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Speaking at the Naval War College today in Newport, R.I, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that companies that paid ransom to Somali pirates impaired the United States' ability to properly address the recent spate of ship hijackings.

"Part of the problem is that the number of companies, not countries, companies that are prepared to pay the ransoms as part of the price of doing business and clearly if they didn't pay the ransoms we'd be in a stronger position," Gates told the audience.

Gates said that reducing the number of hijackings and hostage takings will require the combined efforts of the private and public sector and will necessitate the both military and diplomatic efforts.

"We can put a lot in jail and we can kill a lot but there will still be more," Gates said. "Until we can do something to provide some kind of stability on land and some prospects for these people it's going to be a tough problem."

At the heart of the issue, is that the people living in many Somali villages are "unspeakably poor," according to Gates. This makes piracy one of the only attractive options for young men who lack prospects.

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