The truth is, pirates have already come back. Pirates had been written off for good — nobody was actually afraid of them. But in the last several years, piracy has been on the upswing. Eastern African pirates are having their way with shipping lanes and earning handsome sums of ransom money. Like the Rolling Stones coming out of retirement, pirates have sprung back on the scene to annoy millions.

I hate to sound like a prophet, but that’s what I am. I just wrote an article about piracy back in February. I warned that piracy was on the rise, and the events of the past several weeks have confirmed it. I don’t mean to wave my own cutlass, but I was right.

Today’s sea pirates are like the Boston Red Sox. They owned the competition years ago, gained notoriety and then faded into obscurity for eons. Pirates languished for centuries, nobody caring what they were up to.

Then, as soon as one brave-as-hell American sea captain lets himself be taken hostage, pirates are all the rage.

International attention and media scrutiny have been focused on these brigands, as pirates have snared larger prizes for themselves. Capturing a massive oil tanker or receiving millions of ransom dollars is like winning the pirate world series. Few pirates ever do what these Somali crews have done. Only rap stars can get fame and booty with the same speed and efficiency.

Captain Richard Phillips did what any self-respecting captain ought to do: He sacrificed himself for his ship. More captains of business and industry should do the same, instead of taking the last lifeboat and leaving their crews to drown. The romance and intrigue of modern pirate stories should inform the way things happen on land.

After Captain Phillips was rescued, the pirates began issuing angry threats, which is scary until you remember that they operate out of little rubber boats. They are largely disorganized and haphazard in their approach, and even though they have captured big vessels, their actions are only confined to certain areas of the globe.

The key to taking them out is dealing with the pirates on land. Thus far, many countermeasures have been at sea, and they are reactive at best. The way to keep the shipping safe from pirates is to deal with them at their home base, which in this case happens to be Somalia and the Gulf of Aden. The U.S. government needs to protect its citizens, and the only lasting way is to deal with pirates offensively.

What’s the worst that could happen? Pirates coming to raid coastal areas. I posited in my other article that piracy in Seattle would be scary — nobody could hang out on the waterfront or take a ferry without fearing capture. But somehow, I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.

Reach columnist Jackson Rohrbaugh at opinion@dailyuw.com.