very naieve if you think that fish that is hardly fit for human consumption is being marketed (the dollar is always the bottom line). I also don't appreciate my words being taken totally out of context and twisted for your benefit. Here in Canada we try to get to the bottom of things, not just take what is spoon-fed to us by the mainstream media. Grow up.

Lets take a tour through time....
The Second Barbary War (1815 ) was the second of two wars fought between the United States and the Ottoman Empire's North African regencies of Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis, known collectively as the Barbary States. On this occasion, the United States were joined by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The war brought to a conclusive end the American practice of paying tribute to the pirate states and marked the beginning of the end of the age of Piracy in that region.
Why don't we do this again?
Who can afford of paying ransom these days?
Europe and Africa will have to step up to the plate with the US and get rid of these pirates!

I thought one way to fight these pirates, as there is such a large area,
is to run convoys similar to the ones in World War II across the Atlantic. Put a group of cargo ships together, and have them excorted
by several military ships. The countries involved could rotate the excort duties.

Ultimately, the UN will have to invade Somolia and stabilize the country. Given that is a huge long range task, using convoys the way we did during World War II to protect shipping sailing through seas close by could be done much more quickly. At the same time air surveilance and stopping any suspicious vessels off the Somolia coast would also help. In any case, a halt dozen warships patroling the vast area is not enough!

There is one way to get rid of this piracy for good. Set every cargo ship up with about 20 bottles of flammables. A bottle of gasoline with a rag stuck in it can go a long way. When one of the pirate ships pulls up along side the cargo ship, light it and throw it down on them. After a few of those incidents, that will stop the pirates! Molotov cocktails for all piratesl!!!!
Evelyn (Canada)
As for the toxic dumping ground, becoming a pirate and hijacking ships will not change the state of the ocean. They could care less about the state of the ocean, they only care about the dollar. They are not taking this money from the hijacked ships and cleaning up the environment. There is plenty of places in the world where ships dump (and should be fined) and their citizens do not turn to kidnapping, killing, nor ransom for ships.
And with all of the hundreds of millions of money from ransoms they have collected, they still live in shacks! Why, they care more about buying their drugs. They are a bunch of criminals and should be treated as such.

Oddly, My fellow Americans are lacking the initiative to look into this issue. These are people who have been coerced, manipulated, and robbed of there livelihood. They call themselves Coastguards. Somalia is a sad place where your shores are not yours, and Piracy is the only way to help your family and your country. The canadian lady understands the situation, these pirates aren't mentally deranged but economically retarded by foreign forces. I salute these "pirates" because they are doing what all humans should do, and that is defend your resources. Maybe if there was a diplomatic approach to this could it end with peace, but any military action will just be another historical blunder leading to a further impoverished nation. Obviously more security on these boats will create more jobs and a safer venture, but the notion of attacking a group of people who are doing a patriotic thing for there country is very American of us. In situation where it is us, yes do what is needed, but every country should understand that this is a hostile territory and the only way to "battle" these pirates is with diplomacy by our leaders and empathetic knowledge by the masses.

Nobody likes terror from the Pirates at sea.. But most of us at one point in time or another like the lure and mystique associated to them as we remember it from our childhoods.. So why not let America compromise with them the same way it does with our best friends.. Like buy them out or subdue them with never ending lavished gifts, always free of charge.. I don’t recommend Military training or giving them some of our best military arms and or equipment though!!! More like something we are doing for Iraq, by less substantial..

As long as ransom continues to be payed, the pirates will continue hijacking ships. Arm these commercial vessels with trained professionals and allow the pros do the work. We must start killing these pirates so they will get the message. I don't believe in running from a problem,I believe in running at it. Let's seek out these pirates and kill them. Stop paying those peasants!

The 'bait ship' idea isn't new. It was used by the Allies in both WWI and WWII against U-boats. They were called Q-ships. The idea is that you have a merchant ship that is heavily armed ship with concealed weapons. When the U-Boat tried to take it out, they were blown out of the water. A similar result could be obtained by putting special forces teams on random ships. However, attacking the pirates in their home bases would be even better.