When the news came this past Sunday that the U.S. Navy had freed Capt. Richard Phillips and taken down three pirates, more than a few Americans jumped in patriotic joy. A world that too often now seems upside down was for one day right-side up.

The spectacle of rag-tag pirates bobbing on the ocean for days with their American captive was described in some quarters as displaying the "limits" of U.S. military power. It did, for as long as it lasted. Had the U.S. failed against such opposition, national self-confidence would...