Kirk takes pirates to task

Asking “if you can't be tough on pirates, who can you be tough on?” U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk has announced he will be leading a charge to combat piracy in the wake of the deaths of Prospect Heights native Scott Adam and three other American missionaries who were attacked while sailing the Arabian Sea.

Kirk, a Naval Intelligence Officer from Highland Park, outlined a four-point plan late last week on the Senate floor that includes:

• The creation of a pirate exclusion zone that would allow the boarding or sinking of any ship leaving Somali waters that was not first approved and certified by allied forces.

• An expedited legal system that would prosecute and detain pirates captured on the high seas.

• Blockading pirate-dominated ports.

• Broadening powers to attack and arrest pirates, which would include the sinking of pirate ships if local commanders deem that action warranted.

Kirk said he also thinks the U.S. should “explore connections” between pirates and terror groups and attack them “the same way we do terrorist networks.”

While pirates have strength on the ground in Somalia, Kirk said, “once they put to sea, we can be their masters. And they have very weak means of opposing us.”

Kirk said he plans to travel to the Horn of Africa later this spring to get a firsthand look at anti-piracy efforts.