A Team Effort at Sea, A Legal Problem Looms

This is very important. We should always seek cooperation when the opportunity presents itself, and such an opportunity has presented itself.

Russia will work with the U.S. and European Union to fight piracy off the African coast and wants naval forces gathering in the area to coordinate their efforts, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday.

Lavrov spoke as a Russian warship with commandoes aboard headed to the waters off Somalia, where pirates are holding a Ukrainian ship with a cargo of battle tanks and a crew that includes two Russians.

"Russia aims to prevent pirates from causing mayhem," Russian news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying. He said nations with naval vessels in the area, which include the United States, should work together against pirates.

"It would be useful to coordinate the naval forces that are deployed," Lavrov said, according to state-run RIA-Novosti. "It seems everything is leading to this."

This is the approach that we should desire from international efforts in protecting the sea. In reading comments on other blogs reacting to the news of NATO action against pirates of Somalia, the skepticism and sarcasm in the commentary is disturbing, but probably well founded. The United Nations is the preferred international body to deal with the problems of piracy, and while they have done some of the work, there is a major aspect of the problem yet addressed. We see no evidence of leadership from the United States in dealing with this problem.

The world is in desperate need of a legal framework for dealing with pirates captured. France has a legal framework for dealing with pirates, and several Somalians will serve time in a French prison because France has the political will to carry that obligation without an international legal system. Many in the world require a more international legal approach, and the foundations for such a legal framework would come through international organizations like the United Nations.

Without the step of creating a legal body to serve as an enforcer of international law against piracy, whether it is conducted like war crimes tribunals or some other framework, response may indeed turn out to be inconsistent. The Russians may be more like France, and take prisoners home to face justice in a Russian court, but we have already seen the Danes release pirate prisoners on the beach.

If Americans have a serious desire to stop piracy, the action to be taken is political and begins in the UN. There is almost no public advocacy for this step, and it could be that Gitmo is a reason why this administration lacks the political will to call for such a system. Without that political action towards building an international legal system to deal with pirates, results may indeed be inconsistent.