If you want a belly laugh, read this Times of London article about the latest pirate attack off Somalia:

From a distance the large ship on the horizon looked like the perfect target, ripe for a successful spot of piracy.

But as the Somali pirates sped toward the vessel sailing near the Seychelles, they were horrified to see two boats and a helicopter set off from their target and launch their own counter-attack.

They had failed to spot, in the dazzling sun, that the ‘merchant ship’ they thought they were intercepting was, in fact, a French naval ship bristling with cannons, radar technology and armed commandos.

The result: 11 captured pirates.

This is a good news story but, alas, pirates aren’t usually stupid enough to attack warships. And Western warships aren’t usually empowered to attack pirate ships unless they are caught in the act, as they were in this instance. There is a desperate need for more robust rules of engagement — the words “search and destroy” come to mind — for naval forces battling piracy, if the threat is ever to recede.