Since the US-engineered fall of the Islamic Courts Union, piracy off the coast of Somalia has increased dramatically. Pirates like this area for a couple of reasons. First, because pirates need friendly bases from which to operate, they tend to do well in failed states. No one in Somalia right now is interested in preventing pirates from plying their trade. Second, pirates thrive when the density of local naval force is low. Piracy was really big in the Straits of Malacca four or five years ago, but naval expansion on the part of Malaysia and Indonesia, combined with facilitation efforts on the part of United States Pacific Command, helped to make the environment much less congenial to the profession. This is also why we almost never see piracy in the Persian Gulf. Several countries make regular anti-pirate patrols off of Somalia, but the density of force doesn't approach that in the Straits, and probably won't for a long while.
In any case, about a week ago a group of Somali pirates seized a big (almost 300') French yacht that was on its way back to Europe. The French tracked the yacht, made contact, and paid the $2 million ransom that the pirates were demanding. They also brought up the Jeanne D' Arc, a helicopter carrying cruiser. Shortly after the ransom was paid and the hostages freed, French commandos in helicopters landed and seized the pirates. Unfortunately, some locals may have died, although the French deny this.
France launched the raid in order to demonstrate that piracy doesn't pay, although of course piracy does pay, and will continue to pay for as long as the basic local conditions allow it to thrive. Expect more incidents like this in the future.
--Robert Farley
