8. Rescue on the High Seas
Three well placed bullets from three American Navy Seal snipers put a decisive end to a five-day hostage drama on the seas off the Horn of Africa on April 13. Richard Phillips, captain of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama, was not the first sailor taken captive by pirates operating out of Somalia, but his hostage taking highlighted the steady rise in naval piracy plaguing shipping lanes in the region. It also underscored its glaring asymmetry, pitting the world's most powerful navy against a lifeboat. (AP Photo)
