If this piracy is all about money and not religion, I wonder if they could be hired to kill their fellow pirates and captains. "Bring me the severed left ear, right hand and identification of a dead pirate captain and I'll pay you $xxx........"

No, I did not listen to the show today. However, it's amusing that pointing out two things that are still true - we don't know they were Muslim, and they (the pirates that were shot at yesterday) haven't used their religion in defense of piracy - gets me branded an "uninformed liberal idiot."

I highly doubt any of those pirates from yesterday have talked to Thomas Jefferson, so what he was told 200 years ago does not necessarily apply to the thought process of a handful of Somali pirates in April 2009.

an Israeli commando with PMS.

The British Navy termed their suppression of piracy in the Gulf of Aden during the 18th & 19th Centuries as applying the short rope (hanging) and the long bayonet (on the end of the Royal Marine muskets). It worked back then, and it will work today. Piracy is a crime, just as a home invasion, and the victim should be able to apply the modern principle of defense with a loaded shotgun. When it becomes too dangerous to be a pirate, piracy will end. Can pirates become more sophisticated? Yes they can, but not without assistance from the warlords. Eliminate these warlords and their capacity to leave the harbor to solve this “problem” (i.e. no boats). Yes, I do feel sorry for the real fishermen.

Did you listen to the show today? Ok, go look up Barbery Pirates and also what the Ambassador told Thomas Jefferson. YES they are Muslim and the Muslims think that is their duty. Are you seriously trying to take up for the extreme Muslim?

Anyone else love the irony of ISRAELI teams hired to stave off MUSLIM pirates!!!

Anyone know any Seals? Ask them what really happened.

I've always wanted to bag a Muslim pirate for my trophy room, why not arrange "Kill a Pirate" cruises and let recreational hunters have at it? People would pay serious money for a chance at this kind of recreational shooting.

For YEARS before 9/11 I'd heard the stories of El Al Airlines never having had a hijacking or other terrorist incident in several decades of operation, and of US airlines paying El Al to tell how its done, but they didn't do it because it "costs too much," takes too much time and bothers passengers (as if the current TSA tactics don't bother passengers).

Kudos to the Isralies?

And I don't do a whole lot of international shipping, but I want to figure out how I can ship something on an Italian boat. I want 'em to have my business.

Piracy is a business. When the cost of doing business is low, you have more entrepreneurs jumping into the ongoing pirate business.
When the cost of doing business becomes higher, when the barriers to entry are raised, the number of new pirates decreases.
The solution is to raise the cost of doing business.
The historically effective means of doing that was to kill the pirates, and put their head on a pike and leave it there until it rotted off. Think of it as a billboard. "Do this and die!"
If we allow piracy to prevail, then piracy will flourish. More people will be killed (people, as opposed to pirates.)
Civilization has always deemed pirates to be NOT criminals, deserving of a day in court, but enemies of humanity; deserving of hanging.
Let's bring back old school pirate prevention.
Shoot 'em. Hang 'em. Put their head on a pike. If we do it often enough, and leave the heads in a public space long enough, the pirate prospects might just be harder to recruit

Blackwater and other contractors may be the answer since our Constitution allows the US Government to issue letters of marque and reprisal against piracy (this was brought to my attention by Ron Paul). Blackwater already operates it own vessel equipped with a helicopter. The only problem is that our government, along with other European governments, does everything they can to hamper anyone from using lethal force (Belgians releasing pirates). We have already seen what happens when these pirates come up against the Indian Navy (sank a trawler being used as a “mother ship”) and I can’t wait until they run into the Chinese Navy.

no court system needed. When the pirates attack you do one of two things. Blow their boat out of the water or capture them and their boat. If the pirates are captured, you bring them aboard, sink their boat, tie their hands behind their back and take your boat a couple of hundred miles offshore. You then push the pirates into the ocean and let the sharks have them. When you start dealing with these muslim a-holes appropriately, then they will back down. muslims only understand one thing. Force. So give them something they understand.

I am glad to see some shipping companies finally taking the growing violence off the coast of Somali seriously. More armed merchant ships, along with coast guard vessels, will decrease the problem for only a short time. We have to deal with the home ports of these pirates and the Somali warlords that are enabling and encouraging these pirates. Piracy can only operate were there is no fear of retribution.

An often overlooked fact is that piracy has been surpassed in areas of the coast that are controlled by Islamic fundamentalist who are hostile to America, the Union of Islamic Courts, because it is contrary to Islamic law to take ransom except in times of war. It is flourishing, along with smuggling of refugees to Yemen, in Putland which is not under their control. Somali piracy is about the money and the not religion.

Sorry, Mr. Boortz because these pirates are from Somalia does not make this a Islamic terrorist issue. Your broad brush statement that Islam allows piracy against others is not true, except in time of war. Do your home work 47th Surah of the Koran.

Remember "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"? "Run away! Run Away!" I hope they crawled away bleeding.

Every ship that goes through these dangerous waters should have armed security on board. Even though it would make for great video, they don't need anti-ship missiles, just some small arms to discourage the bad guys. The thugs in this story turned tail and ran when taking fire from handguns! Cowards!

I am glad the Israelis got in the story - well at least some stories.

Poor pirates. I can hear them now... "Oh snap! They shooting back! Retreat!"

I would imagine that the good guys had to shoot over their heads or something and not actually kill anybody. Muslims would be outraged - again.

Plus I read the good guys may have just had pistols they had to get out of a safe, probably against AK-47s smuggled into Somolia from America.

All the pirates are really good boys though.