Barack Obama and his anti-war supporters in the U.S. and abroad
are loath to acknowledge that “diplomacy first” is only so
effective when challenging Islamic terrorists. Voters should think
long and hard about a candidate who wants to pull out of Iraq
before stability is achieved, and who wants to sit down with
Iranian leaders to amicably discuss our shared futures. As we sit
on the precipice of our sixth year in Iraq, it’s worthwhile to
examine some lessons from the eight-year conflict that, more than
two centuries ago, gave us our first real taste of Islamic
terrorism.
Often referred to as “America’s Forgotten War,” the Barbary
Wars, like so many other important things, are seldom taught in
U.S. history classes. With the Revolution and Civil Wars headlining
on the main stage of American history, there’s rarely time in a
school year to delve deeply into our country’s smaller
skirmishes.
But small these weren’t. The first Barbary War lasted from 1801
to 1805, and the second from 1812 to 1816.
Barbary pirates from the Muslim states of Algiers, Tunis, and
Tripoli had been marauding Europe for years, targeting Christian
and other non-Islamic merchant ships — not just for their goods,
but for their men. More than one million European Christians were
captured, imprisoned, and sold as slaves in Northern Africa. In
many cases, they were held until they died or converted to
Islam.
A Tripolitan envoy to London, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman,
explained the position of the Muslim states to Thomas Jefferson and
John Adams in 1786. “It was written in their Koran, that all
nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom
it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave;
and that every mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to
go to paradise.”
After America gained independence from the British Empire, she
was on her own in the rough and pirate-laden seas of the
Mediterranean. Barbary pirates traditionally left merchant ships
flying the British and French flags alone, but now that America was
no longer a British colony, her ships were unprotected and
vulnerable to attack.
American Democrats were reluctant to go to war against the
Barbary states, and urged U.S. ambassadors to negotiate a peaceful
agreement with the Islamic heads of state. They argued that after a
costly Revolution, the U.S. should focus on western expansion and
other domestic concerns. America had no navy, and was ill-equipped
for battle on the seas, particularly in enemy territory abroad
where Muslim nationals had clear advantages.
Faced with a superior force, John Adams agreed — much to the
protest of Thomas Jefferson — to pay taxes to the North African
countries, just as many other nations had done. These taxes covered
the freedom to send out their trade ships, and to pay the costs of
ransom for any captured Americans. They would equal a whopping 20
percent of U.S. annual revenues in 1800.
As the years ticked on, and paying tribute became a bitter but
habitual pill to swallow, the U.S. slowly built its navy. In 1801,
on the day of Thomas Jefferson’s presidential inauguration, the
Pasha of Tripoli demanded $225,000 to give American ships safe
passage through Barbary waters. Jefferson refused, promising
nervous Americans that agreeing to pay tributes would only welcome
more attacks on U.S. and European ships. The only way to end the
Barbary reign of terror would be to go to war.
The American navy and the marines invaded Tripoli, and with the
help of a coalition of Arab, Greek, and Berber allies eventually
captured the city of Derna. In 1805, the U.S. and Tripoli signed a
peace treaty, but the U.S. paid a ransom of $60,000 for the release
of American prisoners. Some thought the ransom payment an
acceptable price to pay for American lives. Many others believed
the U.S. should have held its ground, and demanded a free release,
by force if necessary.
Peace did not last. With the War of 1812 as a brutal
distraction, America left the Barbary pirates unchecked and once
again took up the unhappy habit of paying tributes for safe
passage. More ships were taken, more men were tortured and
enslaved. And in 1815, after refusing to pay the most recent tax,
the U.S. again went to war with North Africa, eventually forcing
the Dey of Algiers to sign another peace treaty and end once and
for all the practice of taking Christian captives.
THOUGH there are many differences between the Barbary Wars and the
current war in Iraq, there are also obvious similarities, and a
number of scholars have pointed them out. Joseph Wheelan, in
Jefferson’s War: America’s First War on Terror 1801-1805,
enunciates these commonalities and provides some astute analysis of
America’s challenges with terrorism — past and present.
Clear lessons can be gained without the benefit of academic
scholarship, however. One is that Islamic terrorists want to rid
the world of non-Muslim people. Two, negotiating with Islamic
factions is often unreliable. Three, leaving Islamic terrorists
unchecked costs lives. If there’s any argument for staying in Iraq
until there is stability and for dealing with Iran firmly and
decisively, it exists within the narrative of the Barbary Wars.
Let’s just hope that Barack Obama and Joe Biden learned about them
in school.
S.E. Cupp is author of Why You’re Wrong About the Right, with
Brett Joshpe. She lives in New York City.
