Wednesday, June 27, 2007

RE: Pirate-Held Crew Runs Out of Food and Water   [W. Thomas Smith Jr.]

The short answer is that we operate in international waters, and we do not "officially" conduct operations in any country's territorial waters (even the waters of a lawless state like Somalia) without invitation, particularly if our operations involve high-profile surface ships, which the American ship was.

Of course, it doesn't take much imagination to consider how SEAL teams and submarines might be able to work around this "law of the sea." I'm not suggesting they do. I'm just saying they certainly have the capability of going places where they are not invited, and they can do it without leaving evidence of ever having been there.

But under the circumstances of what took place — pirates hijacking a Danish freighter off a rogue state like Somalia, then sailing the freighter into Somali waters — I too am left scratching my head.

Editor’s note: Please see this note.

06/27 10:58 AMShare