Caterpillars, Torture, Terrorists (and Pirates)

This has very little to do with pirates, but I've decided to briefly hijack (and, we've got our link!) the pirate blog to share this op-ed my father wrote about the CIA's use of insects in psychological torture, briefly reported here. Read the op-ed for its own merits, but if you're looking for a better piracy link, keep in mind that the possibility that terrorists might deploy (or threaten to deploy) insect-vectored disease against the US points to one of the distinctions between terrorists and pirates. While both are scary, terrorists intend to strategically deploy frightening tactics to promote ideological motives, whereas pirates have a vested interest in not being too scary. As David Axe explains, as soon as pirates get a reputation for killing hostages, all incentive for shipping companies to pay ransom is destroyed:

But for all their aggression, the body count is low. One ship’s captain died of natural causes while being held hostage, and a few militia men have died in shoot-outs as they tried to rescue prisoners, but in general, little blood has been spilled. Pirates also prefer to keep their prisoners in good health. Not only are civilians worth hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece in ransom, but the pirates’ reputation for not harming their hostages has made governments reluctant to strike back on behalf of shipping companies.

The fear that pirates inspire is necessarily incidental to their tactics; the fear that terrorists inspire is their tactic.