Funny That: Somali Piracy Down Without Addressing "Root Causes"

Maritime piracy is yet another scourge for which the namby-pambies of the world reflexively claim can't be addressed without addressing "root causes."  In Somalia's case, the ninnies focus on political stability in Somalia as the root cause that is the necessary condition for fixing the problem.  Sure, it'd be great if Somalia was politically stable, but that at best isn't happening in the short term and at worst it's a pipe dream.  In the meantime, illiterate bands of dirt poor Somalis are interrupting global commerce sometimes capturing $100 million ships with $200 million of oil. 

Well, after a sputtering beginning, where saner heads let the root causes crowd have too much of the say, we've gotten a handle on the problem using common sense and time-tested strategies and tactics.  Piracy off the coast of Somalia is way down and it had nothing to do with addressing the root causes, it was done raising the cost of piracy by introducing the prospect of failure, imprisonment and/or death. 

“The single biggest reason for the drop in worldwide piracy is the decrease in Somali piracy off the coast of East Africa,” said Pottengal Mukundan, IMB director.  The presence of international navies and security guards are the main factors"

International navies patrolling the waters and security teams aboard ships (translation: good guys with guns) have made a serious dent in the problem, and it needs to be noted that Somalia remains a politically unstable craphole.