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No One Asked Me But… (September 17, 2014)

By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but… I have just finished reading Tripoli: The United States First War on Terror. It is an account written by David Smethurst depicting America’s war against Muslim Pirates on the Barbary Coast 1800-1805.
These Muslim terrorists plagued the Mediterranean Seas for years prior to the independence of America. They captured ships, kidnapped seamen, and then ransomed them back to the countries of origin. Most European countries paid tribute to the heads of these terrorist nations to protect their shipments and sailors.

While America was a colony of England, her Mediterranean trade was protected under the tribute paid by the mother country. When America became an independent nation, the terrorist found a new source of income.
The United States began paying tribute to the Barbary Coast nations. However, when those nations decided the tribute was not enough they would take ships stores and hold the crews for ransom.

When the Bey of Tripoli needed transportation, he went to the American representative to his country, one William Eaton, and demanded American warships transport him. When he was refused transport, he explained “you pay me tribute therefore, you are my slaves.” When he threatened to end his protection, i.e. start to take America merchant ships, he got his free trip.

An interesting note that is a little to the side of the issue at hand was when the Bey of Tripoli had an armory destroyed by fire and needed to replace the lost arms, he made demands on those countries paying him tribute. America’s share he said was 10,000 arms.
“I have proportioned my loss among my friends, and this falls to you to furnish,” explained the minister. “Tell your government to send them without delay.”

William Eaton, the American minister, replied, “We have no magazines of small arms, the organization of our national strength is different from that of any other nation on earth. Each citizen carries his own arms, always ready for battle. When threatened from invasion, or actually invaded, detachments from the whole national body are sent, by rotation, to serve in the field; so that we have no need of standing armies, nor depositories of arms.”

This was the American military plan until after World War II. This, my friends, is as good an explanation of the reason for the Second Amendment as you will find anywhere.
The leader of Tripoli was one of the most aggressive of the terrorist nations toward the United States. The American warship Philadelphia ran aground in the harbor and was taken, the crew imprisoned, and held for ransom. American sailors would have to sneak aboard the ship and burn it to deny its salvage and use by the terrorists. This became the final straw causing President Jefferson to declare an unofficial war against these Muslim terrorists.

He did so without the consent of congress and with the clear understanding, that he was violating the Constitution of the United States. His reasoning was since the country of Tripoli had declared war on the United States it was only logical that the United States must therefore be at war with them, with or without the consent of Congress.
One of the first thoughts of William Eaton was to overthrow the existing government and replace it with one that would be more favorable to the United States.

By finding the brother of the current leader and helping him lead a revolt for the promise of placing him on the throne, Eaton hoped to “make a deeper impression on account of the lasting peace it will produce with that regency, and the lesson of caution it will teach other Barbary states.”
Sound familiar?

Even in the early 1800’s America was involved in kingdom building that proved unsuccessful in the Middle East.
Eaton rationalized this move in that the United States was fighting a just war but to win the war it would have to adapt to the rules of the terrorist. America would have to use guile, deceit, and treachery.

President Jefferson himself said force must be met with force. If the pirates used treachery, then the United States must use it also. Sound similar to the justification of the “enhanced interrogation” (torture) used by American forces under the Bush administration?
After a year of undeclared war in Tripoli, William Eaton, our most knowledgeable Middle Eastern minister, stated this about his dealings with the leader of Tunis, another Muslim terrorist nation: “Our operation of the last and present year produced nothing in effect but additional enemies and national contempt. If the same system of operations continues, so will the same consequences. The obstinate posture and affected indifference to menace, which has hitherto been my talisman in lieu of solid argument here, no longer avail. The (Tunis) minister puffs a whistle in my face, and says, “we find it all a puff! We see how you carry on the war with Tripoli.”

One must ask can any nation take the United States seriously as it sees how we have failed in all our efforts in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. The Barbary States saw the Americans as weak and ineffectual; the countries of the Middle East today must surely feel the same way.
Eaton explained that the terrorist needed to be shown that the United States would not be bullied; that America had the warships to exert her influence in the Mediterranean. The terrorist only understood and respected overwhelming force. That has not changed in over 200 years.

In 1805 with the fall of Derna, Tripoli, when a young Marine Lieutenant raised the America flag on foreign soil for the first time, the undeclared war was declared over. While declaring America would never pay ransom, we paid 60,000 dollars and all American prisoners, including the 300 crew members of the Philadelphia, were released.

America sold out the brother we had promised to put into power and left his family in the hands of the leader of Tripoli to protect against another revolt led by him. We left the people who backed our efforts at the mercy of an unmerciful terrorist sending the wrong message to the terrorists.
William Eaton summed it up in a letter stating, “…we drop them from ours into the hands of this enemy for no other crime but too much confidence in us!”
Does any of this sound familiar or am I merely looking for similarities where there are none?

Thought of the week…Everybody in the Middle East wants to explain why they’re right.
– P. J. O’Rourke

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