Actually, Neocon, the analogy between present-day terrorists and the Barbary pirates of 200 years ago is far from phony. (Your words.) After a 20-minute session on google, the similarities are becoming more solid than I first had thought.
Bottom line: While technology has changed over the past 200 years, the basic tactics have not.
For instance, John Metzler, U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues for worldtribune.com, writes:
"History has a curious way of repeating itself. Modern day Libya roughly corresponds to the Barbary States of old — Tripoli is the same city which once hosted pirate corsairs and in recent years international terrorists. Osama Bin Laden's contemporary Barbary pirates now try to hold America hostage in different ways — through violence and fear. Regimes such as Afghanistan and Iraq will reap the righteous retribution they have sown."
216.26.163.62
Also:
Middle East Wars: U.S. Involvements from Jefferson to Bush
ccasonline.org
Or:
"On September 11, 2001, terrorists struck the United States, killing about 4,000 people. The U.S. president responded by declaring a war on terrorism. He got Congress to authorize using force against any nation, organization, or person involved in the attack or against any nation harboring the terrorist organizations.
When the United States began, it faced another foreign policy test: How should it respond to the Barbary pirates who were plundering its ships?"
crf-usa.org
Or:
"Right on cue, it seems, the historians have set in, reminding us that two centuries ago the fledgling United States prosecuted a similar war against terrorism. Only, we didn't call it "terrorism," but piracy."
prospect.org |
