Pirates Meet Their Match

Pirates attack a U.S. merchant ship carrying humanitarian relief, but do they care, no, they're pirates. Unlike other countries though, our guys don't sit around waiting to be rescued. They were unarmed but smart. FoxNews:

American crew members aboard a U.S.-flagged ship hijacked by Somali pirates Wednesday were able to regain control of the vessel, but a crew member says the ship's captain is still being held hostage.

Speaking on the ship's satellite phone, one of the 20 crew members on the cargo ship, Maersk Alabama, said negotiations are under way for the captain's release.

He said the crew had been taken hostage but managed to seize one pirate and then successfully negotiate their own release.

Godspeed to the captain for a safe return. Sounds like he has a brave wife:

Wednesday's incident was the first such hostage-taking involving U.S. citizens in 200 years. In December 2008, Somali pirates chased and shot at a U.S. cruise ship with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel.

The top two commanders of the ship graduated from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the Cape Cod Times reported Wednesday.

Andrea Phillips, the wife of Capt. Richard Phillips of Underhill, Vt., said her husband has sailed in those waters "for quite some time" and a hijacking was perhaps "inevitable."

Our Navy is patrolling the most vulnerable and heavily traveled sea lanes but there is a lot of open sea. Is this a time to be cutting back our defense?