New York Times – An unsuspected bit of good news related to the Indian Ocean tsunami was revealed recently when the International Maritime Bureau released its annual report on pirate attacks against international shipping. The new figures showed a 27 percent decline in 2004, to 325 incidents from 445 in 2003, and noted that there had not been single attack in the pirate-infested waters off Sumatra since the earthquake. Now, while these figures show an improvement, the positive trend should not distract us from the huge threat that piracy, and its connection to terrorism, poses to the global economy.

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