Could be – if the lame duck incumbent or the president-elect decides that protecting shipping from piracy on the high seas is important.

US Marines have been singing about their exploits on the "shores of Tripoli" ever since President Thomas Jefferson sent them to scour out the world's most dangerous pirates, the Barbary corsairs, from their bases in North Africa in 1801. Now President Barack Obama may have to give the Corps the chance to add a new line - by sending Marines to destroy the newest generation of pirates, this time on the other side of Africa.

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Stopping the pirates at sea is almost impossible. The time that lapses from when the crew of an innocent ship spots the approach of a high-speed pirate boat until it is boarded is less than 15 minutes - not enough time to get a US frigate to come to the rescue.

Even when a warship manages to catch up with a captured vessel, its options are limited: It can't sink the target without endangering the crew and cargo. And boarding ships under hostile fire is a vanished art in modern navies - as is handling hostage situations

The solution? Send in the Marines!

Here's a past piracy related post.