What is the theme in Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy?

Another theme in the book is Justice.There has always been a distinction between legal justice and the emotional satisfaction from direct and immediate punishment for crimes. The 18th century code of maritime regulations, Rocks and Shoals, allowed for the captain of a Coast Guard vessel to summarily court martial and execute pirates on the high seas. These regulations have now been replaced by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but the reaction of the Captain of the USCGC Panache to invoke the older, more direct form of justice, is all too easily accepted, given the brutality of the murders on board the Empire Builder. The fact that the "execution" was a sham does not exonerate the crew for breaking the current law, and the unfortunate result is that the murderers are quite likely to plea bargain a reprieve from the death sentence.