At war with pirates on the high seas

When pirates operating off the coast of Somalia started increasing their attacks on merchant vessels earlier this year, world leaders shrugged. When marauders captured a Ukrainian ship full of tanks and small arms in September, they sat up and took notice. On Saturday, modern-day buccaneers swooped down on what may be the largest ship ever captured by pirates, a supertanker carrying so much oil that news of its seizure caused a temporary uptick in world crude prices. Is it time to declare a war on piracy?

November 19, 2008