‘A French military operation to free a yacht hijacked by Somali pirates backfired today when one of the hostages was killed, highlighting the perils facing US forces trying to free an American seaman being held captive in a parallel pirate standoff,’ the Guardian reports.

‘Four French hostages, including a three-year-old child, were rescued on board the Tanit, which was hijacked en route to Zanzibar last weekend. Two pirates also died in the raid, according to president Nicolas Sarkozy’s office.’

Our thoughts should be with the hostage who died, of course, but it’s hard to call this rescue operation a (complete) failure. A three-year-old was saved, three other hostages are finally free as well, and two pirates were killed. Losing one hostage is terrible, but chances are it would have been worse if the French had done nothing. You cannot negotiate with pirates – you cannot give them what they want, at least. They have to understand they have two options: death or prison.

It will be interesting to see how this influences the U.S. reaction to the kidnapping of captain Richard Phillips. Will these pirates be let off the hook, will they receive the $2 million they demanded, or will the U.S. military attack the pirate ship and hope for the best? Whatever the case, good options don’t exist. There are only bad and worse choices.