The highest costs of piracy to Somalia and much of the international community are political not economic. Critically, the problem of piracy in which, as the UN reports, officials at all levels in Puntland are apparently complicit, should not blind the US government to the overriding political objective.3 The problem is to find a workable solution for the underlying political problem rather than mistakenly focusing on the narrower issue of securing sea lanes or protecting merchant shipping. The assault on the Maersk Alabama should spur greater political engagement and not be used as an excuse for reinforcing ultimately futile naval activity.That is a great backgrounder on Somali piracy. (PDF) I think Martin Murphy nails the issue.
Second, midshipmen Jeffrey Withington takes on Tom Ricks suggestion to do away with the service academies with his very cleverly titled post My Community College Education at the USNI Blog.
What a fantastic title, damn that is funny...
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