If you're still interested in the topic one of the links I came across yesterday while researching my own answer is a law blog's book review of a text that aims

If you're still interested in the topic one of the links I came across yesterday while researching my own answer is a law blog's book review of a text that aims to examine the legality of the use of armed force against "non-state actors". http://www.lawfareblog.com/2011/11/extraterritorial-use-of-force-against-non-state-actors/ http://www.lawfareblog.com/2011/11/extraterritorial-use-of-f... I haven't read the book myself but it does look interesting. As far as the pirates I was mentioning, it wasn't actually about the Somali pirates but the ones in the age of sail. Back then pirates operating under the authority of a nation-state were "privateers" and carried a letter of marque. Non-state pirates were reviled internationally and hunted down and destroyed wherever they were seen. I do agree to uneasiness about the "war on terror" (going on 12 years now) but at the same time I think it's inevitable that the U.S. will have to set the precedent; no other nation is such a lightning rod as the U.S. is now, with the possible exception of Israel. But who knows, maybe we as grouping of nations will cooperate to revise the Geneva Conventions in response to the requirements for counter-terrorism?