[birdshine]

The problem is a lot of these people have taken to piracy not only out of starvation but also as kind of a volunteer coast guard. They don't have a government to protect their waters so lately a lot of counties have been going there to dump nuclear waste and illegally fish because they've dried up their own sources through over harvesting. So people that lived off the sea for generations are having trouble catching fish and the fish they do catch is likely to give their children birth defects. This is why such a huge amount of the Somalian population supports the pirates. A military venture into Somalia would prove as useless and ineffective as the war in Iraq for the same reason - fighting against guerrilla tactics without the support of the native. Any military response may seem justified by its completely ignoring the true source of the problem and letting the people abusing Somalia's seas get a free ride because they got the money.