"HK" wrote

The ship, its contents, and ransom money are just property, a commodity
much less valuable than the lives of the ship crews.

True. And to continue to send unarmed men into these situations in these
areas is plain stupidity. We have US naval vessels all over the globe doing
such things as jellyfish research, listening, and retesting something they
tested 2,000 times before. It would be nothing to station vessels on patrol
in that area of the world, and to handle these situations as they come up.
If a SEAL can't handle a skinny terrorist with an antiquated RPG, he should
turn in his flippers.

They're going to keep doing this as long as we keep allowing it. Hussein
isn't going to do anything about it, so it is up to the company owners. A
few more paid ABSs wouldn't add that much cost. They'd be private employees
operating no soverign property.