Well, the Saudis could pay us to protect their ships. Or they can deal with the pirates themselves - they have a navy you know. That of course, would mean actually risking their precious Arab asses, which is why they don’t do a damn thing.
I like your idea of them paying us protection money, I would say something on the order of 2% of the value of each cargo. Plus all the oil our navy can burn...
I have my doubts that an Obama Administration will be open to anything that would reveal them to be anti-terrorist in a violent confrontation.
I think this is the first wave of the future.
I don’t think so.
The deal will probably work out to be a few more barrels of oil for the equivalent of a few million dollars protection.