Pirate stuff

A couple of must-read posts from Information Dissemination.

First, CBS News reports on a Somali pirates/Al Queda link. ID gives evidence of the spike in piracy activity from the time that CBS is reporting the two groups as having initiated formal contact with one another.

Also, an email from one of the crew members of the MAERSK ALABAMA giving an account of what went down the day the ship was attacked. The email ends with some things ships/ship carriers can do to combat the piracy threat that does not entail arming the crew.

Please note we are not inherently opposed to arming the crews. Arming the crew costs money - a lot of money in training and outfitting and current international regulations make any actions one would take even with arming, extremely prohibitive.