Pirates undeterred

Update 4/15/09: Pirates fired rocket propelled grenades at the Liberty Sun, a US cargo ship, off the coast of Somalia, but were not able to board the ship.

Somali pirates have hijacked four more ships and taken 60 more hostages since yesterday, according to the Washington Post, answering one of Elizabeth Dickinson's "now what?" questions on Foreign Policy's Passport blog. The Wall Street Journal echoes popular calls for a heightened military response and a harsh penalty for the captured pirate, including this troubling recommendation:

Better still if he's transferred to Guantanamo and held as an "enemy combatant," or whatever the Obama Administration prefers to call terrorists.

Not only would this further blur the distinction between pirates and terrorists, but it is completely unnecessary. The US already has jurisdiction over crimes committed against US citizens and US ships; both piracy and hostage-taking carry a life sentence; and, as the Washington Post says,

The U.S. is treating the matter as a criminal case because officials have found no direct ties between East African pirates and terror groups. Because the U.S. is not at war with Somalia, piracy cases are governed by U.S. and international law.

Writing for Foreign Policy, J. Peter Pham analyzes the organizational network of the Somali pirates, calling it a "highly structured enterprise built around a number of syndicates," and details why the US Navy's use of force is insufficient to stop piracy. Although supportive of a heightened military response as a means of "[driving] up, rapidly and decisively, the cost of engaging in piracy," Tom Mahnken also recognizes its limitations. These would appear to be considerable given the current profitability of piracy.