The United States has no plans to use ground forces to protect commercial shipping in pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast, a senior U.S.
diplomat said. Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro outlined on Wednesday new U.S.
efforts to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia in response to increased attacks and violence.
“We have not endorsed to use any land base and ground forces to combat the pirates.
It’s better to work with security forces of Somalia,” Shapiro said. “We should organize counter-piracy operations exploring expanded military options which do not place under risk our forces,” the diplomat added.
According to Shapiro, the new U.S. strategy relies heavily on “non-military” solutions, including a more effective use of courts to pros…