Riding shotgun for Santa! Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rum?

I'm not sure which is the more disturbing of news here; the fact that Somali warlords and pirates are hijacking loads off of cargo ships at a record clip or the fact that Blackwater Worldwide , the private army (and apparently navy and air force) for hire is now offering its services on the pirate strewn seas off the coast of Somali.

With Christmas coming upon us, the warnings are out that our Christmas presents may be hard to come by, if the current level of pilferage continues. As Christmas approaches it appears that Santa now needs an escort, and here we thought that was the main responsibility of NORAD, which normally provides that Christmas Eve assistance every year.

The idea of a privately armed group sailing the seas and flying the skies, might offer up some form of reassurance for the ship owners who are facing ransom demands and missing shipments on an ongoing basis, but perhaps this is a matter that might be left best to the United Nations or other inter governmental agency.

There already is a standing flotilla in the area that has been tasked to try and put a dent into the long running smuggling problems off the coast.

Contracting out security issues in international matters while perhaps cost effective, certainly leaves some grey areas as far as accountability may go. Do they have to follow the same procedures as the current fleet sailing the waters, or can they come and go as they wish without any need to check in with anyone official. All in all it could make it hard for the official fleet to determine the buccaneers from the cavalry.

Though some suggest it's just a return to the past procedures of the glory days of the British Navy, when the Queen would contracting out if you will to privateers, having them tackle the pirates on the high seas.

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Just consider it reviving another Christmas tradition.

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Forbes--Blackwater Floats Private Navy To Fight Pirates

Lloyd's List-- Blackwater sends warship to Gulf of Aden

Slate-- Blackwater Hits the High Seas

Navy Times-- Blackwater: We’ll defend against pirates

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This just in, hot off the Podunkian sat transmission link, some combat footage of the action off the coast of Somali...