In its most important naval operation in decades, Spain acted with precision.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: spanism_marine_landing

Earlier this month, a handful of European Union defense ministers agreed to accelerate an EU military naval operation to fight piracy off Somalia's coast.

CNN: Somali forces free pirate hostages

The State Department declined to comment on the naval operation.

WSJ: Obama Offers Open Channels to Pakistan, Iran, North Korea

He described Union cooperation in Africa, including the deployment of two military operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and one in Chad, as well as a naval operation off the coast of Somalia and assistance for the African Union operation and the Transitional Federal Government in the country.

UN: Security Council

The captain leads a cadre of senior naval officers in the operation of the ship.

FORBES: What Is It Like To Be The Commanding Officer Of An Aircraft Carrier?

Rear Admiral Duncan Potts, the operation commander for the EU Naval Force in Somalia, said it had already made considerable progress targeting the pirates at sea.

BBC: Somalia pirates: EU approves attacks on land bases

Odinga outlined a joint effort from "land, sea and air" for the operation, which he hoped would include European Union naval assistance.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

As co-operation on security and counter-terrorism has improved, American naval ships have, since 2003, been visiting Vietnam's ports.

ECONOMIST: Vietnam and America