A Solution to Somalia's pirates: Privateers. Would You Join?

[Nelson Cooke]

The situation in Somalia is not unlike that in the Caribbean in the second half of the seventeenth century.

As most of you know, piracy in the Caribbean had swelled to the point that the European governments effectively threw up their hands and adopted a policy of “if-you-can’t-beat-’em-join-’em.” Pirates were designated “privateers” when they bought or were otherwise granted a “letter of marque and reprisal” by their own governments. These were essentially licenses to prey upon the ships of nations with whom the issuing nation was at war, which, often as not in those days, was just about everybody.

Somalia is similarly unable to stop the pirates, NATO help notwithstanding. But privateers might have fiscal motivation, to go with glory.

If Somalia issued letters of marques and reprisal, would you consider being part of a privateer crew? Do you have piratic-minded chums who might.

In any case, what do you think of the privateer idea?

Honest or otherwise quote-worthy responses may turn up in an article proposing the privateer solution in my blog on The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-thomson).

[JohnnyTarr]

If I was single I would either fight or join them. It would really depend on which way my government would go.