The murder of four Americans should call attention to the increasingly dire situation in Mogadishu, which exacerbates the piracy problem.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control in the United States has taken explicit steps in the direction of sanctions and freezing assets of shipping companies that give in to pirate demands but the Contact Group must encourage other countries to do the same.

The recent kidnapping of a handicapped French woman from a Kenyan resort, initially attributed to Somali pirates, was the second such kidnapping in a month. Kenyan authorities now blame al-Shabab, the Somali terrorist group affiliated with al Qaeda. Why should we treat the growing menace of Somali piracy differently from terrorism?

After more than a decade of provocation and international dithering, we must stamp out the Somali pirate havens once and for all.

Somali pirates have evolved from a small group of bandits into a sophisticated global organization with hijackers, investors, guards, professional negotiators and money laundering agents working in tandem. This efficiency has made it very difficult to counter the threat of piracy but targeting financers and negotiators is part of a more proactive strategy being adopted by the United States.

The region's ability to police its own waters can come only after governments in the region have stabilized, are capable of managing militaries, and are able to fight piracy.

Under the Obama administration's theory of the war against al Qaeda, terrorism is really a crime, not an act of war.

Washington has to consider the effect of China's new capabilities on its allies and friends in maritime Asia.