> The US 5th fleet can just stop policing the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and the various local peoples would hinder maritime traffic through piracy and ransom. Those can't be stopped with ICBMs.

While it would be a particularly horrific way to deal with the problem, the local people in the area of the Bab-el Mandeb strait and their capacity to interfere with international shipping can, in fact, be stopped with ICBMs.

But it can be stopped by other governments and it can be stopped by ship owners simply taking defense into their own hands. If prices are high enough.

Pirates can almost never fully cut off a shipping lane.