Friday, December 05, 2008

Hit in the Wallet

I speculated that the Egyptians might be willing to contribute troops to an effort led by our troops to destroy the pirate bases in Somalia.

Strategypage notes that the Egyptians, worried about their potential to lose Suez Canal revenue, would send forces to deal with the pirates:

Egypt has offered to contribute military forces to help deal with the Somali pirates, but only as part of an "international effort."


What forces? It makes little sense to offer naval forces which the Western world will gladly contribute (and the Russians and Indians for that matter). But a brigade of marines or paratroopers would be a real offer.

We shall see how long it takes for the world to conclude that killing pirates on land is the only answer to stopping pirates.