Mercenaries: the Only Effective Solution to the Somali Pirate Scourge

Keeping elements of the world's navys on-call to fight pirates is ludicrously expensive and an overkill approach that misses the heart of the matter. Rather than trying to cover hundreds of thousands of square miles of open ocean, this is a real business opportunity for mercenaries (read 'private security organizations like Blackwater').

Mercenary teams, armed to the teeth (including nicely-sized bangers like shoulder-launched missiles in addition to their 'regular' armament) can be dropped onto cargo ship decks by helicopter to defend the ships as they enter the problem area. Then, 1-3 days later when the cargo ships have passed out of harm's way, the mercenaries are removed by helicopter and taken to their next cargo ship assignment. Simple. Cost-effective. And a great gig for contract tough-guys - maybe the ones getting a little long-in-the-tooth and want to survive their careers to be with families they care for back home.

If mercenary teams established by the likes of Blackwater are good enough to 'supplement' the US Army in Baghdad and elsewhere, they'd be the perfect force to warn away or fight off pirate aggression in the gulf. And having mercenaries riding shotgun temporarily focuses the resources where & when they're needed. No need then to arm the freighters or expect innocent crew members to periodically become professional soldiers to save someone else's cargos and/or their own lives.