|
 NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The U.S. military is once again tangling with pirates, intervening in waters off Somalia twice this week to help ships seized by hijackers — and bringing to mind another century's battles off Africa.
Pirates may have swapped muskets and the Jolly Roger for AK-47s and satellite phones, but the root causes of piracy are little-changed from when Thomas Jefferson contemplated how to handle attacks on American merchant ships two centuries ago.
"Instead of swinging from ropes, now it's boarding vessels with automatic weapons," said Cyrus Mody, a senior analyst at the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks pirate attacks.
|