Skelton: Somalia Key To Fighting Piracy

Congressman Ike Skelton said there will be no lasting solution to the problem of piracy until Somalia's "failed state" is address.

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The Chairman of the Armed Services Committee made the comments in a special committee hearing Thursday.

"I fear that the situation on the ground in Somalia will be repeated in other failed states and in states with vast areas of ungoverned territory within their borders," he said, as reported by CNN. "Piracy could not exist on this scale and with this level of brazenness if there was effective governmental control of that nation."

Skelton also called the surge in pirate attacks "disturbing" and suggested the administration push for an "international counterpiracy league" under the auspices of the United Nations.