Daring Rescue

Nicely done.

An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday in a swift firefight that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, the ship's owner said.

A senior U.S. intelligence official said a pirate who had been involved in negotiations to free Capt. Richard Phillips but who was not on the lifeboat was in custody.

Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was safely transported to a Navy warship nearby.

This is obviously great news. Now hopefully we can orient US policy to stop piracy at the root, on land in Somalia instead of through great expense and effort on the high seas. It's not that our military is incapable of defeating this menace, as this rescue shows. But a legitimate government and economic opportunity in Somalia could save our military from 4-day standoffs in the Gulf of Aden when there are additional threats worldwide.

...apparently the Navy pulled an Ali-Foreman on the pirates. According to this report the Somalis ran out of ammo.