#1 Two hundred years ago, Thomas Jefferson bargained with the Barbary pirates (the Muslim terrorists of their day) while at the same time the Navy and Marines put military pressure on them.
Hold it.
First, Jefferson negotiated only because he really had no other choice. His SecTreas, Albert Gallatin had tried to actually disband the USN on the grounds that since we had won the naval war with France, we didn't need a Navy now, did we? Congress, BTW, supported Gallatin - it was only some last minute shenanigans by the outgoing Adams administration that saved the Navy and Marines at all.
Second, Congress was adamantly against any kind of serious military action against the Pirates - the handful of raids and attacks that did happen took place only after thoroughly embarassing incidents like the loss of the frigate Philadelphia (imagine the reaction if a modern missile cruiser was captured by the Iranians).
Third, the 'pressure' wasn't much - there was a leaky 'blockade' of the Pirate ports, with a handful of attacks and raids, most notably the one immortalized in the Marine Hymn's 'to the shores of Tripoli.' But NONE of those attacks had any real effect because they were never followed up - or if they were, they were followed up by desperate offers of negotiation.
In short, negotiation and military action only put the Pirates off long enough for them to replace their losses and try again. It wasn't until after the War of 1812 that a USN task force went in and sank on sight any Barbary corsair, guilty or not, that the Pirates finally quit. Readers should draw their own conclusions.
Mike |
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