In the Washington Post two years ago, a Washington, D.C.-based scholar argued in favor of a solution to the vexing issue of modern-day piracy that was decidedly at odds with the long-standing international practice of capturing and prosecuting pirates: Just kill them. “The international right of self-defense would also justify an inspection and quarantine regime off the coast of Somalia to seize and destroy all vessels that are found to be engaged in piracy,” wrote Fred C. Ikle, a distinguished scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Cowardice will not defeat terrorism, nor will it stop the Somali…