The fourth was arrested...and, I suspect, will walk free after some shyster criminal lawyer finds some way to claim his rights were violated.
Oh, I think you're half-right: I don't think the guy will ever be tried.
What were the SEALs' Mission Orders in this case? I suspect they read something like:
1. Rescue Captain Phillips
2. Capture at least one pirate alive
(and I bet some of the SEALs mentally scratched out the phrase "at least")
So: We've capture a pirate. Unlike an Al-Qaeda terrorist, a pirate is motivated by GREED, not ideology.
We can work with greed.
I suspect right now, the pirate is being told he's going to Gitmo, he'll live in a six-by-six concrete cell with no window for the rest of his life, no one will be around that that will even speak his language, he will never see his family again, etc., etc. etc.
In a day or so, the "Good Cop" will show up: "We'll bring you to the United States and give you a new identity. We'll bring your family to meet you. Will give you a fine big house [right next door to Jay, probably :wink2:] and give you a million dollars a year for the rest of your life."
And to earn it...well, we'll want to know what village he was based out of. Who his boss was. Where the boss lives. What his boss drives. Where his boss banks. Where his boss has warehouses. Where the pirates' boats are kept. How they get spare parts. How the boss communicates with his people. What foreigners come around. Who the other bosses are, where they live, where they keep THEIR boats, etc.
Oh, unless the captured individual was the leader (and Captain Phillips will be able to tell us that), he may not have the answers to ALL the questions...but he'll provide clues that we can use to build up more of the story.
Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, a Psyops C-130 will swoop low over a specific Somalian seacoast village. A thundering voice will warn people to evacuate certain buildings. Then the explosions will come.
Given my druthers, after the air strikes, I'd bring a couple of tin cans close inshore, flying the biggest set of colors available. Have 'em walk their deck guns' rounds toward the beach (giving the stunned survivors even more time to run away), then bounce the rubble for an hour. Let the pirates KNOW who the top dog at sea is.
All because the SEALs captured a pirate alive while rescuing the hostage unharmed. THAT'S professionalism. And a far better strategy than a knee-jerk "kill them all" reaction.
Ron Wanttaja