This editorial appeared in The Tri-City Herald.
Valiant merchant seamen and their heroic captain wrote a greatly significant new chapter in the annals of America.
U.S. Navy SEALS brought an abrupt end to their ordeal so they could return home to a tumultuous welcome.
It was a bloody affair – American mariners against Somali pirates, armed and murderous.
With submachine guns and rocket launchers instead of machetes or sabers, modern pirates off the Horn of Africa have all the daring but none of the romance of olden days.
Five pirates were killed last week. Three died at the hands of Navy SEALS and two during an operation by French Naval forces.
In both cases, legitimate governments were defending their citizens against outlaws.
In a bizarre turn of events, other Somali pirates have vowed revenge against U.S. merchant ships because pirates were killed after seizing the Maersk Alabama and taking the captain, Richard Phillips, hostage.
It's as though they think piracy is just another business enterprise.
It is, in one way of thinking, like bank robbery and burglary.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Tri-City Herald.
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