Pirates Take 4 More

This is seriously troubling. Not only are the pirates showing that they're not the least bit shaken by the rescue of Captain Phillips or the threat of multinational attacks on their bases, but now they're escalating their tactics.

This is a challenge to the rest of the world. And since we've decided to play politics with the results of the pirate menace, this would be a GREAT platform for Obama, because I bet dollars to pesos that most of the world will back us on this one. Obama needs to get in front of this now; he needs to take control. He just has to pull this one off of Hillary's plate.

From ABC News:

The pirates have now seized four ships since the dramatic rescue of American Capt. Richard Phillips Sunday, who was taken hostage during a failed hijacking attempt.

Just as the cheers were dying down for the daring rescue of Phillips that left three pirates dead, Somali pirates swooped down on more victims. This time they struck in the Gulf of Aden along the north coast of Somalia.

Two Egyptian fishing boats were hijacked, according to Egypt's Foreign Ministry, which said the boats carried a total of 18 to 24 Egyptians.

The biggest overnight prize for the pirates was the capture of the Greek freighter M.V. Irene and a Togo-flagged freighter named the Sea Horse, according to NATO officials. The Irene had a crew of 22. There was no immediate information on the Sea Horse crew.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States can't end Somali piracy by itself and noted that 16 nations have warships in the region, which is roughly four times the size of Texas.

When Mullen was asked today whether the United States had considered attacking the pirate strongholds in Somalia, the admiral said, "I've asked, and we've been doing this. We've initiated a review on the Joint Staff to look broadly and widely and deeply at the overall strategy," he told ABC's "Good Morning America."