There will be a lot of (justly) dead fishermen in that case. When the USG does piracy, or merely boards a ship, there are major snipers on the US vessel, and the inspectors are accompanied by well armed folks. In addition, free-lance piracy will be a great cover for real pirates at sea. And of course, what's good for the US is good for everyone else. Perhaps seagoing muslim nations will start boarding cruise lines, looking for illegal ethanol. At 02:14 PM 3/31/04 -0500, Trei, Peter wrote:

Statement of Peter Leitner

Additionally, I would suggest that the US may be well served by resurrecting the historic use of Letters of Marque in both the war on Terrorism and the protection of our coastal environment.