Avast, tis Blackwater thinkin' a fightin' pirates!

Think Progress:

The private security firm Blackwater is planning to offer a new service to make money: protection from the pirate-infested waters off the coast of East Africa. “Blackwater’s push to land its first antipiracy contract is part of a strategy to build its business outside its State Department security work in Iraq, which brings in between $300 million and $400 million a year.” The security company may be looking for new lucrative opportunities partly because the Iraqi government has now ratified a law stripping Blackwater contractors of immunity. Indeed, Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell noted the legal benefits of operating in the open sea: “We would be allowed to fire if fired upon; the right of self-defense is one that exists in international waters.”

This will work fine. Private companies pay for private security on the high seas ... until Blackwater starts shooting innocent fishing vessels out of the water. And the media will always go and wreck it by finding out that pirates have starving families too....