As are fisherman. I was very surprised to see guys fishing the Indian Ocean in small boats 700 miles from shore. The small boats have mother ships the same way that the pirates do. In any guerrilla action the trick is being able to tell the good guys from the bad. We have a tough enough time with a 1000 mile line of border - I have no idea how to effectively patrol a million square miles of ocean.
Offing the pirates on sight sounds great, but it creates problems for the people and ships already held hostage. You'd essentially be writing them off as well. When the topic of dealing with pirates comes up some people refer to how the Romans dealt with piracy. I'm not so sure that was anything more than marketing and spin.
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Why cite the Romans when we have our own proud tradition.