Pardon My Obsession

Of course I am not alone in following this long running drama happening off the coast of Somalia. It has all the elements of a great news story -- or great movie -- action, conflict, heroes. But who are the villains? Look behind that twitter or instant news update and what is going on here? Who are these "pirates," why are they taking on international naval powers and why have they been so successful? Through an Associated Press news story, posted 46 minutes ago, I just learned that Undeterred Somalian pirates highjack 3 more ships "in the Gulf of Aden, the waterway at the center of the world's fight against piracy." Two of the "ships" were Egyptian fishing boats! So what's the profit in that? Dinner? More importantly, the AP story supplies this background: the three pirates who were picked off by Navy snipers in the rescue were between 17 and 19 years old. That grabs me. What does it take for an international news story to "grab" you?