Like a Coast Guard

The New York Times got a telephone interview with some of the Somali pirates holding a shipload of tanks and other weapons.

The one who agreed to be quoted said some interesting things, including, "We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.”

I have no doubt that these really are the bad guys. At the same time, they're compelling figures.