Sir Francis Drake was legitimate enough to get knighted. And when he captured and ransomed Cartagena de Indias he gave 100,000 pesos to the crown of england. You know what the people in Colombia call that event? A pirate raid.
I agree there is a differentiation and privateer is a more precise definition. But the people getting attacked could not give less of a shit if the guy robbing them is state sponsored or not. To the victims its just pirates. Just as the US is sending pirate ships to do piracy in Venezuela.
Sir Francis Drake was legitimate enough to get knighted. And when he captured and ransomed Cartagena de Indias he gave 100,000 pesos to the crown of england. You know what the people in Colombia call that event? A pirate raid.
I agree there is a differentiation and privateer is a more precise definition. But the people getting attacked could not give less of a shit if the guy robbing them is state sponsored or not. To the victims its just pirates. Just as the US is sending pirate ships to do piracy in Venezuela.
I mean, if you want to say enforcing sanctions is piracy, but that makes a whole lot of countries guilty, not just the us.