Letters of Marque and Reprisal

 
Instapundit was keen on using letters of marque and reprisal during the War on Terror. I am grading rough drafts of student papers. One awesome one by, unsurprisingly, an engineering major, makers the point that letters of marque were a force multiplier against a numerically superior Royal Navy during the Revolution and War of 1812. I think we should seriously consider whether there would be time to use such in the worrisomely likely war of Taiwanese Independence. Imagine the resale value to privateers of capturing a VLCC (very large crude carrier): about $100 million worth of oil. Are there Americans with the courage to seize a Chinese-bound VLCC in the Straits of Malacca to split the value of that much oil and the ship? Yes there are.