It’s not “Remember the Maine,” but on short notice it’s the best I could do…

I’m over the quaintness of there being 21st century pirates. It was high drama for a week, but going into week two with stories of their attacking more American vessels has ceased to be entertaining at any level. The US government needs to call these “pirates” what they are: terrorists. With that understanding clear, the president must then deploy an American fleet to blockade the ports of Somalia and provide sufficient air and surface assets to escort American and allied shipping through the area. We’re not unfamiliar with such operations and successfully escorted tankers through hostile waters in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war.

Since the dawn of the age of sail, the responsibility to maintain and protect the sanctity of free-travel on the high seas has fallen to the great powers. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the British Navy held the wolves at bay with wooden walls and hearts of oak. In the 20th century, the US Navy projected its power across the seas and far inland. In the 21st century, we must send the message with clarity of purpose that America and its allies will not quietly abide disruption of the free flow of free men. Simply stated, we must close with and destroy the enemy. Failure to carry out this program, sends a tragic signal that the free nations of the world have grown so soft and so willing to compromise the essential elements of freedom that they would rather pay millions and tribute to petty gangsters than engage in the difficult work of preserving and extending the liberty that so many have already sacrificed to establish.