AYE, AYE...

“Psst! Avast there! It be too late to alter course, mateys. And there be plundering pirates lurkin' in ev'ry cove, waitin' to board. Sit closer together and keep your ruddy hands in board. That be the best way to repel boarders. And mark well me words, mateys: Dead men tell no tales! Ye come seekin' adventure with salty old pirates, eh? Sure you've come to the proper place. But keep a weather eye open mates, and hold on tight. With both hands, if you please. Thar be squalls ahead, and Davy Jones waiting for them what don't obey.”

Next in Disneyland, the ride’s chilling sounds echo even more audibly, as the guests plunge down a thundering waterfall. When they reach the bottom of the waterfall, guests actually are entitled to a brief respite - albeit however briefly... "Dead men tell no tales!"

“Pirates of the Caribbean” was the the last attraction in which Walt Disney himself participated in designing; it premiered 3 months after his death. If only it was still 1966... and still simply a theme park ride.

Piracy has existed since the onset of oceanic trade routes. Julius Caesar was even kidnapped once by Cilician pirates. The story is told that the pirates demanded a ransom of 20 talents of gold, to which Caesar, humble as he was, declared he was worth at least 50. When the ante was upped, the sum was paid, and Caesar was released.

Currently, piracy has escalated off Somalia’s Horn of Africa and in the Indian Ocean. U.S. Secretaries Gates and Clinton are huddling to address this both efficiently and well. Yet while this criminal, maritime activity may be as old as the seas themselves, current events should not be equated with Disney or Johnny Depp. The International Marine Bureau, in their most recent statistics, report 263 attacks in 2007; that does not account for the resulting hostages and/or murders. Somalian rebels have posed a threat to international shipping since the country’s civil war began in the early 1990’s. The state of Somalia is treacherous; children, refugees, and Christians are dying daily. But piracy is not a war between countries; the pirates have no national authority to attack either last week’s Maersk Alabama or this week’s MV Liberty Sun. They are simply men acting maliciously.

The pirates are also not easily governed nor deterred. Note pirate Omar Dahir Idle’s words to The Associated Press, in response to a U.S. warning and the death of 5 of his unscrupulous cohorts: “Our latest hijackings are meant to show that no one can deter us from protecting our waters from the enemy because we believe in dying for our land. Our guns do not fire water. I am sure we will avenge.“ It would seem as if the pirates have confused the enemy’s true identity.

Following heroic efforts instead - and the Easter rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips, President Obama vowed to “halt the rise of piracy.” Following his own renewed freedom, Julius Caesar also executed an aggressive course of action; he hawkishly pursued his captors and then had them put to death. Guess he assumed 50 talents was also not enough.

There may be plundering pirates “lurkin,” but in order to truly keep the peace, the United States should be waiting for them that “don’t obey.”

AR