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Oh, I'm not saying the pirates don't cause problems in those waters. I'm saying that it doesn't help all that much to focus on them as one aspect. You aren't going to stop piracy simply by catching and punishing all the pirates you can.
Why did we go into Afghanistan? Why didn't we just try to catch the terrorists coming out of there? Wasn't the problem simply with the terrorists? No.
Most violence in the world has deeper root causes that go beyond the direct violence itself. We can focus on the violence to make us feel better that we're doing something to halt it. But will it stop more violence from arising? Not necessarily.
Think about criminal activity. Much of that is tied into poverty. Poverty itself isn't necessarily solved by throwing money at it either. Like most major problems, it requires a multifaceted solution. In the case of poverty, it's often an issue of access to quality education (especially among women) and affordable health care and housing.
With the piracy, the source is tied into a number of problems: civil war, pollution, illegal fishing, etc. You can go after the pirates, yes, but will it stop the piracy. I don't know. I say not likely.
Why do we always think about Somalia these days when we think of piracy? What about all those other pirates causing problems elsewhere? What do you have to say about them?
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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