Opinion: contain pirates, don't eliminate them

Interesting piece a few days ago from Bronwyn Bruton from the Council on Foreign Relations - Disrupting Pirates' Networks. She argues that while the pirates of Somalia aren't great, they may be better than the alternative. She compares them to the mafia by saying the pirates need a stable and predictable environment in which to make money. With that incentive, they do maintain some order and have a vested interest in keeping out elements like Al Qaeda, who would challenge their authority and invite more international attention.

It's an interesting take on the law of unintended consequences where Bruton says that piracy is a better alternative to maritime terrorism. That's true, though she provides scant evidence that the pirates of Somalia are actually combating Al Qaeda or a real counterweight. Bruton introduces a much more interesting hypothesis - that Al Qaeda might ally with the pirates - but doesn't provide any more insight beyond stating that point.

In the same way we should consider turning the pirates against each other, we should look at a possible corollary to Bruton's idea - turn the pirates against Al Qaeda.