This is good news but it should have been done 5 minutes after the Navy got there.

from CNN:

Hostage captain rescued; Navy snipers kill 3 pirates

MANAMA, Bahrain (CNN) -- U.S. Navy snipers fatally shot three pirates holding an American cargo-ship captain hostage after seeing that one of the pirates "had an AK-47 leveled at the captain's back," a military official said Sunday.

From now on we should ask once politely and if nothing good happens give the firing orders. Criminal types world wide should have nightmares if they even think about crimes against an american. A "you don't tug on superman's cape" sort of thing.