Earth to FBI: You are not dealing with normal criminals. They are wackos with a terrorist frame of mind.
I wouldn't agree with that, at all. They are quite clearly your run-of-the-mill criminals. They aren't pirating to advance some 14th Century religious belief, or to protest against some political policy. They're pirating for cash, which is the motive of virtually every criminal.
Whether it's kidnapping for ransom in Columbia, stagecoach robberies on the great American frontier, or piracy on the Indian ocean, those crimes are all perpetrated by criminals, not people with a political agenda.