Military Review English Edition September-October 2014 | Page 115

BOOK REVIEWS

alike—i.e., anyone concerned with the fate of the
region. Few will be let down by its well-researched narrative, comprehensive analysis, and convincing recommendations; it pulls no punches and stands out from
the growing crowd of manuscripts on the topic. This is
without doubt the best book I have read on the subject
and I recommend it most strongly. Despite historical
and ever-present everyday challenges, No Exit from
Pakistan makes clear why neither side can afford to let
the U.S.-Pakistan relationship fold and, uncomfortably,
why a close partnership is probably unattainable in the
short term. The United States is trapped in its relationship with Pakistan; at least in the short term there is
absolutely no exit.
Col. Andrew M. Roe, Ph.D., British Army,
Shorncliffe, United Kingdom

PIRATE ALLEY:
Commanding Task Force 151 Off Somalia
Rear Adm. Terry McKnight, U.S. Navy, Retired, and
Michael Hirsh, Naval Institute Press, Maryland,
2012, 272 pages, $29.95

P

irate Alley: Commanding Task Force 151
off Somalia provides a good look inside the
piracy occurring off the coast of Somalia. It
is co-authored by retired Rear Adm. Terry McKnight,
former commanding officer of Anti-Piracy Combined
Task Force 151, which operates in the Gulf of Aden
area. To the average reader the problem of piracy appears to be one of numbers—not having enough naval
vessels to guard the passage of ships as they transit
through the shipping lanes along the coast of Somalia.
McKnight explains in extraordinary detail the
multitude of problems associated with patrolling this
area. From the sheer size of the area (2.6 million square
miles), to the endless legal issues (such as who has
jurisdiction over captured Somalia pirates operating a
hijacked boat from Yemen that attacked a Panamanian
flagged shipped crewed by Filipinos that set sail from
Dubai going to Kenya carrying food for a UN food program), when Somalia does not have laws against piracy
or a functioning government.
McKnight describes the nature and character
of the so-called pirates not as fisherman at all, but
MILITARY REVIEW  September-October 2014

rather as front-line (non-swimming) soldiers fro