I love seeing my tax dollars doing things like this...

Stories like this make me smile. Justice being visited upon thieves and murderers (or those who, at the least, threaten murder) is a very good thing. In this case, the results are there for all of us to see.

The subject of our little story is this group of men (and don't they look nice with their hands up?)...



They fired on and tried to board the Indian-flagged ship Premdivya. Unfortunately for them, they didn't just have to contend with the crew of the Premdivya, since the crew sent a distress call that was answered by another ship in the area. This one...



That is the United States Navy cruiser USS Vella Gulf. While the pirates brought their rifles, the Vella Gulf brings things like this to a fight...



Actually, the Vella Gulf didn't need to use her guns or missiles. Instead, to quickly get to the scene and deal with these thugs, a helicopter was launched. The crew of the helicopter fired a few shots to get the pirates' attention, and that was that. The pirates are now in custody.

Despite the debacles of recent years (one big one, in particular), I still believe this country is a force for good and justice in this world. Today, we get to see one little example of that.

Addendum:

A few years ago, when I was commuting into Manhattan, there was a billboard near the tracks with a Navy ad that I thought was terrific. Looking online, I found this image from the ad campaign:



Now that's a slogan that really captures the noblest of the Navy's goals!