Today, the standoff continues between Somali pirates who seized a Ukrainian-operated ship and the U.S. Navy.  The USS Howard had closed within a few thousand yards of the MV Faina soon after its capture in the Gulf of Aden on September 25, and now there are five American warships guarding the Faina.  The pirates first demanded $35 million in ransom for the vessel and her crew of 21, but it now appears they are willing to accept a seventh of that amount.  Negotiations are apparently continuing between the ship’s owners and the criminals.

A U.N. Security Council resolution passed this June called on nations to use “all necessary means” to stop the Somali pirates.  The Navy’s Fifth Fleet set up anti-piracy patrols in the dangerous waters off Somalia, but only the French have taken military action against these bandits, capturing six of them who had taken over a yacht in April.  Our sailors have done little else but watch pirates seize ships in real time, observe them from afar, or ignore the situation altogether.  With regard to the Faina, the U.S. Navy has said it will prevent the unloading of its cargo, which includes 33 Russian-built tanks headed for a Kenyan port.

Is that all we are willing to do?  “Whatever the outcome, the Faina standoff is simply another symptom of the declining post-Cold War order,” notes Time‘s Tony Karon.  It’s actually worse than that.  The incident highlights the paralysis of American decision-making.  Once we captured and killed pirates.  Now, we merely put them under surveillance when we choose to do anything at all.

These days, the Bush administration seems unable to accomplish anything, even capture bandits on the high seas.  It is not only the Russians, North Koreans, and Iranians who regularly humiliate the United States.  Today, pirates are doing so as well.